Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/445

 REVIEWS 429

monthly surveys of a year's events would not displace this history. Even if there were no variations from the general plan of the monthly review, the wider outlook of a year would necessarily recon- struct the material.

The present work is novel, however, in more than its plain of reporting a single year at a time. It has its own classification of the events to be reported. It assumes a theorem about the relative value of historical occurrences, and about the relations in which the events recorded may most profitably be presented. It is an adventure in the making of history upon a sociological presumption, virtually new to historians. That premise is that the instruction to be gained from general history would be most available if the facts were told, not nationally, but in their relations to civilization in general ; and, further, that the facts may be assembled most advantageously around four principal human interests, viz. : first, man's interest in con- trolling himself and his surroundings ; second, his interest in learning more about himself and his surroundings ; third, his interest in improving himself and his surroundings ; fourth, his interest in enjoying the beautiful.

Nothing has occurred to shake my belief that the best division of human interests for ordinary purposes is the sixfold grouping health, wealth, sociability, knowledge, beauty, and Tightness. The first three are the chief forms of objective appropriation of the life- conditions ; the second three, the subjective forms. While it would be easy to give reasons for preferring this classification to Dr. Cuppy's, his scheme is such an evident improvement upon the con- ventional historical categories, and it serves so well in arranging the memorable achievements of the year to which the classification is applied, that it would savor of hypercriticism to press the issue.

The present volume is devoted to the year 1901. To indicate most directly the scope of the book, we quote the chapter titles, viz. : " The Keynote of the New Century," " The New American Posses- sions," "The Trend of National Energies," "The South African War," "The Chinese Problem," "The International Web," "The Year's Legislation," " Conflicting National Elements," " Political Changes," " The Work of the Explorer," " Achievements in Science," " The Work of the Inventor," " The War against Disease," " Reli- gion," " Education," " Miscellaneous Social Changes," " Books and Plays," "Art and Music." An appendix of thirty-eight pages con- tains: "The Year of Sports," "The Nobel Prizes," "Prominent