[Book Reviews]

Abstract

THE attempt to cover the story of invention in applied science, as is done in this volume, within the compass of 188 pages, is almost bound to fail, unless made by one who is expert in each separate invention. The severe condensation necessary leads either to a bald catalogue of facts or, if the attempt is made to be interesting, then to generalisations that are too sweeping, or to emphasis on the striking rather than the important, or even to statements that are actually misleading. As an example, we may cite the generalisation on p. 57, in speaking of Eli Whitney: “Standing behind every inventor we find a benefactor who, with friendship or money, has helped him to succeed.” A misleading statement is that on p. 44, to the effect that George Stephenson built Puffing Billy. Success or failure of an invention turns frequently on small practical difficulties, and it is too much to expect that a single author can be cognisant of all these minutiæ.

Pioneers of Invention.

William

Stella

Nida

By. (Harrap's Readers of To-day.) Pp. 189. (London, Bombay, and Sydney: George G. Harrap and Co., Ltd., 1927.) 1s. 6d.