The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-09-20
Bright and Chara,cteris :i
81 Review 81 Carl Snyder's
Interesting Work Writ
ten BY One Of the
N Most Distinguished
Scientists Of
This his: City.
SJNO ..FOX'sLATESTBOOK
Tie Little Shepherd Of Kingdom
Come Both Picturesque and En-
tertaining.' Sherrods, in Ola
Alabama. A DR. Of Philos-
ophy. The yagabond
and Other New
Public at ions.

3A4I CONCEPTION In SClUNSl.. @WllH ["
Foreword on the Relations OF Science
and Progress BY Carl Snyder. lllustra-
81 ted with portraits and sketches New
York and London; Harper and Bros
publishers. 1908. Price $500 net. For sale
q in Richmond BY the Bell Book and Sta
4 4 tlonery Company.
8 ..The ordinary run Of men live among
aenomena. of which they care nothing
IL. and know less. They see bodies fall to the
X earth; they hear sounds; they lsinule ires'
they see the heavens roll above them
rs but of the causes and inner Workings OF
/, the whole they aer ignorant, ana WIN
their Ignorance they aer content" While
tho statement in this quotation from
Sir oliver Lodge, which prefnces TINS
book, is true, we are persuaded that ths
number of this run of men has for some
Il time past been rapidly diminishing All
IS over the globe, inevery civilized town ana
village even in Richmond--where. as
Il general thing. the children are orousn1
" I'm To believe that scientific knowledge Is
q far Inferior in value to knowledge Of
3fS lie Notwithstanding technicalities OF Eng
Il Elish era 1nnlar and tho syntaX me
etymology, and even the orthoepy, OF
z the ghost Of an old world tongue dead
II centuries ago-here and everywhere there
are lnultitudes not classable as Votaries
Of science, who are deeply interested IN
It's progress and who keenly watch its
newest phases. This is shown very plain
" by the large amount of attention be-
slowed nowadays on scientific mat
= ters by the newspapers, which are
mick 10 realize what their read
ers want: and indeed, 1t is
\ d remarkable fact that the first information
IA concerning some of the most notable re.
cent scientific discoveries has come TO
IS lis not through the orthodox channels,
u S3 but among the kilograms Of the dn,ly
W. papers We may expect, therefore that
this book will be widely read, for it gives
RAE an account. agrceably and, generally,
5E clearly written, OF the advances which
+, science is at this time making some OF
which for their alldacity are startling,
and If they can be maintained. will be
re,rolutionarf.
t Ii is gratifying to find this twentieth
century writer paying just tribute to
S the worthless who cultivated science IN
n the far off times. Some forty years ago
Professor John w. Draper in mastery
manner called attention to the science OF
the ancentS. and his vivid narrative
aroused the general public and forgetful
-
Il the vast obligations we are under, es-
pecially to the noble school OF AleXan-
dria and to Arabian chemists and ply
slcians. But all this Is now pretty much
ignored for our conceited age is too busy
clarifying itself over its own achieve
nents to care to recolect that the first
steam engine in the world was operated
in Alexandria, and that many of the
most potent agents and most indispensn-
be appliances WHEREBY it has been en-
abed to pu;suc its. own marvellous in
uuries are the. outcome of Arabian skill
and knowledge. There is every reason for
thinking that the intellectual power.oi
these ancient men fully matched that
~ OF the men Of our time, and. had 1t beer
unhindercd that 1t would have long age
brought out scientific knowledge to where
i II now is. and perhaps carried II beyond
But most deplorably, the human ntellec,
presently fell Into the killing grippe Of
\ religious bigotry and intolerance and tho
gross superstition which Is the inevitable
companion Of every degraded religious he
lief. and then for ages natural SCIENCE
seemed 10 be we'll nigh extirpnted iron
the face Of the earth.
4 In these happier days science. no mor'
represscd but enjoying riotous freedom
" has free course, runs an dis glorified; and
1t Is the purpose OF this book to rcvca
the latest glories as they are conceived
Fl OF by science itself. Many of these con
AS ceptions are very striking on account o
their ingenuity. their boldness. and. Il
some instances, for their spicy flavor o
the airy reveries of that fine old race
the brethren Of the Rosy Cross. Our au
thor exhibits q fervent admiration TO
tho novel views which he has undertaken
@ to display, and we are constrained I,
warn the reader lest he be carried ava,
by an enthusiasm which Is rather too vel
Il NJ Dt hni f1n l,,n 4 IA
dreamy propositions of an experimental
III Judging what these explorers tell to U
1t Is not TO be forgotten that in tho Clio,
# Of discovery, as the wandcrcr pushes raI
IN turously forward into the encnanled lanC
he easily falls under spell and confuse
mere visions with substantial realities
And 50 It comes about that much whc
efl is defly insnuated MS fact is but apet
ulation 1t Is not yet certain that Il
elements arc tumblng to pieces becau.
some awe-struck gazer haa been ah
10 count UP what he regards as the II.
ks ing fragments: nor can we yet con
mand he sources Of life as Mr.. Snyd,
81 seems 10 hint. because 1t has been -four
Is that muscles auiyer under what is though
to be the influence OF so-called positi,
and negative ions, Electricity especial
has ever been an alluring will-of-the- Wis
from its earliest days as a science. wht
ITS power 10 aGitate the limbs OF t!
dead aroused the expectation that Il
principle of life had come within o.
grasp i'll now IT Is permitted 10 b
guile with scarce an effort put forth
t oppose its deceitful guidng and ev
sober and steady minds find /, no, alwa
4 easy 10 escape enthralment by the IA
chatting creations engcndered By matf
mates operating on pencil hetwi
the sprighry fingers Of a fancy frs
philosopher,
The book can be read In general, wi
confidence In lis statements, but m
and then we encounter slp, Thus II
twice said (pages is. 95l that body
water displaees a quantity OF tie liql
equal 10 its weight and not Accord
to its hulk, there Is alittie flnunderI
between the idea OF floating and NE q
OF immersion Nor is 1t a fact (page
that when one volume Of lsatal