8IO BOOK REVIEWS. [J. F. I.

STANDARD FOUR FIGURE MATHEMATICALTABLES. By L. M. Milne-Thomson,

M.A., Assistant Professor of Mathematics in the Royal Naval College; and
L. J. Comrie, M.A., Ph.D., Superintendent, His Majesty's Nautical Almanac
Office. Edition A, with positive characteristics in the logarithms, xvi-
245 pages, 4to. London, Macmillan and Co., 1931. Price $4.50.
FOUR FIGURE TABLES OF THE NATURALAND TRIGONOMETRICALFUNCTIONS,with
the argument in time. By L. J. Comrie, M.A., Ph.D., Superintendent, His
Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office. 32 pages, 4to. London, published by
the author, 1931. Price $i.oo.
So numerous are the excellent tables of logarithms and trigonometric func-
tions now on the market that it might almost seem a work of supererogation to
prepare a new one. Instead, however, the present volume admirably fills a place
that has long been vacant in the library of aids to the computer. Five, six,
seven and even ten Dlace tables are common, but, so far as the reviewer is aware,
Desvall6es' excellent little book, published at Paris in i919, contains the only
satisfactory four place tables that have been available up to now. Of course,
for much scientific'computation, a greater degree of accuracy is essential, but to
use a six or seven place table where only four are needed is a decided waste of
time and effort, which can now be saved.
The appearance of Dr. Comrie's name on the title page of the present work
is a guarantee of the care that has been taken in the preparation of the tables.
As superintendent of the British Nautical Almanac Office, he is a recognized
authority in the field of mathematical tables, and is particularly known for his
application of various forms of computing machines to lessen the drudgery and
increase the accuracy of their preparation. Many of the tables in this volume
were calculated with such aids.
~ineteen main tables are given, including logarithms, antilogarithms, addi-
tion and subtraction logarithms, roots, powers and reciprocals, natural and
logarithmic functions, with argument in degrees and in radians, inverse functions
and natural logarithms, Gudermannians, gamma functions, coefficients of the
second difference and conversion between degrees and radians. Following the
tables proper are given lists of derivatives, integrals, series, formulm, differential
equations, constants and proportional parts. For greater convenience in use, the
table of proportional parts is also printed separately on a card given with each
book, so that it may be kept at hand when using any page.
A word should be said about the two editions of the work. In America we
are used to expressing logarithms of numbers less than unity with positive char-
acteristics by increasing them by ten. This is common practice among scientists
throughout the world, but in the English schools, with characteristic British
conservatism, the use of negative characteristics is still taught. To cater to both
groups, the publishers have issued two editions. Edition A follows the American
practice, and, for example, the logarithm of o.I734 is printed as 9.2390, while
Edition B gives it as 7.2390. The former, of course, is much more convenient,
and it is Edition A that most readers of this JOVRNAL would want.
To the astronomer, there is one rather important omission in these tables,
namely, natural and logarithmic trigonometrical functions with the argument
in time. An astronomer himself, Dr. Comrie has felt this omission, and has