FEsRuARY 7, 1907 | 
NALORE 
Oo 
century a revival began, which Prof. Paulsen traces 
largely to the rise of the philosophical faculty from 
servitude as ancilla theologiae to the leadership, 
though it doubtless corresponded with the awalening 
of the general intellectual life of the country inaugu- 
rated by Klopstock and Lessing. 
But the old freedom of the universities in Germany 
was necessarily never revived in its completion, and 
the position of the university as a State institution 
dependent to a large degree in its internal adminis- 
tration on the Government of the country in which 
it is situated leads to anomalies even now which 
Englishmen will not readily understand, though the 
real interference with freedom may be less than it? 
seems. Thus the government of the university, even 
extending to the syllabus of studies in a particular 
faculty, is potentially, and sometimes actually, under 
the control of a Minister of Education, while the 
ordinary professors are appointed by the Sovereign 
of their country and the extraordinary by the Minister 
of Education, and it appears from the statistics quoted 
by Prof. Paulsen that in a fair proportion of cases 
the appointment runs counter to the recommendation 
of the faculties; but our author, ever determined to 
see both sides of a question, remarks that political 
and Court intrigues tend to efface the back-stairs 
politics of the faculties, so that in the end the right 
man is usually chosen. 
It follows also from the dependency of the universi- 
ties on the State that the teachers must hold cautious 
political views, and even Prof. Paulsen has nothing at 
all to say in favour of the Prussian Ministry which 
dismissed a privatdocent of physics from his post on 
the sole ground that he was a social democrat. 
To choose one more point from a book absorbing 
throughout in interest, it is instructive to note that 
the absence of all social life such as is enjoyed at 
the old English universities does not cause that com- 
plete satisfaction which opponents of the system are 
so keen to insist on, but in several instances boarding- 
houses are being instituted where students can live 
in common. In the Middle Ages the residential 
collegiate system was, of course, universal, and a few 
colleges were retained long after the system had died 
out on the Continent for the benefit of the poorer 
students. It can hardly be held that the collegiate 
system persisted in England for the same purpose. 
We may sketch the plan of Prof. Paulsen’s worl 
as follows :—in the first book we are given an out- 
Jine of the historical development of the universities 
froui the Middle Ages down to modern times, and 
probably nowhere else can so much be learnt on this 
subject within the compass of about seventy pages; 
the succeeding books are concerned with present-day 
conditions, the second treating of the relation of the 
university to the State, to society, and to the Church, 
the third dealing with university teachers and the 
methods of instruction, the fourth with university life 
from the student’s point of view. In the fifth ‘book 
some special problems connected with the several 
faculties of theology, law, medicine, and philosophy 
are discussed. GS: 
NO. 1945, VOL. 75] 
GEODESY IN THE SCHOOLS. 
Text-Book on Geodesy and Least Squares Prepared 
for the Use of Civil Engineering Students. By 
Prof. Charles L. Crandall. Pp. x+329. (New 
York: John Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman 
and Hall, Ltd., 1907.) Price 12s. 6d. net. 
UCH a treatise offers little scope for originality of 
S treatment or of design. The problems con- 
nected with triangulation, or with measurement, or 
with levelling have been considered too frequently 
and too minutely by experts to permit the introduction 
of novelty. Similarly in the application of the results 
of measurement to the discussion of the figure of the 
earth, the author must follow beaten paths and occupy 
ground that has been thoroughly surveyed. His 
opportunity for exhibiting independence lies rather in 
the judicious selection of materials, and particularly 
in determining what should be omitted, that is to say, 
in considering the requirements of those for whom he 
is writing. Prof. Crandall is addressing himself 
primarily to students of Cornell University, and pre- 
sumably to those who are beginning the study of the 
subject and not to professional men engaged in actual 
) 
| work. 
| For a text-book to be used by beginners it might 
be objected that the author has a little overlaid his 
treatise with a superfluity of detail. The increased 
attention given in university training to the study 
of geodesical problems and the determination of the 
coordinates of a station on the earth’s surface is a 
feature that should be welcomed and encouraged. On 
many grounds it may be urged that the use of instru- 
ments in the field is an admirable training, more 
especially as it affords opportunities for the application 
of those formule which have been acquired from 
bookwork. For this reason one could defend the 
somewhat lengthy description of instruments here 
given, their adjustment and method of use, the 
determination of corrections, &c., though at times 
the author is tempted to indulge in too great detail. 
This error, if it be an error, arises from following too 
closely the reports and data furnished from the offices 
of the Coast Survey. The danger to be feared is that 
the minute care and attention to detail necessary 
in operations extending over a large area, may tend 
to make the subject repellent to a student whose 
main object is to gain an intelligent insight into the 
processes involved. But a greater fault appears to 
be one of omission. There is too little, almost 
nothing, concerning the methods of deriving the lati- 
tude and longitude of a station. And surely such 
matters are of quite equal importance with the 
measurement of a base line, and fall as decidedly 
within the compass of such a work. To be able to 
determine one’s position on the earth involves some- 
thing more practical than a mere college exercise. It 
is information that is frequently needed and may 
become a matter of great importance. 
The first few chapters of the book are mainly 
occupied with the description of the use and adjust- 
ment of instruments in the field. The next three are 
| devoted to consideration of problems connected with 
iy 
