AIP Press
American Institute of Physics
500 Sunnyside Boulevard
Woodbury, NY 11797-2999

I am using the AIP book The Physics Quick Reference Guide, by E. Richard Cohen, as a reference for a course on "Widely Applied Physics". It is very useful, but I find that it contains these errors and inconsistencies:

• On page 81, the magnetization should be

  $$\mathbf{M}=\frac{1}{2}\,\mathbf{r\times j}(\mathbf{r})$$

  and the magnetic moment

  $$\mathbf{m}=\frac{1}{2} \int \,\mathbf{r\times j}(\mathbf{r})\,\,d\tau$$

  and also

  $$\mathbf{m}=\dfrac{1}{2} \oint \,\mathbf{r\times }d\mathbf{s}=IS\,\mathbf{n}$$

• It is inconsistent to use the same symbol $\kappa$ for the compressibility and for its inverse, the bulk modulus. The correct definitions of B (bulk modulus) and $\kappa$ (compressibility) are given on page 99, but in the section on Engineering Physics, pages 107 - 109, the bulk modulus is denoted by $\kappa$, which is confusing to say the least. Worse, on page 45 the letter $\kappa$ is said to denote either the compressibility or the bulk modulus, although the dimensions and units given are those of the compressibility.
• On page 31, near bottom, the quantity identified as "thermal resistance", with SI units K·m²/W, is more commonly called "R-value". The SI units of thermal resistance are K/W, as correctly stated on page 43. The recommended symbol for thermal resistance should not be R, because R is used to denote the R-value, which is thermal resistance times area.

I hope that future editions can be corrected. Thanks.

Sincerely yours.

Vittorio Celli
Professor of Physics
vc@virginia.edu