NA TURE 



[November 12, 1908 



more important service rendered by the army of trained 

 men of science, which wages ceaseless war against 

 pestilence, flood, and famine. The scouts of this army 

 penetrate the unknown, under conditions making no 

 small demands on their courage, and render possible 

 the advance of humanity. But even if sufficient 

 regard be paid by the ordinary intelligent citizen to 

 the material service done him by science, it can 

 hardly be denied that he has no conception of his 

 indebtedness on the intellectual and moral side. Yet 

 scientific method, whenever and wherever made wel- 

 come, has imparted greater freedom and clearness 

 of thought, has widened imagination and sympathy, 

 and has led to a truer perception of life and character 

 based upon concepts of law and order. Nor need we 

 regard as a small matter the sum of intellectual en- 

 joyment and stimulus derived from the progress of 

 discovery. This progress would be quickened if the 

 people met the demand of science for intelligent 

 sympathy with its aims and methods; for active and 

 liberal support of investigation ; for national and per- 

 sonal action in respectful accord with the results 

 established by investigators accredited by their fellow- 

 ■workers. 



But even the material benefits can be reaped to the 

 full only by a nation prepared to recognise the truth 

 expressed on p. 29 of Sir Ray Lankester's book :— 



" Science is no handmaiden, but in reality the 

 master — the master who must be obeyed. The sooner 

 and the more thoroughly the people of this country 

 recognise this fact, and insist upon its acceptance in 

 ^iractice by their representatives and governors, the 

 better for them and their posterity." 



To the present writer it appears that our fitness to 

 remain at the head of a great empire depends upon 

 our power to "recognise this fact." 



Have we this power to-day? We have not; we 

 must seek it throuprh the intelligent sympathy of 

 tlie people. The publication of this little book sug- 

 gests one means — a powerful ,.one — to our end, viz. 

 the publication in the daily newspapers of informa- 

 tion and articles of a truly scientific character. These 

 •articles or notes must be written by men of wide 

 scientific knovvledjje and hig^h attainments, in order 

 that they may be accurate and reflect truly the aims, 

 methods and results of scientific work. 



In his preface Sir Ray Lankester explains that his 

 book is a reproduction of articles which appeared in 

 the Haily Telegraph from October, 1907, to April, 

 1908. The author's style is clear and animated, well 

 adapted to arrest and hold the attention of the news- 

 paper reader. The articles relating to tropical dis- 

 eases, the public estimate of the value of science, 

 heredity, ignorance, and vivisection display a power 

 and earnestness suited to their themes. The lighter 

 articles convey a considerable amount of information 

 in a chatty, reminiscent style, interspersed with bio- 

 graphical detail. The bit of autobiography on p. 59 

 is a charmingly told illustration of the experimental 

 method. When discussing votes for women our 

 author is less illuminating, and is perhaps as likely 

 to make opponents as converts. We are glad that he 

 did not confine himself to biological subjects. He 

 NO. 2037, VOL. 79] 



concludes an effective short statement of the problems 

 connected with the orientation of ancient temples by 

 a remark on Stonehenge which will be echoed by 

 readers of Nature : — 



" The delay in examining everything on the spot 

 and in making all that remains absolutely secure is 

 a national disgrace." 



We hope that the present volume will have many 

 successors. 



With the exception of Sir Ray Lankester's work 

 and certain technical articles, the " scientific " para- 

 graphs which we have read in the daily Press are 

 far from reaching the standard which we have 

 already indicated (or the standard reached, e.g., in 

 the case of musical criticism). Too frequently they 

 fall to the level of burlesque absurdity — stuff which 

 no editor would dream of publishing as serious in- 

 formation in regard to any other department of news. 

 In addition to hearing the professor talk " from an 

 easy chair," we want accurate statements of recent 

 advances, as clear and simple as possible, relying 

 for interest on intrinsic importance and not on 

 " popular " dressing and sensationalism. Nor would 

 such " news from the front " of the progress of our 

 scientific army lack appreciative readers. The spread 

 of scientific teaching in our schools and universities, 

 the existence of fifty thousand members of our poly- 

 technics, and, above all, the attention to scientific 

 inventions which is a necessity to organisers of com- 

 mercial and industrial undertaking's — these guarantee 

 the existence of a reading public able to appreciate 

 such scientific information. Surely the time is ripe 

 for the editors of our " dailies " to take science seri- 

 ously. To find and harness a Huxley and a Helm- 

 holtz may be beyond editorial power, but it is within 

 that power to employ men of high scientific training 

 and to require from them contributions of first-rate 

 quality. By so doing they would give an impulse 

 to national progress in science. G. F. D. 



THE GRE.-IT PYRAMID. 

 The Great Pyramid of Gizeh; its Riddle Read, its 

 Secret Metroliigy Fully Revealed as the Origin of 

 British .Measures. By M. W. H. Lombe Brooke. 

 Pp. 217. (London : Banks and Son, igo8.) Price 

 7^-. 6rf. net. 



THE mind of the gnostic is ever wilh us; it delights 

 in founding the most far-reaching statements 

 upon a basis of facts and dogmas which may or 

 may not be true, but the relevance of which to the 

 conclusion escapes the ordinary intellect. In this 

 volume of 217 pages we have some fresh theories 

 based on older ones about the Great Pyramid, but 

 with a wide departure in results from those of thf 

 earlier theorists. Whatever we may conclude aboul 

 the theoretical results of the late Prof. Piazzi Smyth, 

 we all know that he was able to handle his material 

 in a scientific fashion. This is far from the case iii 

 the present volume. 



As examples of method we have (p. 29) a sto- 

 of most extreme irregularity — a natural boulder sui 

 face — stated to nine places of figures in its cubic 



