182 



SCIENCE PROGRESS 



ENGINEERING 



The Flying Machine from an Engineering Standpoint. By F. W. Lanchester, 

 M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech.I., M.Inst.A.E. [Pp. viii + 135, with 56 figures in 

 the text.] (London : Constable & Co., Ltd., 1916. Price 4-r. 6d. net.) 



This volume is a reprint of the " James Forrest " lecture delivered before the 

 Institution of Civil Engineers in May 1914. As a lecture at that date there can 

 be no question it was a valuable contribution to our knowledge on the subject, and 

 it will remain as such in the Proceedings of the Institution before which it was 

 read. As a book published at the end of 1916 and placed on the market in 1917, 

 after two years of full experience and progress in air-craft and its machinery, it is 

 very much out of place and out of date. So many of the best of our young man- 

 hood have taken up flying that there is little wonder that the demand for books on 

 flying machines is very great. This does not justify the present reprint. The 

 engineer is not concerned at the moment with " Catastrophic Instability " as 

 treated in this volume ; he is much more concerned with the peculiar constructional 

 problems of the various classes of machines, from strategical-reconnaissance 

 machines through a long range of other machines to pursuit machines. 



Engine troubles are also his direct concern. The frequency with which certain 

 parts have failed owing to the fatigue of the materials used has been a feature 

 of the war. The freezing up of the water-cooling system is another serious matter. 



The adjustments of the carburettor and questions of ignition are problems of 

 the moment. Landing brakes and gear are giving the engineer some concern. 

 Yet in the volume before us not one of these important engineering problems is 

 discussed. The least that can be said is that the book should have been published 

 under the title of " The Flying Machine from an Engineering Standpoint in 1913." 



J. Wemyss Anderson. 



MISCELLANEOUS 



The Johnson Calendar ; or, Samuel Johnson for Every Day in the Year, being a 

 Series of Sayings and Tales, Collected from his Life and Writings. By 

 Alexander Montgomerie Bell. [Pp. 234.] (Oxford : at the Clarendon 

 Press, 1916. Price is. net.) 



Dedicated to Mr. Asquith because, out of many judges, members of Parliament, 

 writers of leading articles, reforming ladies and other celebrities, he was the only 

 one who quoted Dr. Johnson correctly ! The other day a member of Parliament 

 asked Mr. Asquith his opinion on some subject, and the late Premier replied 

 wistfully, "I suppose that I must not say ' Wait and see.'" But if his policy of 

 waiting and seeing has had no other fruit except perhaps dead-sea fruit, it has at 

 least enabled him to earn the dedication of this charming little book. It is only 

 6 inches by 4 inches in size, and may therefore be carried in the pocket for railway 

 journeys, where it will do much to counteract the effects of freezing feet and basket- 

 lunches. Samuel Johnson deserves the high place given to him in Hero Worship 

 by Carlyle. A really great man, because, chiefly, of his passion for accuracy com- 

 bined with his courage and judgment. Who has ever written a better summing-up 

 of Whigs and Tories? In Mr. Bell's Calendar for June 18 we read that "A high 

 Tory makes government unintelligible : it is lost in the clouds. A violent Whig 

 makes it impracticable : he is for allowing so much liberty to every man, that there 

 is not power enough to govern any man. The prejudice of the Tory is for estab- 

 lishment : the prejudice of the Whig is for innovation." Of women preachers 



