Abstract
THIS is not a zoological treatise on animal instincts and the like, but a series of philosophical fables of excellent humour—indeed the prefatory quotation from the Prologue to Phædrus' Book I. makes us shrewdly suspect the author of exquisite satire directed at relativity and other scientific concepts. The fable of “The Bird and the Fish” will cause amusement to the disciples of Einstein:—a young bird, inexperienced in the phenomenon of moving air and in its effects, is set thinking by the fact that on a certain day it took less time than usual to fly from the church steeple to the stream, and more than usual to make the return flight: after much cogitation it satisfies its philosophic soul thus:—“Ah! I have it at last; what has changed is not the field, but the clock. By flying away from a clock you alter its time-keeping so that it loses, and by flying towards it you alter its time-keeping so that it gains. The time-keeping of clocks is not a fixed and unalterable thing, but depends on whether you move or stand still.” And such is the style of the majority of these fables.
The Wisdom of the Beasts.
By C. A. Strong. Pp. x+76. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1921.) 5s. net.
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The Wisdom of the Beasts . Nature 109, 608 (1922). https://doi.org/10.1038/109608c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/109608c0