September 23, 1920] 



NATURE 



107 



The Advancement of Science: 1920. Addresses 

 delivered at the 88th Annual Meeting of the 

 British Association for the Advancement of 

 Science. Cardiff, Aujjust, 1920. (London : 

 John Murray, n.d.) Price 6s. net. 

 In this volume are pubHshed the presidential 

 addresses delivered at the recent meeting of the 

 British Association at Cardiff. Such a collection, 

 representing, as it does, the views of the leading 

 authorities on progress made in various depart- 

 ments, and discussing some problems of prime 

 interest, will be welcome to all students of science 

 as well as to many members of the educated 

 public. We hope the demand for the volume 

 will justify the attempt of the Association to 

 secure a wider circle of readers for the most 

 interesting contributions to its annual meeting. 



A Handbook of Physics and Chemistry. By H. E. 



Corbin and A. M. Stewart. Fifth edition. 



Pp. viii + 496. (London: J. and A. Churchill, 



1920.) Price 15*. net. 

 The requirements of the new syllabus for the First 

 Examination in physics and chemistry of the Con- 

 joint Board of the Royal Colleges of Physicians 

 and Surgeons have made it necessary to double 

 the size of the volume issued in 1899. Short 

 articles on statics, hydrostatics, expansion, refrac- 

 •tion, absorption spectra, current electricity, ionisa- 

 tion, and radio-activity have been added in order to 

 meet the new syllabus, and much new matter has 

 been inserted with the view of making the book 

 more useful to students preparing for other 

 elementary examinations in physics and chemistry. 

 Common Diatoms. By Thos. K. Mellor. Pp. 16 



+ plates. (London: William Wesley and Son," 



1920.) Price 6s. net. 

 This little pamphlet consists of eight pages of 

 introduction, followed by a general index and 

 seven plates of diatoms. The author's intention is 

 to illustrate such diatoms as are usually found on 

 "circle" slides sold by opticians, from such dis- 

 tricts as England, Japan, Hungary, New Zealand, 

 Istria, Samoa, the Adriatic Sea, Maryland, etc. 

 The seven plates contain about 400 figures, and 

 are fairly well drawn. 



The introductory remarks are of a popular de- 

 scription, and do not profess to deal with diatoms 

 from a scientific point of view. 



Problems in Physical Chemistry: With Practical 

 Applications. By Dr. Edmund B. R. Prideaux. 

 Second edition, revised. Pp. xii + 294. (Lon- 

 don : Constable and Co., Ltd., 1920.) Price 

 i8s. net. 

 Dr. Prideaux's book, in 'its first edition, was 

 found useful by teachers and students of physical 

 chemistry, and served a very important purpose 

 by assisting in' directing the teaching of the 

 subject into practical and intelligible channels. 

 The niw edition has been carefully revised and 

 improved in many resjjects. The high price of 

 the book, which is somewhat poorly bound and 

 printed on not very good paper, will be the main 

 drawback to its popularity among students. 



NO, 2656, VOL. 106] 



Letters to the Editor. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 

 opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 

 can he undertake to return, or to correspond ■unth 

 the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 

 this or any oiher part of Nature. No notice is 

 taken of anonymous communications.] 



The British Association. 



Thb Cardiff meeting of the British Association was 

 pleasant and profitable in various ways, but the 

 membership in an important and prosperous city like 

 Cardiff might have been larger, and a certain amount 

 of apathy on the part of the public in general to the 

 presence of the Association was noticed. The Press 

 did its best, but perhaps an influx of material 

 prosperity has rendered folk temporarily callous to 

 other forms of activity. My recollection of the Cardiff 

 meeting in 1891 is that it excited more local interest — 

 perhaps because it was the first in the city ; perhaps 

 also because the meeting included the week-end, 

 extending from Wednesday to Wednesday, instead of 

 ruthlessly encroaching on the four chief working days 

 of the week and beginning sectional operations ten 

 hours before the president's opening address. It is 

 understood that future meetings will return to pre- 

 war conditions in this and other respects. Other im- 

 provements may be desirable, so the manifesto of 

 your Cardiff correspondent, Dr. R. V. Stanford, on 

 p. 13 of Natlire of September 2 is opportune and 

 timely. 



The British Association differs from other learned 

 societies in that it does address the general public, and 

 travels from place to place in order to reach a wide 

 constituency. In so far, therefore, as it takes the 

 easier course and caters merely for specialists, it is 

 not fully executing its mission. Its function might be 

 described as bringing the general public into personal 

 contact with a scientific discoverer and giving them 

 some inkling of his methods and results. Technicali- 

 ties are not always inappropriate, so they be suitably 

 expounded ; for no one can suppose that scientific 

 work is a simple and easy matter readily under- 

 standed of the people. 



If the public were treated to nothing but the 

 superficial froth they would rightlv feel defrauded ; 

 they wish to realise that a plenftude of coherent 

 material lies beneath tlie surface, much of it neces- 

 sarily rather deep. The enthusiasm of a scientific 

 worker is, or should be, contagious ; and nn impres- 

 sion of real value and interest can be produced, in 

 spite of a plentiful lack of understanding. 



Moreover, though it is difficult to overestimate the 

 ignorance of the bulk of the population, there are 

 likely to be in every civic community a few young 

 minds, instinctively egger and unconsciously able, who 

 may be stimulated by a discourse from a great man 

 and become themselves disciples, and ultimately even 

 co-workers. The awakening of one such youth per 

 meeting would be well worth while; nor is it too much 

 to expect. No one can tell beforehand what particular 

 seed will come to fruition, and instances of such 

 awakening in the past are historic. What is called 

 science-teaching at schools has been known before 

 now to have a depressing effect; direct aiming at a 

 result may not achieve it ; unorfjanised and_ indirect 

 impersonal instruction, coupled with unconscious per- 

 sonal influence, may occasionally be far more 

 stimulating. 



To come to details, avoiding every iort of con- 

 temporary allusion and speaking quite generally : 



