SCIENCE
SCIENCE AND LIFE. By Frederick Soddy. Murray. 10s. 6d. net.
This is a collection of addresses and articles indicative of the author's activities as a chemist and as one of the leading figures of Aberdeen University. A proportion of the addresses may be grouped together as representing successive expressions of one leading thought, the social advantages which may accrue from an intelligent application of the method and results of scientific research to the utilisation of natural sources of energy. "Scientific research is capable of raising the general standard of life, without limit, by the solution it affords of the material and physical problems that prevent progress"—this is one of Professor Soddy's chief themes. The disadvantage, largely inherent in a collection of such addresses, delivered to different types of audience, is that, instead of having before us a clearly reasoned and cumulative treatment of the problems involved, we take up the matter afresh, from a slightly different aspect, in each separate address and run over very much the same ground, at one time as a member of the Independent Labour Party, at another as a member of the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce, and so on.
There is much overlapping, and a certain feeling is aroused that we are not much further than we were in the preceding address. Nevertheless, the problems which Professor Soddy handles are of such importance that, while we regret that he has not judged fit to embody the matter of several of his separate addresses in one consecutive essay, we believe that it is right that his opinion should be placed permanently on record. Besides these addresses on the place of science in society, we have two popular expositions of the march of science, in which Professor Soddy has himself made such notable advances—one on the Evolution of Matter and one on Radioactive Change. The views on the transmutations of the elements, which attracted much attention in the daily Press, are not, of course, new, but the account is remarkably clear and affords an excellent summary of the present state of the science of radioactivity, which can be understood by the average reader. Elsewhere in the book, both in separate articles and in addresses, there is much criticism, of more or less parochial interest, of the administration of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland.
A TEXT-BOOK OF HYGIENE FOR TRAINING COLLEGES. By Margaret Avery. Methuen. 7s. 6d. net.
This little book has apparently been written chiefly to help students at training colleges through their examinations, and suffers from many of the usual faults of cram books. The information is scrappy, and the style so condensed that in many parts the book reads more like a series of notes than a connected treatise. A more serious fault is that the scientific information is not always correct—for instance, the examination of recruits and pensioners during the war has disproved the common assertion that the cause of short sight is reading small print, doing fine sewing, and so on, and has tended to show that excessive physical exertion of certain types, such as lifting heavy weights, is in many cases the inducing cause. This is a point of importance to school teachers, as short sight is aggravated by many of the physical exercises now in vogue. In other cases, the most recent work is not quoted. But the book is largely redeemed by the very sane way in which wide social topics, such as temperance and eugenics, are discussed. The latter subject is handled with a desire to get at the facts, uncoloured by prejudice, which is to be commended, and Miss Avery seems for the time to get away from the haunting thought of the examination syllabus. The book will appeal to all interested in primary school education, for it contains a good deal of information as to actual conditions in various centres.
HERSCHEL. By Hector Macpherson. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 2s. net.
This short biography is the latest addition to the "Men of Science" section of the series "Pioneers of Progress" now being published by the S.P.C.K. It gives an excellent little account of the life of the older Herschel, and, necessarily, tells us something of his devoted sister Caroline, probably the first woman to do work of importance in the exact sciences. A poor German musician, who left—some say deserted from—the band of the Hanoverian Guards to come to England, Herschel built up for himself a considerable position in the English musical world before he turned his attention to the science in every branch of which he made magnificent advances. His theory of the stellar system opened a fresh field for observation and speculation; his studies of Saturn and Mars gave us our first detailed information about these planets; he discovered Uranus—loyally named "Georgium Sidus"—and binary stars, and contributed important observations in every department of observational astronomy then known. His theory of the sun, if ludicrous in the light of our present knowledge, was the first attempt at a general treatment of solar problems. Considering the small size of the book, Mr. Macpherson's treatment is remarkably comprehensive, and provides a graphic and sympathetic sketch of the life and works of the great astronomer.
DISCOVERY. A Monthly Popular Journal of Knowledge. No. 1. January, 1920. 6d. net. No. 2. February. John Murray.
This new periodical appears under distinguished auspices, the trustees of the deed by which it is maintained being Sir J. J. Thomson, Sir F. G. Kenyon, Professor A. C. Seward, and Professor R. S. Conway. The object is to give a popular presentation of advances made "in the chief subjects in which investigation is being actively pursued," and it is announced that the articles will be written in plain, simple language. An imposing list of writers who have made or promised contributions assures us that they will be authoritative. The purpose of the promoters of this journal is worthy of all praise, and the articles in the first number range over a wide field of interest, and include The Secret of Philæ (Professor Conway), The Modern Study of Dreams (Professor T. H. Pear), and Discovery and Education, written by the Master of Balliol, with his usual forcefulness and insight. While paying tribute to the spirit of the undertaking, we venture, with some diffidence, to offer the opinion that in many points the paper might be much improved by more informed editing. In the first place it does not seem that any clear idea has been formulated as to the class of reader to whom appeal is to be made; every author appears to have a different standard of erudition in view. For instance, is it assumed that to the average reader of the Times, say, the vocabulary of Dr. Slater Price's article on Smoke Screens at Sea—chlorinated hydrocarbons, kieselguhr, thermite, oleum, and so on, offered without a word of explanation—is plain, simple language? This article might have been written for professional chemists who want to know what chemicals have proved suitable for producing smoke screens; that on Sound Ranging, on the other hand, with its forced breeziness, reads as if intended for a school magazine. The make-up is not very attractive, not vastly superior to that of the average parish magazine. The single illustration which adorns the pages is a crude and amateurish pen-drawing far better omitted, if nothing better could be found. In short, the paper seems to suffer, at present, from lack of policy as regards public, and lack of high standards as regards production and illustration. We have no doubt that experience will rapidly rectify these minor points, and we sincerely hope that the paper will find its public and develop its sphere of usefulness.