866 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 182. 



motion, all change, all intelligence, all feeling, 

 be explained by the impact of matter upon 

 matter or of matter upon ether? This ques- 

 tion he pursues relentlessly into the remotest 

 corners of the sciences of nature and man, 

 answering it everywhere with an emphatic No. 



But the argument is not wholly negative. 

 The author would prove on the basis of experi- 

 mental science that there is something in our 

 universe beside matter in motion as the result 

 of impact. Science deals with the question, 

 How ; Why and What are matters of taste and 

 intellectual insight ? Asking how matter moves, 

 science arrives at the doctrine of the potential, 

 gravitational, electric, magnetic, functional, 

 intellectual, etc. The doctrine of the potential 

 is utterly irreconcilable with the materialistic 

 position (pp. 175 to 396). 



Of course, much of this matter must be com- 

 monplace, as in any systematic exposition, but 

 the recent and the recondite are not neglected, 

 and the author's own researches are freely al- 

 luded to and given more fully in the appendices. 



The book has a charming vivacity and is full 

 of examples of felicity of statement and diction. 

 It is also rich in anecdote and illustration. 

 Many who would care nothing for the argument 

 of the book would find pleasure in the account 

 of Ampere's experiment (p. 100), of the syn- 

 thetic free man (p. 355), of the materialistic 

 explanation of whim and fashion (p. 361), of 

 the encounter with a mob (p. 400), and the as- 

 sassination of Paul I. of Russia (p. 416). 



E. A. Strong. 



The Meaning of Education. By Dr. Nicholas 

 Murray Butler. The Macmillan Com- 

 pany. Pp. 230. Price, $1. 

 This book is not a systematic work upon only 

 a single subject ; its seven chapters, instead, are 

 mainly addresses that Tiave been delivered in 

 diflferent parts of the country on various themes. 

 But the subjects chosen are leading questions 

 in modern education ; one is the American Col- 

 lege and University, two pertain to the sec- 

 ondary school, and the four others involve 

 particularly the aim of education, the character- 

 istics of the new education, the relative values 

 of studies and the relation of evolution to edu- 

 cation. The selection of these topics indicates 



the author's interest in all phases of education, 

 and their treatment reveals his deep sympathy 

 with modern views. 



The book is likely to find an especially large 

 number of readers, because it will appeal both 

 to the educational expert and to teachers and 

 citizens in general. 



Its value to the specialist in pedagogy is due 

 partly to the real newness of some of its 

 thoughts, partly to their breadth of treatment. 



For example, few teachers of method have 

 seriously considered the relation of evolution to 

 educational theory ; to many, therefore, the 

 first chapter, entitled the ' Meaning of Educa- 

 tion,' will open up a new field of thought. 

 Most of these specialists, also, devote their at- 

 tention mainly to a very few phases of educa- 

 tion ; such as these Dr. Butler's wide interest 

 and knowledge cannot help but broaden. There 

 is hardly another man in the United States who 

 has had an equal opportunity with him to ac- 

 quaint himself with the condition of education 

 in this country and abroad. Consequently his 

 statements can rightly be regarded as authori- 

 tative. This fact lends great interest to the 

 book, for Dr. Butler is not a man who fails to- 

 make concise statements that reveal the exact 

 condition of afiairs. For example, on p. 77 he 

 declares, in substance, that most college pro- 

 fessors know no more about the science of 

 education than the motorman on a trolley car 

 about the science of electricity — a statement that 

 is certainly interesting and no doubt true. 



Partly on account of the above facts, the book 

 will prove of great value to teachers and citi- 

 zens in general. Dr. Butler is peculiarly a man 

 of the world ; he is as well acquainted with the 

 business man as with the teacher, and can mak& 

 himself as fully understood and appreciated by 

 the former as by the latter. Both will find in 

 this book an outline, in brief, of the new edu- 

 cation, but so simply and beautifully presented 

 that, instead of taking offense at it because of its 

 being the 'new education,' they are likely ta 

 regard it as entirely sensible. The book will, 

 therefore, do much to establish sympathy among^ 

 intelligent men and women for modern views- 

 on education. 



Frank McMurry. 



University of Buffalo. 



