Evening star., 1926-11-28


Other Essays. By l.. a, Redman.
: San Francisco: \. NJ. Robertson.
THESE essays, % all told, repre-
sent, one assumes, the play
| time of MIR. Redman. busy at
| i torney of San Francisco. Con
! cerned day in and day out
with evaluations OF evidence, with the
unfailing sequences OF pure logic,
, with deductions and SummdtlonS ana
! Judgments Mr.. Redman, like any
other of the legal persuasion, has de,
! veloped the lawyers mind, nina
! that in play as we'll as in WORK con-
Germs itself automatically with rea-
sons and deductions and controversies
based upon these. SO when his hours
| of recreation come he turns the law
yers thinking mechanism and powers
| upon certain questions that are to, MS
| taSre In this book of essays the au-
! thorS primary contention is with the
commonly accepted abstract mathc-
matical deductions that are based
upon imaginary bodies, upon IDEAL
| forces and conditions. His lnSiStenCe
| is that these deductions must be
drawn from actual bodies, forces and
conditions in order that there may
| be no ultimate departure from
mathematical predictions. He declares
| that unless this error III procedure be
| corrected changes will occur, say III
| the heavenly bodies, that the mathe-
maticians have not taken into ac-
count. All this he pOSitS with posi-
| tive assurance and with Il clarity OF
statement that even the lay reader
grasps to degree Upon this gen
| eraI assumption of error Mr. Redman
goes out, like David against Goliath,
! taking from him his scrip stone alter
stone for the destruction OF one ana
another of the kings Of the SclentlHC
world EinStein and his theory that
so startled and excited newspaper
readers? 'Amazing and incredible
nonsense, coming from a source pur-
porting to be scientific" This soothing
conclusion he draws from quotations
| from "The Einstein Theory in "Ih2
Outline of Science He quotes other
equally 'incredible nonsense issued
| by other high authority who as cN-
| perts in higher mathematics are as
Sumng to apply their reasoning to
| nonmathematical matters. Along
here he demolishes other celebrated
predictions" He detects error in the
| theory of gyrOSCOpic motion ana so,
singing pebbles right and left. this
modern David challenges the conciu-
sions and prophecies of the Scien-
tifically elect What about it? No
| body knows but the combatantS-and
mav vbe they don't know. AT any rate
! it is for them TO fight it out. As for
| the common reader he, going along
here. does get rays of light and
an occasional flash of illumination
And he does like the man-likeS his
straight talk; in other words, his rea-
soning. 1t seems as plain as day
which, no doubt, is count against
it. One likes the weapon that h" car
ries and wields Not a pebble at all
drawn from the scrip OF shepherd
boy. A sledge hammer instead. ana
this he swings right Justify around
the head of any seer or prophet talk-
ing what he calls nonsense. An eager,
sound, straight-thinking man-right
or wrong-who says he is talking
plain sense in the face of a wonderful
lot of nonsense. Except for it's spirit
and plain dealing. so welcome to the
lavman. the book is, however, one for
the scientific man to gnaW upon.
CHIMES. BY Robert Herrick, author
of '"Together." etc. New York:
The Macmillan Co.
THOSE who find a stir in studying
the craftsmanship of q novel will
sit down in pleasant expectation with
Chimes" For Robert Herrick is an
honest builder and knowing one. No
shoddy makeShitt material here. NO
haphaZard haste. either, in putting it
together once done, the structure OF
his fashioning represents fitting de
sign we'll cO-ordinated parts. each part
suitable in contributOry detail, the
whole amply adequate to meet its
original purpose. All this is true OF
"Chimes," a study Of the university
life with which Mr. Herrick is so init
ic
in restraint, abundant in knowledge
sympathetic in understanding, frank
in avoWal - just a regular Ilerrick
novel, in these respects.
AS a story Chimes" is going to
meet Indifference on the one hand,
strenuous denial on the other. The
| Indifference will come from the body
of general readers who look upon
school life as an arid source of inter
est. The denial will come from those
| responsible for the character of that
academic eXiStence-frOm the narrow
ness of the governing bodies. from the
! warped and frustrated nature of the
| educating force, professors and teach
| erS A sacrOSanct institution that of
| learning that reSentS innovations,
! limited, therefore, like any other shut
| up, sealed-in relic.
! The story itself, however. is quite
alive Here is a new university out in
| the West, fabulously endowed by a
rich man seeking such vicariOus schOl-
arship. And the matter gets on it's
way through the political intrigues of
| the governing board on the one hand,
and on the other through the aspira-
! tionS and disappointments of a young
| professor of ideals come from the East
| to work with ardOr and enthusiasm
| for those ideals. Some social tO-dO
| goes along with the rest of the actiV-
! ity, since, nowadays. the school offers
a stage to many a disappointed house
wife, to many an unsuccessful local
| politician. Since this is q novel some
points come to issue. But. on the
| whole, this story is wide open at the
! end, rightly so, for so far this is a
question of unsettled problems and of
many q strange disclosure.
| STEPCHILD OF THE MOON. BY
Fulton Oursler. author Of ".Sandal-
| wood" etc. New York: Harper
! & Bros.
"WALTER FAIRCHILD'S wife was
w dead The hideous truth was
| that he was not stricken nor bowed,
! neither greved nor bleak. but only
! calm and tempted to be serene" Such
is the opening Of this romance, There
is no leading up to this funereal fact,
no scrambling of words to create an
atmosphere Of suitable gloom. a bald
beginning. to be sure. for so tragic
fact. But. you see, already, that
this is not a tragic circumstance. Not
at all. Instead. something like a prom
Use Of release is met in a frank hon
esty Of avowal and acceptance. Just
| this StonninC ont t0W9 rd his theme
declares the honest temerity Of its
/ !. ,tt t:t11A.s that l,1