+ − Yale R n s 10:218 O ’20 380w
EDMAN, IRWIN. Human traits and their social significance. *$3 Houghton 301
20–17674
Throughout the long process of civilization two factors have remained constant, says the author: nature and human nature. The only change with regard to the one has been in our increasing power of control of nature through increasing knowledge. And the only difference between the man of today and the primitive savage is in the control of the native biological impulses that the civilized man has achieved through education, religion and morals. It is the aim of the book to indicate man’s simple inborn impulses and outstanding human traits and the factors which must be taken into account if they are to be controlled in the interest of human welfare. Accordingly the book falls into two parts: Social psychology; and The career of reason. Types of human behavior and their social significance, basic human activities and crucial traits in social life, and the racial and cultural continuity are among the subjects considered in part one. Part two contains: Religion and the religious experience; Art and æsthetic experience; Science and scientific method; Morals and moral valuation. There is an index.
“There are but few books of only 467 pages that contain so much information as this one. Written as an introduction to contemporary civilization and intended for freshmen, it clarifies questions at whose profundity Plato would have been disheartened. If the freshman of today can digest even a small portion of this book colleges are progressing, while for a man comparatively advanced in years, and with interests as universal as those of Leonardo da Vinci, it would be a handy manual.”
− + N Y Evening Post p10 N 27 ’20 250w
EDWARDS, A. HERBAGE. Paris through an attic. *$3 Dutton 914.4
19–19896
“Paris, ever fascinating and ever fresh, was seen in the days before the war from a new angle, by a delightful young couple, with a thin family purse. An income of 350 dollars a year sufficed their needs. Where they lived, and how they lived is told by the feminine half of this pair of adventurers. The young couple attended the Sorbonne. Sundays and holidays are treated in an account of how Paris amuses itself. All these happenings, and many others, fill the space of two years, and the pages of the book, up to the eventful day when Richard receives his title, ‘Docteur de l’Universite de Paris.’”—Boston Transcript