REVIEWS 491 



approaching the subject by himself would not understand this chapter at all, 

 assuming, as it does, a knowledge amongst other things of meridional parts. It 

 is, moreover, extremely condensed. In so far as the purpose for which it was 

 inserted — viz. to enable the student when working any problem to construct a 

 good figure — is entirely commendable, it is the more to be regretted that this 

 chapter was not made clearer and amplified. 



An important feature of the work is the wealth of numerical examples which 

 are solved in full in the text, so enabling the student to obtain a thorough grasp of 

 the practical problems. Many other problems are given for the student to work 

 himself, numerical results being given in the appendix. 



The remark on p. 143 that "treacle, oil, or tar" would do as well as mercury 

 for the artificial horizon is rather misleading. Though they might in emergencies 

 be used as substitutes, they would be very poor substitutes. 



The book is without an index — a regrettable omission, as the student will 

 occasionally find some trouble in searching for information on a particular point, 

 owing to the large amount of material which the book contains. It is to be hoped 

 that in any future edition this want will be supplied. 



The book is as complete a textbook as any that we know, and can be 

 thoroughly recommended. 



H. S. J. 



The Destinies of the Stars. By Svante Arrhenius, Ph.D. Authorised 

 translation from the Swedish, by J. E. Fries, Fellow A.I.E.E. [Pp. xviii + 

 256, with 29 figures and plates.] (New York and London : G. P. Putnam's 

 Sons, 1918. Price js. 6d. net.) 



This volume contains a series of seven articles on various problems in cosmogony 

 by the well-known Swedish scientist, Dr. Svante Arrhenius, President of the 

 Nobel Institute, Stockholm, the intention of the author being to fill gaps in his 

 previous works on cosmogony. The principal of these are Worlds in the Making 

 and Life of the Universe as conceived by Man from Earliest Ages to the Present 

 Time. Since these were written considerable progress has been made in our 

 study of the relation of the stars to the Milky Way and in our observational 

 knowledge of our neighbouring planets. Although, therefore, there is a definite 

 line of thought traceable through the seven articles in this volume, any one of them 

 is complete in itself and can be read independently of the others. 



The introductory article is a reprint of a lecture delivered before the Fourth 

 International Congress in Bologna, 191 1, dealing with the "Origin of Star- 

 Worship." The thought connecting this with the remainder of the volume is that 

 the ancients believed— and the belief persisted until comparatively recent times — 

 that the fates of men could be read in the stars. Although we now know that this 

 is not literally the case, yet in a certain different sense it has proved to be true. 

 A study of the Milky Way and the relation to it of the distribution of the stars 

 through space throws much light on the process of evolution of our stellar systems, 

 whilst from observation of the planets, combined with interpretations based upon 

 the physical phenomena with which we are acquainted on this earth, we can learn 

 the conditions that existed here at the dawn of life, and can predict the ultimate 

 fate that will befall the latter descendants of present generations. It is with such 

 problems that the greater part of the book is concerned. 



The titles of the remaining chapters will sufficiently indicate the nature of their 

 contents : The Mystery of the Milky Way ; The Climatic Importance of Water 



