Editorial Prejudice by Oxford University Press

Dear Fellow Citizens: My name is Winfield J. Abbe. I hold 3 degrees in physics, A.B., Physics, UC Berkeley, 1961, M.S., Physics California State University,Los Angeles, 1962 and Ph.D., Physics, UC Riverside, 1966. I have resided at Athens, GA, USA for the past 42 years.
The book "The Particle Explosion" by Frank Close, Michael Marten, and Christine Sutton", Oxford University Press, 1987, omits a very significant experiment by Robert Andrews Millikan. I believe this omission is deliberate and seeks to mislead the unwitting reader. Two of the authors possess Ph.D. degrees in physics from Oxford and Sheffield Universities respectively, according to the jacket.
On page 24 the well known experiments of J. J. Thomson which measured the charge to mass ratio of the electron are mentioned, including a picture of him at his desk. On page 53 the mass of the electron is stated without any reference or experiment mentioned as is the charge of the electron stated on page 54 without any reference to how it was discovered. This is odd since numerous other experiments are mentioned providing the basis for other statements throughout the book.
The fundamental experiment which provided the magnitude of the charge on the electron was performed by the genius level scientist Robert Millikan in a series of experiments performed at the University of Chicago in the 1909 period. These are referred to as "The Millikan Oil Drop Experiments" and can be performed even today, 2008, almost a century later, on any kitchen table, to still verify the same result. These experiments determined the absolute value of the electric charge on an electron, thereby allowing one to calculate the mass with the previous knowledge of the charge to mass ratio previously measured by J. J. Thomson. These experiments also revealed that electric charge existed only in integral units of the charge on an electron and no other. In other words, no charge exists in units of say one third or one tenth or one hundredth or 2/3,..., etc., of the electronic charge.
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Continuation of above statement about the book "The Particle explosion": The following reference is used for information about Robert Millikan: "Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists" by John Daintith, Sarah Mitchell and Elizabeth Tootill, Facts on File, Inc., N.Y., 1981.
Here is part of the entry for Robert Millikan:
"Millikan, Robert Andrews (b. Mar.22, 1868, Morrison, Illinois; d. Dec. 19, 1953; San Marino, California) American Physicist.
Millikan, the son of a Congregational minister, was educated at Oberlin, where he studied classics, and Columbia University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1895. After a year in Europe, studying under Max Planck and Walther Nernst, he took up an appointment in 1896 at the University of Chicago, being promoted to a full professorship in 1910. Millikan moved to the California Institute of Technology in 1921 as director of the Norman Bridge Laboratory, a position he held until his retirement in 1945.
In 1909 Millikan started on a project that was to win for him the 1923 Nobel Physics Prize-the determination of the electric charge of the electron..."
"Millikan followed this with a prolonged attempt from 1912 to 1916 to demonstrate the validity of the formula introduced by Albert Einstein in 1905 to describe the photoelectric effect, work that was cited in Einstein's Nobel award."
"In 1923 he began a major study of cosmic rays..."
While the authors do mention Millikan's cosmic ray work as director of his student Carl Anderson who is credited with discovery of the positron 1932, the omission of any discussion of the genius level scientist Robert Millikan and his seminal discovery of the experiment to determine the electronic charge (The MIllikan Oil Drop Experiment) and the fact that it is quantized, is puzzling indeed. I believe this is a deliberate effort on the part of the authors to seek to glorify scientists in England over the genius American scientist Millikan. Additionally, this book seeks to glorify the mythical particles, quarks, and speak of them as if they truly existed as do electrons, protons and neutrons. These mythical particles would possess fractional charges which have never been observed in nature, as proved by this seminal experiment by Millikan almost a century ago, except possibly as an artifact in an entry in his databook. They obviously did not want to emphasize this clear contradiction to the speculated quark theory they were promoting in the book.
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Everyone reading the above book "The Particle Explosion" should not be fooled by speculations regarding mythical particles called quarks. Everyone should keep in mind these facts:

1. No particle with fractional electric charge has ever been observed in nature period, despite numerous experimental attempts to find them.
2. No quark has ever been observed in isolation in nature. Isn't it convenient that the theories of the physics orthodoxy conveniently include assumptions about "quark confinement" so these mythical particles can never be observed?
3. No convincing calculation, has ever been produced, calculating a proton or neutron from any number of quarks, from first principles. Obviously such a calculation cannot be performed since neither the forces between the quarks are known in detail, nor are the quantum mechanical rules obeyed by the speculated quarks known in detail, and even if they were, they would likely be so complicated that such a calculation would be impossible. Therefore such a calculation is impossible. On the other hand, hydrogen has been calculated with high precision from electron, proton, Coulomb's law and quantum mechanics for many decades now.
Propaganda books like this one seek to mislead readers about the quark theory, which is only a speculation at this point. Many other theories are possible. Editors do a great disservice to the gullible public in publishing this type of propaganda garbage. They learned well from their teacher in Germany, Joseph Paul Goebbels didn't they?
Winfield J. Abbe, PH.D., Physics
UC Riverside, 1966
Former Physics Professor
Athens, GA