^64 



NATURE 



[September i, 1910 



(if the contributiuiis made by the succession of workers. 

 He seeks to show how one step is related to others, 

 often beyond the boundaries of biolofjv. There is, for 

 example, a very interesting^ passage in which he 

 maintains that Darwin projected upon nature the 

 contenipurary ideal of the English state, his theory 

 beinsj, in fact, '"a sociology of Nature." In parts 

 R^dl's book shows an interpretative insight, which 

 reminds us of Merz's " History of Intellectual De- 

 velopment in the Nineteenth Centurv," which is great 

 praise; in other parts we think that he is quite un 

 sound — notably in his curiously non-evolutionary con- 

 tention that Darwinism is dead. Nor do we think 

 that he is uniformly fair and accurate in his treatment 

 of Darwinism, e.g., in a sentence like this: — "Die 

 Theorie Darwins, welche jeden Glauben an die 

 Gesetzmassigkeit der organischen Welt vernichtete, 

 und alles Geschehen fiir eine Haufung von Zufallen 

 hielt, konnte zwar fiir kurze zeit die \\'elt blenden." 



It is unsatisfactory to do no more than record dissent 

 from Dr. Radl's pronouncement that Darwinism is 

 discredited, but the matter cannot be argued out in 

 a few sentences, ^^■e might refer him, however, to 

 some weighty considerations set forth in the fifth 

 chapter of .Sir Ray Lankester's "Science from an Easv 

 Chair," which is entitled "Darwin's Theory Un- 

 shaken." 



As we lay down the big book, our dominant impres- 

 sions are that it is stimulating and even provocative, 

 that it shows an extraordinary acquaintance with the 

 literature, that it expresses a sometimTs surprising 

 appreciation of the importance of thinkers outside the 

 ordinary schools (Samuel Butler, for instance), and 

 that it carries one on with an undeniable swing, 

 though it passes our understanding to discover the 

 meaning of the detailed arrangement of the chapters. 



SCIEWCE IN SCHOOL. 

 Broad Lilies in Science Teaching. Edited bv F. Hod- 

 son, with an introduction by Prof. M. E. Sadler. 

 Pp. xxxvi + 267. (London: Christophers, n.d.) 

 Price 5i-. net. 



T N the curricula of English schools a place, some- 

 i limes an important place, has been allotted to 

 "science." The result has been to kindle intellectual 

 interest in certain boys to whom the other work of 

 the class-room made no appeal, as well as to direct 

 the interests of the more studious to a wider field of 

 intellectual exploration. Even more important has 

 been the influence of the science-masters, who, having 

 no well-worn groove of tradition along which to travel 

 with the minimum of effort, have brought scientific 

 method to the investigation of methods of teaching. 

 Nevertheless, to many observers the effects of science 

 teaching have been disappointing. Such critics de- 

 mand that the average youth shall acquire the scien- 

 tific way of looking at things. This is a very much 

 larger demand than was realised in the early days, and 

 it is the special aim of the book before us to present 

 a broad view of the work which is involved in any 

 sound curriculum which can make boys and girls of 

 NO. 2 13 I, VOL. 84] 



secondary-school age the possessors of that which 

 science has to give. 



The volume contains a number (not strictly a series) 

 of essays by writers who desire that the methods of 

 science teaching should be built upon a fundamental 

 study of the right relation of the growing mind towards 

 new knowledge, new dexterities, new perceptions of 

 duty. We niav ;it once congratulate the editor on the 

 (lersoniui of the contributors and on the manner in 

 which he and thev have justified the title of the work. 

 Prof. .Sadler contributes an introduction, which is also 

 somewhat in the nature of a review, and emphasises 

 the necessity of first-hand study of nature. The 

 place of science in the curriculum, its position in 

 Germany, and the utility of examinations are dis- 

 cussed by the editor and Mr. Badley. Biological sub- 

 jects receive a goodly share of attention in articles 

 contributed by Miss von Wyss, Mr. Oswald Latter, 

 and Miss Ravenhill. The chapter on geography is 

 written bv Mr. J. N. Stephenson, and is full of useful 

 and sound criticism — obviously the work of an experi- 

 enced and shrewd teacher. The relation of school 

 work to the spiritual side of the pupil is discussed by 

 the headmaster of Bedales and Miss Sanders, and in 

 a measure bv Prof. Powicke in his chapter on " Science 

 in the Teaching of History." It is impossible within 

 the limits of a short review to deal with these ; the 

 mention of them will serve to show the breadth of the 

 editor's objective. Consideration is also given to the 

 preliminary training of those who are to become 

 farmers, housewives, engineers. In the last-mentioned 

 case the writer considers the administrative and 

 economic difficulties, but so rapidly are changes taking 

 place in the organisation of educational courses for 

 boys leaving school between the ages of fourteen and 

 seventeen that no demerit attaches to the essays in 

 which these aspects are omitted, as is usually the case 

 in this volume. 



Physics, chemistry, mathematics, are dealt with in 

 the short space of forty to fifty pages. It would have 

 been an improvement if more space had been given 

 to these branches, even if this had involved the loss 

 of the chapter on laboratory planning, which is not 

 quite on the "broad lines" of the rest of the book. 

 Teachers of chemistry should certainly read Dr. T. P. 

 Nunn's essay on "The Place of Hypotheses in Science 

 Teaching " ; those who wish to train their pupils in 

 the habit of independent thinking about phenomena 

 and theories cannot fail to gain help from this search- 

 ing probe into the tissues of our chemical belief. 



The general impression produced by this book is 

 encouraging. Especially marked is the thoroughness 

 with which correlation between branches of the curri- 

 culum is made the basal plan of the educatiotal 

 structure. Correlation has ceased to be a word merely 

 (blessed or the reverse), or at best a number of 

 adventitious links between subjects mainly pursued 

 apart; it is fast becoming an influence pervading the 

 more progressive common-rooms and giving unity — 

 but not monotony — to aims and methods in 

 adjoining class-rooms. The subject of the chem- 

 istry-master is not primarily chemistry but boy. 

 The writers of " Broad Lines " realise this. They also 



