Abstract
WE have already had occasion to direct attention to the attempt which is being made, in this “History of Civilisation” series, to systematise, and to make more generally available, the vast amount of knowledge achieved by modern research in social studies. Prof. Robin's contribution to the series is entirely worthy of the occasion, and will probably rank as one of the finest. For immense erudition combined with perfect clarity of expression the book can have few equals. As M. Henri Berr, who writes a foreword, truly states, the treatment is marked by “discerning and cautious interpretation of doctrines”, and “rigorous characterisation of systems and schools”. These qualities are especially apparent in the interesting paragraphs which introduce and conclude the several chapters. Most suggestive, for example, is Prof. Robin's comparison between the immense and the living influence of Plato, in whose writings the greatest problems of thought are unravelled and prepared and established in their form for future speculation, and the more external influence of Aristotle, the form of whose writings lends itself so well to literal acceptance as an absolute authority. It was Aristotle whose influence for a long time turned science away from the paths of decisive progress. For the gift of elaboration and presentation is not the same thing as the very spirit of inquiry.
Greek Thought and the Origins of the Scientific Spirit.
Prof.
Léon
Robin
By. Translated from the new revised and corrected French edition By M. R. Dobie. (The History of Civilisation Series.) Pp. xx + 409. (London: Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd.; New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928.) 21s. net.
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Greek Thought and the Origins of the Scientific Spirit . Nature 124, 612 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/124612b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/124612b0