MISCELLANY

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26094, 22 April 1950, Page 3

MISCELLANY

Gfe h 1! T hra ‘ dom - Essays ot a Chinese Wi ? th S = St ’ Tang Pei-sung. Nolnn tatroduction by Joseph wta.‘"w’ AUen aad Untbohi?a’f- practical problems provide the starting-point tor most of these whlch are of interest to the as aS the scientist The the t h ™i a *’ J ro . m , which the title of sibilttv k f h‘:. der,vea ' dl scusses the posi- l n a comparatively short wlll discover how to and ,o libt P ( r ° eeSS °/ Photosynthesis llberate ma n from agriculture Another essay deals with the mechderfm « S * lk - f °. rma ‘i° n which, WOnas ls now known to be effort and > wa ? teful "M land and effort compared with the industrial production of nylon. The essay on fruiting in the peanut plant is chosen cf vTfemhi Se tb i e economic importance ?- f nXf g 5 tab,e olls in China—an importance now recognised in England too r'i>i <l^ r ?, OnStrate<i hy the vast ground-’ savs J??™ 6 ln Tan ganyika. The esinto mUch , investigation ° d■ ‘ d antmal metabolism Pet-sung always states clearly the limitations of present scientific knowledge; but he Fs obviously “led tmtae nr™ 1 ™ when he Agards the for man S £ en t £? and u What « can do Th r i c - n tbls ichnological age This optimism is the more impressive diffic H one 5? ads ° f ‘he d fficuit conditions under w ich he a„d his fellow-workers had to carFy on the Janan«l fic Inves ‘igations during me Japanese occupation. Enr GeXian Oli ?? y - By Jean Lawson. Georgian House, Melbourne. 161 -An Australian radio personality who eh?idr2 tS ’ a ell ‘ kn °wn Melbourne children’s session, Jean Lawson has al J® ady retailed many of her European experiences over the air She now sets them down in fuller and ?n°r r J c ° nne £ ed form for a wider aud* E ?™ pean tri P took her to J or t he^ weddin S of Princess Elizabeth; Stratford for the Shakeh?w« r h a, lK Fe ? ti Y al: Canterbury. Edinburgh, the Lakes District, and many other well-known places. On the Continent, she was in Paris, Switzerland and Scandinavia. Radio and Red Cross were her special interests, and these occupied her attention wherever she went. She was a cheerful, if conventional traveller, and she writes in a simple and straightforward manner of all she saw and did, illustrating her book with photographs taken by herself. Greek City-States. By Kathleen Freeman. Macdonald. 269 pp. Dr. Freeman is the author of several intelligent and scholarly books designed to present Greek culture to die non-Greek student. Her new book is concerned with the Hellenic world outside Sparta and Athens. It is arranged in such a way as to give the reader an idea of the diversity of the Greek city-states. She selects nine city-states ranging from Massalia (Marseilles) in the far West to Cyrene m North Africa and Miletus on the coast of Asia Minor, and describes their history and way of life. She also makes some general reflections on the citystates, and what the modern student can learn from them. “The hundreds of city-states,” says Dr. Freeman, "had nothing in common except, their descent from a common stock and their basic language, both of which meant a small common heritage of beliefs and ideas. Yet they contributed m less than a millennium more to the human treasury of civilisation than all the rest of the world put together throughout all its known history.” Their great achievem nts she ascribes mainly to the smallness of the unit oi the city-state. Such separate units, with their own administrative sys terns, seem uneconomic nowadays, but the fact remains that proportionately they were thousands of times more creative and productive than our giant modern states. The ultimate downfall of the city-states was caused by their inability to sink their differences and unite against the common enemy. They weakened themselves by internecine strife and by nursuing in their relations with each other a policy oi immediate self-interest. The problem of whether the abandonment of .he individual way of life of smaller units for the greater security and efficiency of the larger unit will inevitably mean a loss in the quality of the civilisation is one which Dr Freeman thinks should vitally concern modern mines , Letters to Jane. By Gladys Denny Schultz. The Falcon Press. 272 PP. This is a book of advice about sex problems, coucned in the form of an exchange of letters between a mother and her daughter at college. It is the work of an American woman Mrs Schujtz deals frankly and sensibly with many of the difficulties that beset the life of the average modern miss, as a selection from her chapterheadings will indicate. “Is it Smart to be a Virgin?” “Can You Count cn Birth Control?” “What Price Petting?” “Fighting off the Wolves,” “Long Engagements Bring’ Problems.” Mothers, as well as daughters, will find food for thought in her book.