New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-05-06

A BUDGET OF pARADONES. BY Augustus he
college CsmbTiise Rrp-i1tci. win ne .uiaoI's
additions. from The Atle'rlm Lditel u'
rp ~. Isl. Chicago The Opc1 Court Publishing
Company.
il is a suggestive coincidence that
these volumes should appear almost
simultaneously with the reduction Of
"The AthenTum' from weekly to
monthly publication. For IL was in that
famous critical journal that most Of
these papers were originally printed.
For years they formed one Of the most
attractive of the features which made
"The AthenRum" the most successful
periodical Of its kind in the world. Now
there is apparently not sufficient de-
mand for a journal such as 1t was IN
De Morgans time TO warrant its contin-
nance: wherefore 10 is diminished by
70 per cent. At the same time book
publishing company has the faith and
courage TO put forward this reprint OF
"AthenRum' articles IN the expectation
that there will be a demand for u.
We must hope that there viii be. IL
would be q salutary and inspiring thing
10 have such reading matter as TINS
rank among the "siX best-sellers, and
70 have this reminder of what "Ihe
Athcnaum" used 20 be renew a demand
for ID and for similar serious
notifications. "Thc old order changeth,
and perhaps IL is well, In general, that
II should. But in some respects we
houd prefer TO see u remain un-
changed.
de- Morgan was in the thick Of the
controversy Of the mld-century over
the comparative merits ard Importance
Of logic and mathematics and the rela-
/ ton between them; when too many Of
the devotees of each seemed inclined 70
minimize the other. he rightly held
that the relation between them was
+ i'm fact little If anything less than
correlation; and II was perhaps ms
+ supreme intellectual virtue that he was
equally adept in both. lie is most
commonly regarded as a mathematl-
clan: yet in logic he was the peer OF ms
great contemporaries, Hamilton and
Roolo. and was acknowledged by the
former 10 have been AN independent
dIecovcrcr Of the Quantlncaton OF the
predicate.
Now tho relationship between and
the intcrdependence Of qualitative ana
ouautitative reasoning may be "caylare
10 the general" De Morgan's achieve
ments in the gnomonic projection of
the sphere may not appeal TO the man
In the street with the compelling force
Of the latest tango step or some uncen-
sored movie Yet we should be re
2 luctant TO believe that readers OF in
telligence, Of curiosity and of apprecia-
ton could fail 10 be interested In some
parts of this extraordinary compilation
Of essays; or that even those who cared
nothing for the science Of them could
fail 10 be delighted with the protean
variety. the Kaleidoscope briiliancy, the
intellectual nimbleness and the lam
bent and pcrvasivc humor which invest
his writings with unfailing charm, and
which must have made his oral teach
ing truly fascinating
Conspicuous among his "paradoxes'
the word is not always applicable in
precisely its ordinary sense are the
three great problems which have from
. time out Of mind engaged much Of the
attention and industry Of scholars
speculators and inventors. and which
TO this day retain a large measure OF
their immemorial interest. These are
the quadrature Of the circle, the tri-