NATURE 



[March 7, 19 18 



auce may not be placed on reasoning-^ — for the 

 value of things, which are the premises, may 

 change. 



. Dr. Inge apparently does not believe in change 

 of values', and is thereby led to distrust democracy 

 and pin his faith to aristocraticism. Democracy 

 in education, he tells us, is a leveller, and its 

 tendency is to level down all superiorities in the 

 name of equality and good, fellowship. This may 

 be the appearance of it under its present state of 

 bondage, but it is not the true, effective democracy. 

 Democracy in education means the opening of 

 education to everyone, and it is along these lines 

 that reconstruction of education must follow. At 

 present the education and codes of the public 

 schools are aristocratic. Democracy means the 

 openingx^of education to every boy or girl, the 

 raising of the weakest, the multiplying of educa- 

 tional opportunities to give scope for individual 

 capacities ; it means the introduction of scientific 

 and technical studies, and the extension of the 

 method to literature and to art. Democracy means 

 change of values, and this change is at the root 

 of science education. Mr. Bateson, in a fine pas- 

 sage, rcA'Cals the vital influence of science. 



Natural knowledge is destined to give man not only 

 a direct control of the material world, but new inter- 

 pretations of higher- problems. Those who have 

 grasped the meaning of science, especially biological 

 science, are feeling after new rules of conduct. 



He continues : — 



The general ignorance of science has lasted so long 

 that we have virtually two codes of right and duty, 

 that founded on natural truth and that emanating from 

 tradition, which almost alone finds public expression in 

 this country. Whether we look at the cruelty which 

 passes for justice in our criminal courts, at the pro- 

 longation of suffering which custom demands as a part 

 of medical ethics, at this very question of education, 

 or indeed at any problem of social life, we see ahead 

 and know that science proclaims wiser and gentler 

 creeds. 



The two essays of Dr. Inge and Mr. Bateson 

 should be carefully studied. 



Dr. Benson writes pleasantly and suggestively 

 on imagination, or, strictly speaking, literary 

 imagination, not the imagination which science 

 provokes ; and the Headmaster of Sherborne fol- 

 lows with an essay on the place of literature -in 

 education. Both essays are enjoyable reading. 

 We wish, however, that Dr. Benson would add 

 scientific and technical work to his curriculum, 

 with workshops laboratory, agriculture, and his 

 own methods of literary and artistic teaching; 

 then he would have no need for hobbies, and the 

 " way of play " would be transferred to the more 

 delightful "way of work." 



Space will only permit of brief reference to the 

 other important questions discussed in these 

 essays. The neglect of science, the alarming 

 absence of the science outlook in the State services, 

 the cramping effects of examinations, are the 

 agitating questions of the day. Uninspired by the 

 science outlook, the Consultative Committee of the 

 Board of Education gives as a reason for recon- 

 struction that men must continue to work in order 

 NO. 2523, VOL. lOll 



that our great firms may make money, or wages 

 will go down ; and knowing that the Board 

 itself had killed the people's higher grade 

 schools, it makes the remarkable statement 

 that the scholarship method of passing from 

 the elementary to the secondary schools is too 

 firmly rooted in the mind of the country to be 

 dislodged. We believe that these opinions are due 

 to the neglect of science and to the absence of 

 men of the scientific type. But how can we get 

 scientific ideas into the life of the nation? We 

 agree with Mr. Bateson that to replace Greek 

 by chemistry, or to force "science for all" into 

 the public schools, is only playing with the ques- 

 tion. What is wanted is that science on a large 

 and comprehensive practical and technical scale 

 should be taught in the schools, so that boys of 

 scientific aptitude and tastes may revel in in- 

 spiring fields of research and study. The schools 

 would then turn out a race of men with new ideals 

 inspired by the "onward march." Such men 

 would be able to govern, but in a different wgy. 



WEBB'S "CELESTIAL OBJECTS/' 

 Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes. By the 

 Rev. T. W. Webb. Sixth edition, thoroughly 

 revised by the Rev. T. E. Espin. Vol. i., pp. 

 XX + 253; vol. ii., pp. viii + 320. (London: 

 Longmans, Green, and Co., 1917.) Price ys. 6d. 

 net each. 



WHEN the first part of the fifth edition of this 

 book appeared in 1893 "^^ were not alone 

 in finding fault with the way in which, to avoid 

 alteration of W^ebb's work, most of the correction, 

 revision, and amplification was relegated to an 

 irritating series of footnotes. Old readers prob- 

 ably had an earlier edition if they desired undiluted 

 Webb ; new ones could scarcely be attracted by 

 such a cumbersome device. Yet, after an interval 

 of nearly a quarter of a century, an interval as 

 great as that between Webb's own second edition 

 and the Espin-Webb fifth edition, we find the very 

 same fault repeated with all the aggravation due 

 to the increasing number and importance of these 

 footnotes. We must attribute the blame to the 

 editor or the publisher, as we may easily acquit 

 Messrs. Denning and Phillips, who provide so 

 many of these important additions and corrections, 

 of any choice in the form of their presentation. 

 We feel that a great opportunity has been lost. 

 A book of the kind being wanted, the appearance 

 of this "revision" may very well discourage the 

 production of a more consistent work. 



The main part of this edition is very similar to 

 the last, with which we dealt some twenty-four 

 years ago. Some of our objections have been 

 met by correction, and others ignored. The second 

 volume, for which Mr. Espin took responsibility in 

 the fifth edition, in which for the first time it was 

 printed separately, has certainly benefited by the 

 adoption of some of the suggestions then made 

 by Mr. Lewis, whose hints are acknowledged in 

 the preface, inasmuch as more recent measures 

 of binary stars are now incorporated ; in fact,, 

 many were specially observed for this edition. 



