scope:

The I E C, the International Electrotechnical Commission, is entrusted with preparing the terminology covering all the concepts relating to electricity. This vocabulary (IEV) is grouped in some 80 chapters which have been prepared by about 70 working groups made up of experts in the fields concerned. The chapters are grouped in the following eight classes:

1 - Scientific and technical concepts

2 - Materials

3 - Measurement and regulation

4 - Electrical equipment

5 - Electronic equipment

6 - Generation, transmission and distribution of energy

7 - Telecommunications

8 - Particular applications

The fundamental scientific and technical concepts of class 1 form the basis of all electrical and electronic engineering. The fact of grouping them together in this handbook is to prevent a given basic concept, necessary for the understanding of different particular terms, being defined in several different ways.

This handbook contains all the fundamental concepts defined at the time of going to press in the following chapters: .

101 Mathematics

111 Physics and chemistry

121 Electromagnetism

131 Electric and magnetic circuits

151 Electrical and magnetic devices

together with a common index to all these chapters.

The handbook is in no way intended to compete with the I E C MultiIingual Dictionary of Electricity, which in the next edition, will contain the terms of all the classes given above. Its aim however, is twofold - primarily: to provide assistance to engineers and technicians; lecturers, teachers and students; translators and editors; as well as to authors of technical papers. Also, it will provide the experts, engaged in compiling future chapters of the IEV, with the existing definitions in a compact, easily consulted form, and thus be a means to help avoid creating possible duplications of terms. It is hoped that users of the handbook will find it a useful and convenient tool:

- useful, because it contains the definitions of all the fundamental concepts in three languages (French, English and Russian) and the corresponding terms in the six additional languages (German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish and Swedish) with an index in each of the nine languages;

- convenient, because of the handy format and at a price that any engineer or technician can easily afford.