January 29, 1920] 



NATURE 



561 



out 20,000 Territorials reached Egypt, and the 

 Y.M.C.A. at once began its work among them. 

 At Heliopolis 5000 troops encamped in the 

 desert, with nothing to do after the day's routine 

 ended, and within four days a marquee had been 

 obtained, and writing accommodation, followed 

 by a circulating library and canteen, provided. 

 In addition, postal facilities were arranged for 

 three weeks until the Government post office was 

 established, and some 1500-2000 letters were dealt 

 with daily. From 1915 onwards soldiers' clubs 

 were established in all the principal military 

 centres of the Near East. Sir James Barrett 

 bears eloquent testimony to the invaluable work 

 of the Y.M.C.A. In a concluding sentence he 

 says: "The strength, in my judgment, of this 

 organisation lies ir. the fact that its members 

 possess an ideal which finds expression in seryices 

 to their fellows of the most practical character. 

 . . . Whether we shall all agree with their 

 ideals in the abstract or not is outside the ques- 

 tion, for all can join in admiring and respecting 

 their single-minded efforts to better humanity." 

 Gen. Allenby, who contributes a preface, writes in 

 a similar strain : " No one has more reason than 

 I to be grateful to the Y.M.C.A. for its work in 

 connection with the army. Throughout the cam- 

 paign its workers have followed closely the 

 fighting line, and their labours have done much 

 to keep up the moral, mental, and physical effici- 

 ency of my troops. . . . Broad-minded 

 Christianity, self-regardless devotion to work, a 

 spirit of daring enterprise, and sound business 

 guidance have built up an organisation which has 

 earned the gratitude of the Empire." 



SCIENTIFIC BIOGRAPHY. 

 (i) Herschel. By the Rev. Hector Macpherson. 

 (Pioneers of Progress : Men of Science. Edited 

 by Dr. S. Chapman.) Pp. 78. (London : 

 S.P.C.K. ; New York: The Macmillan Co., 

 1919.) Price 2s. net. 



(2) Lectures on Ten British Physicists of the Nine- 

 teenth Century. By Alexander Macfarlane. 

 (Mathematical Monographs : No. 20.) Pp. 144. 

 (New York : John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ; Lon- 

 don : Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1919.) Price 

 7s. 6d. net. 



(3) Joseph Dalton Hooker. By Prof. F. O. Bower. 

 (Pioneers of Progress : Men of Science. Edited 

 by Dr. S. Chapman.) Pp. 62. (London : 

 S.P.C.K.; New York: The Macmillan Co., 

 1919.) Price 25. net. 



IN most directions we have had to abandon our 

 aspirations and sanguine prophecies of a 

 reconstruction which should lead to a better world 

 NO. 2622, VOL. 104] 



and almost justify the horrors of war. But in one 

 direction hope remains ; there has certainly been a 

 growth in the popular appreciation of science. 

 However, like most good things, it has its dan- 

 gers ; it was the applications of science, rather 

 than science itself, which stimulated popular 

 interest during the war. We are not yet sure 

 that the better judgment of value is based on a 

 better understanding; and, if it is not, if science 

 is to be appreciated merely because it is useful in 

 the arts of war and peace, we shall soon be wish- 

 ing- fervently that interest may once more be 

 replaced by apathy. 



The danger is partly our own fault. We com- 

 plain that the populace have neglected science ; but 

 science has also neglected the populace ; we 

 have not offered the laity of our best. " Popular 

 science " has too often consisted of superficial lec- 

 tures with showy experiments or trashy sentimen- 

 talism about the romance of radium and the starry 

 heavens. We ought not to be surprised if those to 

 whom science is presented in so unscientific a 

 guise are indifferent to its value and ignorant of 

 its meaning. 



In order to make the laity understand rightly, 

 we must start from a common ground. And there 

 is a common ground : the proper study of man- 

 kind is man. Great men of science are often great 

 men as well ; by utilising the universal interest in 

 great personalities, we may lead the way to a true 

 comprehension of their work. Science, it is true, 

 has a strong impersonal element ; but it has also a 

 strong personal element; it is on the latter that 

 we must found a comprehension of the former. It 

 is significant that an abstruse scientific problem 

 has been noticed recently in the daily Press under 

 such headlines as "Newton v. Einstein." The 

 personal element of the matter was the first to 

 appeal to the popular imagination. 



For these reasons the volumes before us would 

 have been welcome, even if they had represented 

 an attempt rather than an achievement. It would 

 not have been surprising if first attempts at popu- 

 lar scientific biographies had been partial failures ; 

 but here they are not. We have left little space to 

 speak in detail of Mr. Macpherson 's and Mr. 

 Macfarlane 's books, because all that there is to be 

 said of them can be adequately conveyed in a 

 single sentence. They are as good as they can 

 be, and a great deal better than we should have 

 imagined possible. Mr. Macpherson's task was 

 perhaps as easy as that of a scientific biographer 

 can be, for Sir William Herschel's work is easy to 

 understand and the facts of his life might have 

 been taken from a romantic novel ; but everything 

 looks easy when done by a master of the craft. 

 Mr. Macfarlane 's book is even more remarkable; 



