WORLD OF THE FUTURE

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 139, 12 May 1930, Page 7

WORLD OF THE FUTURE

LORD BIRKENHEAD’S BOOK. PLAGIARISM ALLEGED. INTRIGUING POSITION. (United Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) Received May 12, 10.5 a.m. LONDON, May 11. A curious and intriguing position has arisen out of Professor J. B. S. Haldane’s criticism of Lord Birkenhead's book, “The World in 2030.” Professor Haldane, writing in the Week-end Review, says: “When 1 read the book a strange feeling began to oppress me. Certain phrases were oddly familiar. Where had I seen them before P Finally I solved the mystery. They were my own.” Professor Haldane sets out in halfcolumn measure certain parallel expressions from Lord Birkenhead’s book and from his own work, “Daedalus, or Possible Worlds.” Lord Birkenhead says: “They are minute bodies so small that if a lien’s egg were magnified to the size of the world one of the genes would lie on a fair-sized writing-desk.” Professor Haldane’s book says: “If we magnified a hen’s egg to the size of the world we would still get the gene into a room or even on a small table.” After giving several similar instances side by side, Professor Haldane adds: “The resemblance is the moro striking when I add some excerpts from essays supposed to have been written by undergraduates, one in 1930 and the other in 1978. Altogether I counted forty-four coincidences in two documents, though I dare say the list is incomplete.” Professor Haldane concludes with a semi-jesting reference to psychic control, adding: “Between the psychically inspired passages there are portions—in one case not less than twenty-three pages—which appear to be original. Whether these original passages are worth the book’s price, 12s 6d, I will not attempt to decide.” When Lord Birkenhead’s attention was drawn to the criticism he replied that he had nothing to say at the moment, but proposed to reply in due course.