April i, 1920] 



NATURE 



133 



much appreciated by those who desire a popular 

 book at a moderate price. 



Practical Exercises on Die Weather and Climate 

 of the British Isles and North-west Europe. 

 By W. F. Stacey. Pp. vii + 64. (Cambridge : 

 At the University Press, 1919.) Price 25. 6d. 

 net. 

 Mr. Stacey has produced an excellently planned 

 little book, a model of the way in which a specific 

 inquiry into a subject of relatively narrow com- 

 pass should be conducted. But, although the 

 methods he adopts are suitable for school work, 

 the subject-matter under consideration is not geo- 

 graphy, and is not necessary for all or perhaps 

 for any of the forms of a secondary school. Mr. 

 Stacey has selected a typical set of weather data 

 for the British Isles from the Daily Weather 

 Reports, and has based thereon exercises in which 

 the pupils construct and interpret weather maps. 

 Naturally enough, the work is based upon the 

 n ( ords of pressure observations, and his titles 

 include the terms "cyclone," "depression," 

 " wedge, " " col, " and " anticyclone. " The exercises 

 deal with weather records, but not with climate. 

 It is fairly certain that the study of pressure, as 

 distinct from the study of isobars, is out of place 

 in a school geography course unless carefully 

 correlated with a well-developed course in physics, 

 and it is to be feared that Mr. Stacey 's efforts 

 will lead to a juggling with words and symbols 

 rather than to a comprehension of atmospheric 

 conditions. 



Alternating Current Work. An ' Outline for 

 Students of Wireless Telegraphy. By A. Shore. 

 Pp. ix+163. (London: Wireless Press, Ltd., 

 1919.) Price 35. 6d. net. 

 As shown by the sub-title, this work is addressed 

 to students of wireless telegraphy. It outlines, 

 without very elaborate mathematics, the general 

 principles of alternating currents and their 

 generation, transformation, etc., in a way readily 

 intelligible to those having already some general 

 knowledge of electricity and magnetism. As the 

 book advances, the treatment specialises more 

 and more in the direction of wireless working. 

 Discussions of the influence of inductance and 

 capacity lead up to a consideration of resonance, 

 and high-frequency resistance is given a promin- 

 ence justified by its importance in this class of 

 work. A few typical measuring instruments, as 

 used in wireless installations, are briefly described 

 at the end. A reviewer, on turning over the 

 leaves for the first time, might receive a false 

 impression from the presence of an illustration 

 in the chapter on alternating-current generators 

 of an obsolete, although historically interesting, 

 type of machine. This is, however, not unduly 

 enlarged upon in the letterpress. The book *s 

 clearly written throughout, and should save those 

 for whom it is intended much trouble and waste 

 of time in picking out the parts of the subject 

 that they require from the many more complete 

 and general works on alternating-current working. 

 NO. 2631, VOL. 105] 



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 with 

 the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 

 this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 

 taken of anonymous communications.] 



Science and the New Army. 



The leading article on " Science and the New Army" 

 in Nature of March 18 raises a number of points of 

 fundamental importance with regard to the future 

 relations between science and the Services. The 

 whole subject may conveniently be considered under 

 two heads : (a) The utilisation of the results of 

 scientific research for military purposes; and (b) the 

 direct employment in times of emergency of scientific 

 workers themselves. 



With regard to the first, the difficulty has been the 

 lack of real contact. The university worker is neces- 

 sarily largely withdrawn from the problems of every- 

 day life ; and this, not through either mental in- 

 capacity or unwillingness on his part, as many people 

 seem to think, but mainly because his time is usually 

 fully occupied with teaching or university routine. 

 Thus he is not, in many cases, even aware of the 

 problems which need solution, and some organisation 

 is required to bring thern to him. More, however, 

 than this is wanted if he is to give active help, and 

 attention will have to be carefully given to the fol- 

 lowing points : — 



(i) There is a great disinclination among reputable 

 scientific societies to publish work (even though it 

 may be of considerable practical value) which does 

 not constitute a definite advance in science itself. 

 Now, the solutions of many Service problems are, 

 from the scientific point of view, trivial, though 

 laborious. Nevertheless, it is of great importance that 

 they should be explicitly worked out and reach the 

 people interested. On the other hand, technical 

 journals often look askance at what they would 

 probably call "academic" contributions. There is 

 here a gap to be bridged. 



(2) Even a scientific worker will expect either 

 remuneration or credit for his work ; if the Services 

 expect his collaboration, they must be prepared to pay 

 for it. It has frequently happened that scientific men 

 have given their time and efforts without stint 

 and received little beyond mere thanks (if as much), 

 whilst the credit has been monopolised by some 

 administrative official. 



(3) It must also be made clear that scientific 

 workers are not wealthy amateurs, and that the sum 

 (sometimes considerable) necessary to finance pre- 

 liminary experiments must be provided. Further, the 

 Services must be willing to take the worker into their 

 confidence and to let him observe for himself the 

 actual conditions to which his work will apply. Most 

 Service men cannot even state a problem to a re- 

 searcher, and are incapable of distinguishing between 

 data which are essential and those which are not. It 

 is entirely useless to expect a scientific mpn to work 

 in the dark, on second-hand statements from them. 

 For example, one cannot work on submarine detec- 

 tion without submarines at one's disposal. Facilities 

 (which may involve the temporary use of a ship, of 

 aircraft, or of troops) are necessary if results are to 

 be obtained. 



In this connection I feel doubtful as to the wisdom 

 of the policy quoted in your leading article from the 

 memorandum of the Secretary of State for War of 

 seoarating what is called "pure research" (query: 

 Does this mean "research in pure science"?) from 



