Evening star., 1928-10-27
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the Booklorer

Snapshots are the only kind of pic
lures that can be taken of rapidly NOV
ing objects. Science is moving so rapid
ly nowadays that it makes the onlook-
er's head swim to watch It," In this
way DR.. Edwin E. Slosson, director of
Science Service, Washington, begins the
preface of his book. Snapshots of
Science" The marvellous things which
he tells in the very brief chapters of
the book make one agree about the
head swimming. 1t is hard to realize,
for example, that sound waves can be
soundless, yet one chapter is entitled
Silent Sound Waves" and commences:
Sound waves so short that they can
not be heard by the human ear, and
yet so strong that they shock fish
fatally. have been produced by Prof.
r. w. Wood and Alfred L. Loomis. Like
many another discovery, this is war
baby" The chapter Wood as Food"
treasures any of us who may be nervous
about our candy and ice cream supply
in case anything should happen to
sugar cane crops. Sugar cane and
beets are not necessary in order to
have sugar; perfectly good sugar can
be made from sawdust, and "Since 20
per cent of the timber cut in all the
world Is now wasted in the saWdust,
there Is no lack of raw material" Mod
ern science is adept in exploding old
maxims. Some examples are given in
the chapter Conquered Can'ts" Pro-
verbal wisdom tells us you can't see
through brick WALL" but the X-ray
manages to do it. You can't see
around corner" but the periscope is
for that purpose. You can't have
roses without thorns," but, of course,
there are now thornless roses. You
can't have smoke without some fire."
but if unstoppered bottles of ammonia
and hydrochloric acid are placed side
by side, clouds of smoke roll up.
The comparatively new science Of
psychology contributes its wonders
'Tantrums and Temperament" Is a
chapter on the heritability of an un-
governable temper, the sort of temper
which causes some people Ito break
out into fits of temper at more or less
regular intervals" so that they may
smash the furniture. throw thing,
about, swear at the family. slap the
children. attack their best friends, or
simply sulk and refuse to speak or eat
in short. fly of the handle" But one
with such an undesirable legacy may
not settle down to nurse 1t and to use
it as a means of intimidating others.
BY no means He should consult q
leges are already realizing the advan-
tage of psychological examinations for
students. The chapter Does Happi-
ness. Outweigh Unhappiness?" shows
how to carry on double-entry book
keeping of the emotions. A British
psychologist. j. G. Fluegel. induced
nine men and women to keep record
of their feelings for very minute OF
their waking hours for month or two.
Whatever they we're doing they put
down, whether it was pleasant or un-
pleasant, together with the degree and
duration of the emotion experienced at
the time. Adding up all these periods,
every one of the subjects had balance
on the plus or pleasure side, from which
the London professor concludes that
pleasure occupies very considerably
larger proportion of human life than
does unpleasure.' The heading OF
another chapter asks the question Are
You Superstitious? Prof. H. K. Nixon
of Columbia University is quoted as
authority for the statement that the
following maxims, ideas which in the
main have had the stamp of disapprov-
al placed upon them by modern inves-
LEGATIONS" are still given much Gre
dence by intelligence people: "A square
jaw is sign of will power; "A hign
forehead indicates intellectual superior
ity"; Long slender fingers indicate an
artistic nature; Fear is unnatural. 1t
is a bad habit; "A person who does
not look you in the eye Is likely to be
dishonest; Adults sometimes become
feeble minded from overstudy';; 'Es-
pecially bright children are likely 10
be weak and retarded physically; The
number of mans senses is flve';; TIE
study of mathematics Is valuable be-
cause it gives one a logical mind In
telNgence can be increased by training. >
* y 4
The humor and cieverness of DR.. Slos-
sons popular treatment of scientific sub
iects is indicated by the headings of his
chapters some of which have already
been indicated. Others are "The End
of tile World" "Monkeying and Aping,
when Greenland Was Green" Where
Is Yesterday" THE Science of the City
Dump" Learn to Read" Candy for
Cross Kids" "Electrons Let Loose" "A
Fool-Proof World" GLASS From Air,
How Big Can a Star Be?" Sunshine
for Brains" PLANT Geometry" Electric
Farming" Artificial Food" aquatic
bered by Insects" How Does Poetry
Affect You?" "A Census of the Soil,
Zine Weather for Suicide" and Cur
ing and killing by Tuned Rays"
* 4
Lady Mary Montagu shares fame
with Nine de Sevigne as letter writer.
Her letters to friends when she was IN
Constantinople as the wife of the British
Ambassador there are lengthy outpour-
ines of ideas and impressions caused by
her life in a city of romance and ara
matte history These letters are the
basis of her fame. Other letters were
written to her daughter. Lady Butte
from the Continent, during the % years
of Lady Mary's self-imposed exile there
From having been brilliant leader IN
English social and literary circles, Lady
Mary had become at so, through tne
vicissitudes of fortune and the scandal
mongering of human beings, of whom
Pope was one of the foremost, sad
denad and broken woman. She secluded
herself at various places on the CoEti-
nert and returned to England only 9
short time before her death. PORTRAIT
of Lady Mary Montagu." by Iris Barry.
reveals the character OF this interesting
woman, as it developed from the time OF
her courtship by that gloomy, fault-fnd-
ing prig, Edward Wortley Montagu, to
her death.
Il %
A prize award in literature not as
we'll known in this country as our own
various awards is the James TAFT Black
Memorial Award. Two prizes are given
annually under this award, one for
the best novel and one for the best
biography of the year. The award was
founded by the late Mrs. Janet Goats
Black in memory of her husband, who
was member of the Black publishing
firm of London. Each prize amounts to
$50 pounds. or about $1,000. Winners
of the novel prize have been Hugh Wal