Page:American Historical Review, Vol. 23.djvu/135

Rh tatingly drawn in it is all too meagrely supported, and, although to be looked for in a series of lectures like the present, seems an intrusion in the context where it is found. The author apparently feels this, for he hastens on at once to other and I was about to say less controversial matters, but the assumption that his interpretation of history is the interpretation of Jesus would probably be as widely controverted.

The following passage summarizes the positions of the book and reveals the author's attitude and point of view with admirable clearness.

has been considerable agitation of late for instruction in the history of science in our colleges and technical schools. This volume is a practical step in that direction.

The author has written a little book on a big subject in excellent English. Professor Libby's statement (p. 134), "Dr. Hutton presented his Theory of the Earth in ninety-six pages of perfectly lucid English", might well be applied to his own book, if we change the number of pages to 288. The style is condensed, but a pleasure to read.

How to approach the subject, how to organize the material, and how to present it to the reader, are problems which many of the longer histories of science have failed to solve satisfactorily. Professor Libby adheres roughly to chronological order, but his chapter-headings are topical. He discusses science as a whole and in the broadest sense, and does not as a rule consider the individual sciences separately. On the other hand, certain leaders of scientific thought and accomplishment are singled out, and their lives, personalities, and genius are entertainingly set forth. Perhaps another would not have chosen for emphasis just the names that the author has selected. English-speaking scientists, for example, seem to receive rather more than their due ratio of attention. But the author makes it clear enough that "science is international", and tells its story in a broad, human, and tolerant manner. Its relations to other fields of man's life—education, war, religion, industry, travel, philosophy, art, ethics, and democracy—are well touched