BOOKS RECEIVED

1880 Science  
Bntish Association-i6mo, price 8o cents. D. Van Nostrand, New York, 1881. These lectures, which were delivered before the Royal Institution of Great lBritain (during the earl) part of 1879. convey. in simjple an(d clear language, an explanation of the laws of the in(luctioni of electricity, pointing out the problems connected with it, which have been solved, and what remains to be done in thlis direction. About forty illustrati' ns take the place of the lecturer's apparatus, and will be foundl
more » ... great aid to the reader in following the text. As a popular guide to a subject of great present interest, this little work, from so reliable a source, should be welcome. AXs the author admits, our knowledge ef electricity is %ery incoml)lete; the question, What is electricit)? still remains unsolved. Of the phenomena consd(kred in these lectures, a few only can be explaine(l, the experimental facts staniding out alone and disjointed. SMany lires of reasoning and research open out a little way ant then are lost in the darkness through which, as yet, hutmai sight cannot pierce. The mnignitude of the experiments and the ex'0austive researches of Edison are making these difficult wvays clear and tra(ddeti paths, utilizing the disjoinetd facts anid weaving them into one perf-ct andl harmonious wvhole. NAT UEEN.-Et illustreret maanedsskrift for populzer Naturvidenskab, udgivet af lhans H. Reusch, cand. real.-Assistent ved deln geologiske Undersogelse-Kristiania-Trykt hos A. \W. Btogger. Vol. 1, No 2, 188o. The grat'fication w hich atten(Is success, must, in the cace of the Editors of A'Wisre, have been increased by findling that their journal hlas becomye the nmc(lel forstientific wveekly journials in olther countr-ies. France, Germany anld Italy have each th-eir N'alupe published in tlwir rcsp)ective languagres, anid w:e have now to c)ngratulate Norway on possessing an excellent scienitific journal on the sonie m)o(lel. The cultivation of science in Norway is of recent (late, the first etforts in this(direction being contemiporaneous wvith the foundation of the lpresent constitutionalmonarchy in the year. 1814, when the sepa.ration Iroin l)cnmark tool)place. About this tim)e also the first Norwcgian University was organiizel. T1itsliort timi! tit-constitutionl of Norway lias existe(d appears sullicit-nt to prove liat political trerdom aid(l indep)en(ldeice-if n, it abs ifitt cinhditiols --are alt least powerful vehic:les lir the intellectual (levelopmeint of an -:ntrgetic peopule. As miglht be expect:d tihe strong ;and ihmpulsive etlhusiasm which arosc from this p)olitical regeiierati.;:n was not at first concentrated onthe solution of scientitic subjects,)but theintellectual life thuscteated found expression in a mi-oreasthetmc tendlency, aiid poets who then and later arc-se tre remembered and( appreciated, lwhile the Norwegians still treasure then.iolnesof Welhaven,
doi:10.1126/science.os-1.27.320 fatcat:63igwttozrb2to2iouklkx2iue