Evening star., 1933-12-09
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C. BOWERMAN.
GREAT MEN OF SCIENCE. A History
Of Scientific Progress. BY Philipp
Lenard. New York: The Macmil-

GREAT MEN OF SCIENCE. A History
Of Scientific Progress. BY Philipp
Lenard. New York: The Macmii-
Ian Co.
Always interested in the historical de-
velopment Of scieutifc study and in the
men who have advanced 1t, Prof. Len
ard postponed his extensive reading on
the subject until he had for many years
carried on research of his cvn in
physics In his laboratory at Heidelberg
where he was professor of physics and
director Of the Radiological Institute in
the university. He Is q Nobel laureate
and . Rumford medalist of the Royal
Society Of London. This book on the
great men Of science has been for him
an avocation and he has made 1t sufi-
GENTLY popular 80 that Its reading need
not be limited to scientists. It has been
translated from the German by DR.. III
Stafford Hatfield, English scientist. In
writing his book. Prof. Lenard tells us,
he came upon happy surprise He
found that the greatest Of the scientists
were In personality as well as in
achievement far above the average of
humanity, much more 50 than their
biographies have indicated. MY Joy
was great to find that these personaE-
ties 50 well matched the greatness of
their achievements that they were ft
tD serve rs examples to future genera
tions both from the point of view of
their work and from that of their lives. "
Great Men Of Science" Is made up Of
series Of short biographies and dis
cussions Of the work of the significant
men OF science. from Pythagoras of
Samos (about 570-4s6 B. c., to Fried
rich Hasenoehrl Q874-l9l5), German
physicist. who was killed In the World
War. Among the ancients are Euclid,
Archimedes, and Hipparchus of Nicea
among medievalists Leonardo da Vinci,
Copernicus, Tycho Brahe. and Calico.
The title OF the book Is too broad and
should perhaps be preceded by the word
Some" for Prof. Lenard has almost
entirely limited himself to his own field
OF physics: the biological sciences are
not covered. No living scientists are in
cluded and the World War Is taken as
the limit of time. SO Millikan, Jeans,
and Einstein are not mentioned.
THE WICKED UNCLES. The Father
Of Queen Victoria and His Brothers.
BY Roger Fulford. New York: G. p.
Putnam's Sons.
George III of England was the father
OF 10 children. nine Of them sons. The
first son became George Nv and the
third son william ~, kings of England.
The fourth son. the Duke of Kent, was
perhaps more important than either of
them in English history. as the father
OF Queen Victoria. The futile public
lives and scandalous private lives Of
these royal sons have been the subject
Of comment by many historians. Mr..
Fulford, like Othello. attempts to moth
Ing extenuate, nor set down aught in
malice" but. after burrowing into their
pasts, thinks that perhaps the father
and uncles, of the girl queen, who mar
ried q somewhat prudish mentor in
Prince Albert of SAKE -Coburg- Gotha.
we're not altogether reprehensible, but
have suffered somewhat from compare
son with their exemplary younger rel
etives. George III and his Queen,
Charlotte of Mecklenburg- -Strelitz, were
"middle-class." and it was the tragedy
OF their lives (second to the later hope
less madness Of the King that with
the possible exception Of william w
and the Duke Of Cambridge, their sons
we're anything but middle class" The
vices of Frederick, Duke of York, ex-
travagance, drunkenness and lustful-
ness, seemed to the English wrong but
not unattractive in the great of the
earth" William Henry. who came to
the throne at "a as William w, would
have made an excellent country gentle
man or wonderful father" but had no
ktngly qualities. Edward Augustus, Duke
OF Kent, seemed to many people, par
tlcularly his brothers an unSuc-
cessful. self-righteous pauper," but Mr..
Fulford suggests the possibility that
Queen Victoria owed something to the
capabilities of her father. Ernest Au-
guestus, Duke of Cumberland and King
OF Hanover, quarreled with his niece
Victoria over some family jewels and
ever the precedence of the Prince Con-
sort. Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sus-
sex. contracted two marriages not valid.
according to the royal marriages act,
but was favorite Of Queen Victoria be-
cause he recognized the precedence of
OF Cambridge. had the good looks, good
taste and kindliness of his family, with
out its grossness. prodigality and oddi-
ties. Such are the wicked uncles" of
this pleasantly written. ironic bit of
royal family history.
H* X
CONQUEROR. The story of Cortez and
Montezuma and the Slave Girl, Ma
n,
Philadelphia: j. B. Lippincott Co.
Adventure and gold have gone to-
gether in the history and romance of
the past. Chests of gold bars and gold
coins and ornaments were the booty an
tlclpated by pirates and searchers for
treasure Islands Perhaps the practi-
Cal elimination Of gold from individual
possibilities today will make this rapidly
rf -
tezuma and his AZtecs by Cortez all the
more captivating to the imagination.
Mr.. Howden Smith begins his novel with
paraliel-the birth within 10 years
OF each other of two babies, during the
years Columbus spent in journeying up
and down Europe, trying to interest
monarchs and merchant princes In his
plan to reach the East by sailing West Z"
The red baby, born about 1476, was Mon
tezuma, son of Ashayacatl, Tlacatecuhtu.
chief OF the Aztec Confederation. who
ruled most of Central and Southern
Mexico. The white baby, born in l485.
In a barren farm house Of Estremadura.
was Hernandez, the son of q Door Span.
sh gentleman, Martin Cortes de Monroy.
The lives Of the two children were des-
tined to be entangled in an almost un-
believable way. "Conqueror" has in it
much Of fact-the story of fernando
Cortes, sailing under the standard of
CASTLE and Arragon, with a few hum
dred Spaniards, coming to Mexico, con-
quering the Aztecs, and despoiling their
rich palaces and temples. Greed for
gold and missionary &rdor for spreading
Christianity were so mingled In the mo-
tive of Cortez and his followers that
probably he himself could not distin-
guish which was stronger. That the
Aztecs practiced mystic and bloody rites
OF human sacrifice furnished adequate
excuse. There Is also much fiction in
"Conqueror-the story of the Indian
slave girl. Malinal. christened Mariana
by the Spanish priest, Father Olmedo,
who aided Cortes and was loved by him
far better than he later loved his high
born Spanish wife. Donna Juana de
Zuniga.
Nom Fiction.
OUR PRESENT DISCONTENTS. BY
Collin Brooks. New York: Henry
Ixl& u ~,