1 68 



NATURE 



[August ii, 1910 



The study of this very complete and suggestive 

 memoir cannot fail to increase the reg'ret which must 

 be universally felt in the scientific world at the death, 

 so early in his career, of its distinguished author. 



J. W. J. 



READABLE BOOKS IN NATURAL KNOW- 

 LEDGE. 



Wonders oj Physical Science. By E. E. Fournier. 

 Pp. viii+2oi. 



Tillers of the Ground. By Dr. Marion I. Newbigin. 

 Pp. viii + 224. 



Threads in the Web of Life. By Margaret R. Thom- 

 son and Prof. J. Arthur Thomson. Pp. vii + 198. 

 (London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1910.) Price 

 IX. 6d. each. 



SOME years ag'o a new series of " Readable Books 

 in Natural Knowledge " would have been a gift of 

 doubtful value to the teacher. Written by the capable 

 hands that have made the present volumes, they 

 could not have failed to awaken here and there the 

 genuine passion for scientific inquiry, and so would 

 have seemed to justify their existence. But, speaking 

 generally, the more completely such books had suc- 

 ceeded in "popularising" the labours of the savant 

 the further they would have been held to direct the 

 attention of the teacher from the proper aim of in- 

 struction in science. We now recognise that that aim 

 is not so much to make the pupil acquainted with 

 certain ranges of facts as to train him in the exercise 

 of one of the most important forms of human activity. 

 Thanks largely to the tireless propaganda of Prof. 

 Armstrong, this aim is at present pursued with more 

 or less intelligence wherever it is claimed that science 

 is being taught. The boy learns that the essence of 

 science consists in putting a clear question to nature 

 and wresting from her a clear answer to it. In 

 favourable circumstances he acquires some of the 

 mental habits essential to success in this pursuit, or 

 at any rate is made to see that such success comes 

 only of faithfulness and labour. 



It was natural that the training value of heuristic 

 methods should be emphasised by their advocates 

 since this element was almost entirely absent from the 

 older didactic methods. But modern pedagogy, in- 

 structed by the results of psychological inquiry, has 

 become critical of the claims of a subject to train or 

 cultivate "faculties," and prefers to find in the nature 

 of the subject itself the justification for teaching it. 

 Thus the prime reason for teaching science is that, 

 intrinsically and in its results, the scientific activity 

 is one of the greatest and worthiest types of human 

 effort. An education that does not give a sympathetic 

 acquaintance with it is, therefore, necessarily incom- 

 plete. Whatever other arguments may be urged in 

 their favour, heuristic methods in science teaching are 

 rendered necessary by the fact that by them alone the 

 pupil is made actually to exercise the scientific activity, 

 and so to gain direct knowledge of one of the cardinal 

 forms of human achies'ement. But when by first- 

 hand experience he has genuine knowledge of the 

 scientific activity, he should also have opportunities of 

 appreciating its significance in human history. It is 

 NO. 2128, VOL. 84] 



precisely to serve this function that the present series 

 of " Readable Books " has been designed. To quote 

 the publishers' note, thev "aim at exalting the scien- 

 tific spirit which leads men to devote their lives to the 

 advancement of natural knowledge, and at showing 

 how the human race eventually reaps the benefit of 

 such research." 



It may be said at once that in the first three books 

 of the series this aim has been already admirably ful- 

 filled. The authors have approached their task in the 

 right temper, and have, on the whole, been remark- 

 ably happv, both in the choice and in the treatment 

 of their topics. Mr. Fournier takes ground, a great 

 part of which has been worked over by predecessors, 

 but he has evidently gone himself to the works of the 

 great physicists, and his chapters have the freshness 

 and force derived from this direct contact. Dr. 

 Marion Newbigin tells of the evolution and spread of 

 food-plants with an epical directness and unity of 

 plan. An episode in the development of Transatlantic 

 commercialism — such as the transportation of Smyrna 

 figs to California — becomes in her hands a wonder- 

 fully impressive illustration of the working of the 

 scientific spirit. Mrs. and Prof. J. A. Thomson have 

 taken a subject which hardly lends itself to the same 

 unity of treatment. In part, their object is to exhibit 

 the dependence of man upon deliberate or unconscious 

 partnership with animals — such as the domesticated 

 animals on the one hand, and earthworms on the 

 other. Thev come nearer to the special aim of the 

 series in the chapters where they show what 

 tremendous results depend upon the scientific inves- 

 tigation of the life-histories of microscopic parasites. 

 It is unnecessary to say that both parts of their pro- 

 gramme are admirably executed. 



A notable characteristic of each of the books is that 

 they bring the tale of scientific conquests down to our 

 own days. Thus Mr. Fournier describes Rontgen's 

 discovery of the X-rays, and tells the story of aviation 

 down to Blf^riot's flight across the Channel last year. 

 Dr. Newbigin gives capital chapters on the work of 

 Mendel, de Vries, and their followers. Prof, and Mrs. 

 Thomson have a chapter on the relation between 

 mosquitoes and malaria, as well as one on Pasteur. 

 In short, these most interesting and stimulating little 

 books initiate a series which will at once prove of 

 great value as an adjunct to the systematic instruction 

 of the class-room and laboratory, and, if continued in 

 the same spirit and with the same ability, will become 

 an almost indispensable part of a school equipment 

 for science teaching. T. P. N. 



SALMON AND TROUT. 

 Life-history and Habits of the Salmon, Sea-trout, 

 Trout, and other Fresh-water Fish. By P. D. Mal- 

 loch. Pp. xvi+263. (London: Adam and Charles 

 Black, 1910.) Price 10s. 6d. net. 



THIS book is almost entirely devoted to the salmon 

 of the Tav, sea-trout, and brown trout. "The 

 other fresh-water fish " are but slightly dealt with, 

 and the chapters allocated to them call for no par- 

 ticular notice, save to direct attention to the start- 



