British Kinematography (1949)

93 BOOK REVIEWS Books reviewed may be seen in the Society's Library PHOTOGRAPHIC EMULSION TECHNIQUE, T. Thome Baker, A.M.I.E.E., F.R.P.S. {Chapman & Hall), Second Edition, 1949, 38 s. A book on the photographic emulsion naturally excites a great deal of interest in photographic circles, since the preparation of modern emulsions is a jealouslyguarded trade secret. The reader will be disappointed, however, if he expects the book to lift this veil of secrecy. The book sets out to be a guide not only to " practical emulsion making " but " . . .a textbook for technical students, industrial chemists and photographers, who are anxious to prepare emulsion of some special type." As far as the latter groups of workers are concerned, the book is entirely successful ; its title is in fact deceptively modest since the coating and testing of emulsions are also covered in detail. Since the first edition in 1941, the book has been expanded from 263 to 341 pages, to some extent by the addition of two new chapters on Three-layer Colour Films and on Plastics in Emulsion Techniques. There are a few mis-statements which should be weeded out in a forthcoming edition, such as " The loss (of gelatin) on washing should not exceed 1-1 1% (p. 73) contrasted by " Even with the greatest care (the loss of gelatin) may amount to 6% ; " " infra-red . . . extending from about 760m/x to 106mu " a statement which is misleading since it implies that this range of wavelengths is available for photography (p. 146) ; " early infra-red " is a rather poorly chosen phrase ; " Enocyanin " is a misprint for Xenocyanin (Fig. 39). Readability of the book suffers from occasional unnecessary repetition and the splitting up of matter that should be discussed together. Certain omissions are almost inevitable n any book, but one does miss a discussion of items such as the change in gamma in the U.V., and of gamma-ray exposures and lead intensifying screens. The " Kodachrome " process described in the book has been out of date for almost 10 years (see Mees, Photo. J., 1942). All in all, however, the book should be useful to many workers in the photographic field. W. F. Berg. THE MOTION PICTURE THEATER. Society of Motion Picture Engineers, $5. The Society of Motion Picture Engineers has a happy knack of gathering together outstanding papers on a particular subject for publication as a complete reference. Such is The Motion Picture Theater. It cannot fail to be a valuable help to those engaged on the remodelling or maintenance of kinemas. The book will be of absorbing interest to all whose work lies in the 35mm. exhibition field, i nd the collection of articles has been well edited. The Drive-In Theatre will be new to some readers and perhaps they will find cause to reflect on this novel method of theatre operation. Unfortunately this country is not included under Foreign Theatre Operation, and so to see ourselves as others see us, is denied ; but we do come into our own under Theatre Television in England. The survey of theatre screen brightness carried out by the S.M.P.E. is of very great interest, and a similar survey made in this country would be of considerable value to the industry ; but confusion can be caused if the reader does not bear in mind that picture areas in this country are about 75% greater on the average. A very acceptable volume of considerable worth to the theatre engineer. R. PULMAN. THE COMPLETE PROJECTIONIST, Fourth Edition, by R. Howard Cricks F.B.K.S., F.R.P.S., Odhams Press, Ltd. 105. R. Howard Cricks (whose knowledge of kinematography is accepted to be outstanding) has written a fourth edition of his text book, The Complete Projectionist, which book has been so extremely helpful since the original edition in 1933. The new edition is indeed a sound investment. There is something for everyone, from the expert to the junior projectionist. Although primarily for the 35mm. user, the volume contains a chapter devoted to the work of the sub-standard projectionist, and the whole can be of value to those engaged on 16mm. exhibition. A feature of this particular volume is the ample reference to such matters as large screen television, stereoscopy, nonintermittent systems, wide film, lenticular screens, etc., and all who have an eye on the future will find this a wealth of information. Containing as it does an abundance of technical data, photographs and circuit diagrams, this book is surely the cheapest technical book available to-day. S. B. SWINGLER.