The Russian edition of The
New Heat Transfer
by Mir Publishers (Moscow)
Mir Publishers (Moscow) published a Russian edition
A letter dated May 28, 1975 from the copyright agency of the USSR stated:
The “Mir” Publishers,
Moscow are interested in translating and publishing in Russian of “The New Heat
Transfer, eugene f. adiutori”, 1974.
The book is
expected to be published in 1976 in 5,000 copies at the retail price of 1.70
roubles approximately.
Herewith we
are enclosing in triplicate the draft agreement for acquisition of rights to
translate and publish in Russian the above book.
In case you
will find the terms and conditions of the draft agreement acceptable, please
sign it and return all the copies to us.
Yu. GRADOV,
Director, Export & Import Department
It is probably not necessary to say that I was elated!!! Just 14 months after The New Heat Transfer was published, the Russians recognized its importance, and wanted to buy the rights to translate and publish a Russian edition!!
My affirmative reply was sent in my letter to Gradov dated June 6, 1975. The contract, signed by both parties, was enclosed with the letter from Gradov dated July 9, 1975.
In 1977, Mir published 5000 copies of The New Heat Transfer in soft cover. The price was one ruble, seventy kopeks. (Download Russian edition of The New Heat Transfer.)
(I had heard that the Russians did not pay royalties. The check from Mir publishers dated May 19, 1977 demonstrated that they did in fact pay royalties.)
The manuscript in the Russian edition has a much better appearance than that in the American edition. In particular, the figures and charts are much more professional. Four persons who contributed to the Russian edition are listed at the end of the book.
The foreword to the Russian edition (according to the Berlitz translation) gives an accurate and concise summary of the new heat transfer, then states the following:
Executed by the author the
broad study of assets and liabilities of giving up the employment of coefficients
of heat exchange and heat conductivity in the analysis of various processes of
heat transfer is of undoubted interest. . .
The Adiutory’s book contains data which allow to appreciate the
advantages of giving up this coefficient, and in this way the book contributes
to clearing up the matter whether “the game is worth the candle”.
This book is . . . the
exposition and the defence of the new approach to the analysis of processes of
heat transfer which is suggested by the author. The author employs in this book the elementary simple apparatus
and the very polemical style of exposition which can irritate a reader. We recommend not to make hasty conclusions.
A review of this book has been published in the “New Books Abroad” (Novye knigi za rubezhom”) magazine, Series B.8, page 23, 1976,
Professor I. Aladjev
Doctor of Technical Science
Professor A. Leontjev
Doctor of Technical Science
It seemed to me that the existence of the Russian edition would make it difficult for the leaders of the heat transfer world to publicly ignore me, and would make it impossible for them to publicly or even privately portray me as a crackpot.
I was wrong.
In the 1980’s, I met Professor Leontjev at an international heat transfer conference. I asked him whether he or Professor Aladjev was mainly responsible for the Russian edition, and he replied that it was Professor Aladjev. (I was dismayed to notice that, in the paper he presented at the conference, Professor Leontjev used heat transfer coefficients.)
In June of 2004, I met Professor Ventsislav Zimparov at an international heat transfer conference in Slovenia. He told me that, many years before, he had read the Russian edition of The New Heat Transfer! He is the first and only person I have met who read the Russian edition, and I was very happy to meet him. He took a photo of the two of us, and promised to send me a copy.
I did not hear from him again until April of 2005, at which time he was working with Professor Bejan at Duke University. I had been invited to give a dinner talk at North Carolina State University, and the dinner talk was scheduled to be held a few weeks after I heard from Professor Zimparov. Since North Carolina State University is very near to Duke, I invited him to be my guest at the dinner. He said he would like to come, but he did not.