November 17, 1923] 



NA TURE 



72 I 



Heat and. Energy. By D. R. Pye. (Clarendon Science 

 Series.) Pp. jcii + 211. (Oxford: Clarendon Press ; 

 London : Oxford University Press, 1923.) 5^. net. 



As stated in the preface, this book is not designed to 

 be a text-book in the ordinary sense of the word. It 

 is intended to be read by the advanced schoolboy to 

 supplement the detailed instruction he has received 

 in the class-room and the laboratory, with the view 

 of imparting a broader conception of energy in its 

 different forms. The first six chapters are devoted 

 to heat, the chief phenomena being described and 

 explained with less detail than is customary in the 

 ordinary text-book. The relation between heat and 

 work is then dealt with, followed by chapters on energy 

 as light and sound. The remaining part of the book 

 is taken up with practical applications of energy in the 

 production of power, warming, ventilation, and refrigera- 

 tion, the principles involved being clearly explained. 



On these lines the author has produced a very 

 readable volume, but it is difficult to see why he 

 fails to give an account of electricity as a form of 

 energy, as in these days almost every boy is interested 

 in electricity through the medium of " wireless." A 

 further addition, in the form of a few pages on the 

 measurement of high temperatures, might be recom- 

 mended, not only because of the practical importance 

 of the subject, but also for the interest it creates in 

 the mind of the young student of science. Apart from 

 these omissions, however, there is no doubt that the 

 careful reading of this book by an intelligent schoolboy 

 would give him a much wider outlook than that 

 provided by the ordinary text-book. C. R. D. 



The Dance of Life. By Havelock Ellis. Pp. xiv + 340. 

 (London, Bombay and Sydney : Constable and Co., 

 Ltd., 1923.) 125. net. 



The main contention in " The Dance of Life " is that 

 life is an art, as its expressions in morals and religion 

 (which the author calls " mysticism "), in writing and 

 thinking, and even in science, are arts, appropriately 

 typified by the art of dancing. Life, in all its forms, 

 is creative, the result of an impulsive outflowing. 

 Accordingly, rigid laws, externally imposed, are really 

 inapplicable to it. The dynamic is refractory to regula- 

 tion by the static. What law there is must needs be 



m within ; the formulation of the impulse of which 

 the law. Mr. Havelock Ellis is not the only prophet 



this doctrine in recent times ; and, indeed, its under- 

 g thought is a very old one indeed — a thought never 



ite forgotten even when the dynamic movements 



reality were caught and crystallised in the static 

 formulae of philosophy and science. But it is none the 

 less, when stated in isolation, a paradoxical view ; and 

 not least so when it is applied to a solution of the social 

 problems of the present day. Yet " The Dance of 

 Life " is a very stimulating and, indeed, challenging 

 book, in itself a work of no mean art. Though in 

 appearance roughly flung together, its several chapters 

 have a single thread of thought — the view to which 

 allusion has been made — running through them all. 

 Philosophers of many schools and men of science alike 

 may find much to disagree with in this book ; but none 



II read it without interest, and few without some 

 profit. 



NO. 2820, VOL. I 12] 



The Subject Index to Periodicals, 1920. Issued by the 

 Library Association. F : Education and Child 

 Welfare. Pp. 29. (London : Grafton and Co., 

 1923.) 45. net. 



The Library Association maintains in this section of 

 its Subject Index the high standard of quality of the 

 earlier issues, but when one compares it with the 

 American " Readers' Guide," the 1919-21 volume of 

 which was published last year, one cannot but regret 

 that the English Index is so deeply in arrear. It is 

 true that it gleans over a much wider field, but it is 

 questionable whether it would not be better to speed 

 up the work even though this should necessitate some 

 restriction of the sphere of operations. In this Educa- 

 tion and Child Welfare section, professional and 

 technical education, mental tests, the teaching of 

 citizenship, languages (especially Latin), economics, 

 geography, mathematics, and religious education all 

 figure largely. 



The articles indexed under science teaching are 

 chiefly from the School Science Review and Parents' 

 Reviejv, but include some from the Revue Pedagogique, 

 Science Monthly, and Nature. The quarterly Educa- 

 tional Record published by the American Council on 

 Education does not appear to be included within the 

 scope of the work. It contained in 1920 important 

 articles by President A. T. Hadley, Prof. G. D. Strayer, 

 Dr. S. P. Capen, and other well-known authorities, 

 which might with advantage have been mentioned in 

 the Index. 



Outlines of the Calculus for Science and Engineering 

 Students. By Dr. Terry Thomas. Pp.127. (London: 

 Mills and Boon, Ltd., 1922.) 35. 6d. net. 



Many students will find Dr. Terry Thomas's latest book 

 of considerable value, not for private study of the 

 subject, but also for use with oral lessons and for 

 revision purposes. Although Dr. Thomas's brevity is 

 a welcome change from the prolixity of some recent 

 mathematical text-books, it is yet too pronounced a 

 feature in the present volume, reducing the subject- 

 matter almost to the tabloid form. The course is 

 nevertheless a very suitable one and the examples are 

 well chosen. 



One or two criticisms of detail may perhaps be 

 useful to the author if a second edition is called for. 

 The " don't " of p. 10 is transgressed by the author 

 himself on pp. 34, 75, etc. Students should be taught 

 to distinguish between ordinary and partial differentia- 

 tion as regards symbolism : it saves a good deal of 

 trouble. The example chosen on p. 80 to show the 

 " impossibility " of separating x and y is rather 

 unfortunate. S. B. 



Supplementary Notes on Grain mdric Analysis for 

 Beginners. By W. Lowson. Pp. vi + 58. (London : 

 Longmans, Green and Co., 1923.) 2s. f>d. 



These notes are inttiKUd to be used in « onjum lion 

 with regular text-books. There are many valuable 

 hints on practical details, and items of theory which 

 are not eaf.ily found by students. The book will be 

 found useful by those beginning quantitative analysis 

 (the calibration of volumetric apparatus is included), 

 and its moderate price will commend itself to students. 



