Abstract
DR. HOUSTON has attempted, in these two volumes, to deal with the two specified sections of physics in such a way as to render them interesting to young people. In order to attain this end he has had recourse to the somewhat novel method of frequently using fairy stories as illustrations. Dr. Houston has had considerable experience in teaching the young, and, therefore, probably knows far better than the writer the kind of treatment of the subjects most likely to appeal to them. But the general impression obtained by an adult reader is that the illustrations are, to say the least, far-fetched, and that it is surprising if children, while sufficiently young to take delight in the fairy stories, can also appreciate the serious parts of the books. We hardly expect to find in the same volume the story of “The Blowing Servant of Fortunio” and the description of Zeeman effect as “the duplication or triplication of spectrum lines when the glowing vapour is subjected to a powerful magnetic field.” Nor is it usual to associate “The Magic Wand of Prince Percinet” with a treatment of the colours of thin films and the colour of skylight.
(1) The Wonder Book of Magnetism.
By Dr. E. J. Houston. Pp. x + 325.
(2) The Wonder Book of Light.
By Dr. E. J. Houston. Pp. xii + 349. (London: W. and R. Chambers, Ltd., 1909.) Price 3s. 6d. each.
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(1) The Wonder Book of Magnetism (2) The Wonder Book of Light. Nature 83, 34 (1910). https://doi.org/10.1038/083034a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/083034a0