Abstract
EVER since 1912, when Boas published his studies upon the changes in bodily form of descendants of immigrants to the United States, speculations concerning the power of environmental conditions to affect the physical characters of man have been rife. At times these speculations have had but slender foundation in ascertained facts derived from proper anthropological investigation, and we have become accustomed to somewhat random statements concerning the differences in appearance between the migrants in their now environment and the parental stock in then: homeland. It is obvious that the investigation of this problem is surrounded by pitfalls, and that no mere generalizations are of the least value in attempting its solution. Even when the problem is investigated by the standardized methods of anthropometry, there are still abundant sources of error that are difficult to eliminate but which will naturally invalidate the ultimate findings. It has been the first task of the reviewer to attempt the detection of any possible sources of error in the work under notice, and he freely owns that here he has failed.
Migration and Environment
A Study of the Physical Characteristics of the Japanese Immigrants to Hawaii and the Effects of Environment on their Descendants. By Prof. H. L. Shapiro., with the field assistance of Frederick S. Hulse. (Issued under the auspices of the University of Hawaii.) Pp. xi + 594. (London, New York and Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1939.) 32s. 6d. net.
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JONES, F. Migration and Environment. Nature 144, 177 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144177a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144177a0
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