How experiments end /

In this useful and interesting book, Galison analyzes the experimental process in physics to determine the factors that result in the end of a particular series of experimental investigations. Three 20th-century experiments are examined in depth: the early measurements of the gyromagnetic ratio, the discovery of the muon, and the discovery of weak neutral currents. Each was a series of investigations carried out over an extended period by more than one group. The investigations are thoroughly described and analyzed within their experimental, theoretical, and sociological context. The experimental and theoretical constraints that affect experimental activity are classified as long-term, middle-term, and short-term. Galison concludes that the two important factors leading to the acceptance of experimental results are ``increasing directness of measurement and growing stability of the results.'' The author's ideas contrast with others' views that acceptance of experimental results is determined more arbitrarily, such as those of Andrew Pickering in Constructing Quarks (CH, May '85). This book should be accessible to almost any individual who is interested in examining and understanding the development of 20th-century experimental physics, including graduate and advanced undergraduate students.-D.S. Fielder, SUNY College at Oneonta