Referee's report by Silvanus Phillips Thompson, on a paper 'The construction of some mercury standards of resistance, with a determination of the temperature co-efficient of resistance of mercury' by Frank Edward Smith

Description

Sectional Committee: Physics and Chemistry

Recommended for publication in Philosophical Transactions, in full. It has an extremely minute attention to detail and the subject to which it relates will be of standard importance and interest for a very long time. He has been unable to mark off any section of it as needing compression or as capable of suppression and explains why on the whole he would maintain the appendix. He has examined the part of the paper in which the formula occur, which it has been suggested are diffuse, but notes that by their very nature they could not be generalized into a single formula without losing their purpose. Explains why omitting the formula would bewilder future readers. Suggests the printers be asked to advise as to how the mass of formulae and numerical statistics can be set up so as not to take up too much space. Suggest setting the body of the paper and appendix in a smaller size type than usual whilst keeping the introduction and summary at the usual size.

All the illustrations should be reproduced, they are necessary to the paper's comprehension but the way they are drawn makes them rather bulky. Of the smaller ones, most could be reduced to a half or even a third of their current size. The series of 11 larger diagrams could easily be grouped four to a page if redrawn for zinc block printing, or possibly reduced by photography.

[Published in Philosophical Transactions A, 1905].

Endorsed on verso as received 20 April 1904.

Reference number

RR/16/232

Earliest possible date

19 April 1904

Physical description

Standardised form (type A) and letter on paper

Page extent

6 pages

Format

Manuscript