The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-01-09
Liberal Viewpoint
BY DIR. HARRY ELMER BARNE'

r WING back of the remarkable achievements
- in applied science which have reshaped the
modern world are the discoveries in natural
science from Archimedes to Einsten More and
more, progress in technology depend on prior
work in pure science Professor Lenard has
written splendid Introductory history of science
organized about the biographies of the leading
figures in the scientific tradition of the West
Great Men of Science, A History of Scientific
Progress BY Philip Lenard. The Macmillan
Company. So.
The key to an understanding of modern social
history is to be found in the rise of the machine
more than in any other single factor. There
have been plenty of good manuals written
describing the rise of the empire of machines
but few if any have the breadth and sweep of
Mr.. Hausleiter's very original volume (The
Machine Unclaimed: Revolution in the World
Economic System From the First Steam Engine.
to the Crisis of Plenty. By Leo Hausleiter. D.
Appleton Century Company, Inc, So. The dom
mating thought therein is well summarized by
the following paragraph:
1.-The nechanzation of the world mechanical
man, mechanical the spirit. Machinery assumed
new forms. The tempestuous liberation of pro-
ductive forces shook all that was firmly rooted
in the earth Man turned to a machine Che
works like 1nachine) and the machine turned
human Git works like human being) came to
follow the same path, chained to one another
by impersonal thought in terms of money"
TINE author lays special stress upon the jeop-
Il ardy of Europe which is menaced by the
great mass production nations the United States
and Russia. While keenIy conscious of the diff
ficulties involved, MIR. Hausleter believes the
human ingenuity will prove equal to the colossal
responsibilities imposed by the rise of the
machine.
While the social, economic and cultural prob
lens with the development of the mechanical
era have been surveyed extensively, all too little
attention has been given to the human factors
involved in the transition of mankind from agri-
culturists to factory workers in mechanical era.
Whatever the successful solution of the prob
lens Of employment and wages, we never shall
establish an ideal society until we eliminate
successfully from factory life as much as is
possible Of the fatigue, monotony and destruc-
ton of morale which the factory has thus far
brought about.
Professor Mayo surveys the investigations and
researches which have been made into the prob
lem of adapting the factory to human beings
(The Human Problems of An Industrial Civil
zation. BY Elton Mayo. The Macmillan Com
pany. so. He indicates forcefully the distressing
lack of provision for properly trained and
humanized industrial administration
The skyscraper is as characteristic an item
in our contemporary civilization as the log cabin
or the little red SchoohouSe' was in the culture
of our ancestors. The John Day Company has
brought out an deliberately illustrated popular
account of the construction Of a contemporary
Skyscraper, from the surveying Of the site to the
operation of the finished building (SkyScraper.
BY Elsa H. Naumburg, Clara Lambert, Lucy
Sprague Mitchell The John Day Company: S2).
While written so that it may be comprehended
by children, it may be read with profit and
illumination by any adult save technical engi-
neer or architect.
4 DECADE ago G.. ,. H Cole was known
IA chiefly as an authority on labor problems
and an enthusiast for guild socialism. Within
the last three or four years he has established
himself as perhaps the most lucid and reliable
commentator upon our contemporary economic
life and institutions.
In the volume under review CThe Intelligent
Mans Review Of Europe Today. BY G. D. H.
Cole and Margaret Cole. Alfred A. Knopf pub
fishers: So he and his wife describe not only
the conditions of individual countries, but the
outstanding facts and considerations in the
general economic. political and international
set-up of contemporary Europe. AS an intro
duction to European institutions and problems
I know of no other book in any way to be COM
pared to this volume for a combination Of
reliability. ingenuity and authority.
Colonel Ayres is a well-known statistician
and financial expert His book is lucidly parti-
san introduction to the main economic problems
involved in the economic rehabilitation of
American economic society. (The Economics of
Recovery BY Leonard P. Ayres. The Macmillan
Company: S175). While he writes from the
standpoint of a conservative any radical will
profit by reading his authoritative presentation
Of the problems involved. AS applied to current
discussion, the book is most important as we'll
reasoned defense Of sound money and a thorough
going critique of imitation. The colonel Is no
from some pitfalls.