books are all similar in certain respects. For example, all the authors view the various fields of social science from the broad standpoint of group relationships rather than from the narrower aspect of specialized theory. It is this viewpoint, by the way, more than anything else, which is inducing educators to enrich the elementary- and high-school curricula with more courses in social science. Thus all these authors draw upon all the fields of social science for the interpretation of the varied phenomena of group life. Then, too, all these authors use skilful methods to adapt materials formerly taught in the graduate schools to the needs of children in the elementary and high schools. The technique used in shifting these materials downward into the elementary and junior high schools is especially noteworthy.

A book of interest to teachers and supervisors of the elementary schools as well as to all those interested in the educative process is Social and Industrial Studies for the Elementary Grades, by Jane B. Welling and Charlotte W. Calkins, both of the Detroit public schools. The work for each grade is organized under five main topics: Food, where the major emphasis is on personal health problems; Clothing, where economic problems are of chief interest; Shelter, which deals mainly with social problems; Implements, where industries are studied; and Records, which concerns itself with educational problems. The topics are so handled that each one is studied in each grade from a constantly broadening viewpoint. There is considerable emphasis on historical backgrounds and the historical consequences of improvements in tools, machinery, and processes. Thus the pupil gains a growing appreciation of the debt the present owes to the past, and for him his history becomes a vivid narrative of man's struggle up from savagery. The studies also emphasize our dependence for the satisfaction of our daily needs upon people in many places, far and near. Because of this emphasis upon place, geography takes on new meaning. The reviewers find themselves at variance with the grade placement of certain materials. However, the wealth of suggestion leaves adequate opportunity for the teacher to make careful selections adapted to the needs of the particular group.

Play Fair, by John M. Cooper, of the Catholic University of America, is an ingenious adaptation of the point of view of modern community civics to Catholic religious education. The book deals with our institutional life and the civic and religious virtues needed for its sustenance. The idea reiterated throughout the book is concisely stated in the final sentence "In work and in the game, at home and at school, for country and for church, to man and to God, the American Catholic boy's ideal is -Play Fair." We are tempted to ask what the American Catholic girl's

ideal is. It is illuminating to note that the book contains no suggestions for debate, no outlines for the study of local conditions, no thought-provoking questions, and no bibliographies. Though the modern aims of developing the powers of analysis, observation, and inference with regard to the factors that comprise a social situation could scarcely be reached by the use of this text, nevertheless we have here what may prove to be a forerunner of some valuable civic education in Catholic schools.

John A. Lapp's new book, Economics and the Community, is designed to be of use to those who are beginning the study of economics, whether in high schools, junior high schools, vocational schools, or continuation schools. For its materials the book draws upon the fields of commercial geography, business organization, public finance, and kindred subjects, as well as the old-line economic theory. The style of the book is simple and direct. Where economic theories are under discussion, the simple, concrete illustrations are of great help to the young student. One of the strong points of the book is the provision for pupil-activity placed at the beginning of each chapter under the heading of "Community Survey." The author assumes, and rightly so, that the pupil's comprehension of social institutions and forces will be augmented if the class discussion centered about the text materials is preceded by actual community contacts. The chief weakness of the book is in the reference lists at the end of each chapter. All the references are to treatises and texts, most of them too difficult for the ordinary student for whom the text would be sufficiently difficult. It seems too bad that a book otherwise in keeping with modern ideals of textbook construction should have so little to suggest in the bibliographies by way of extending the pupil's insights and appreciations through participative reading.

The Background of Economics was written by Merlin H. Hunter and Gordon S. Watkins, both of the University of Illinois, "with the conviction that there is an urgent need to develop in the student the point of view that economics deals with the world in which he lives, and that the principles of this science can and should be tested by observation, analysis, and experience." The book is designed "to bridge the gap between high-school courses in social science and college courses in the principles of economics." To accomplish their purposes the authors divide their book into eight parts: "Man and Society," "The Forces of Nature,' "The Products of Nature," "Agriculture," "Manufacturing Industries," "The Problems of Industry," "Exchange," and "Government and Economic Relations." Thus materials are drawn from all the social sciences 1 Extracts from authors' Preface.

2 Ibid.

and physical geography as well. This broad basis is the book's main source of strength. On further analysis we find thirty-six pages devoted to an elementary discussion of climate, topography, and soils. The reviewers wonder if this background of physical geography may not be assumed, or at least if the essential points might not be covered in less space. We also find eighty-four pages devoted to various phases of commercial geography in which the central purpose is to show that man undertakes varied activities because he is not satisfied with the products of nature as he finds them. Does this idea need this amount of elaboration? In the section on "The Problems of Industry" are three chapters which discuss the returns to land, to labor, and to capital. But the chapter on the returns to land utilizes none of the geographic materials so painstakingly set forth in the preceding three hundred pages. Presently there comes a chapter on marketing which seeks to justify the complex system of middlemen, speculators, etc., though this very system had been roundly scored in a previous chapter on the problems of agriculture. This lack of articulation is evident also in the chapters on the problems of finance, commerce, and transportation, as well as in the early chapter on racial characteristics. What one feels is that the book needs some central thread around which the authors could group their materials in such a way as to impress students with the vivid, personal, human elements upon which our economic system is organized.

Another introductory book of an entirely different sort is Economics for Everyman, by J. E. LeRossignol, of the University of Nebraska. The author aims "to present the economic life of man in its proper setting as part of a broader social life and movement, with its historical background and its foreshadowings of change in time to come." The materials are classified according to their relationship to the principal characteristics of our modern industrial system-private property, large scale production, money-exchange, competition, co-operation, etc. The style is simple, interesting, almost vivid. Throughout the book the author keeps steadily to his central purpose of presenting the economic life of man in its broader aspects, never losing sight of the historical background and the social consequences of changes in industrial technique. The chief weakness of the book is found in the reference lists. The tendency is to cite treatises and texts of college level, whereas the text itself is admirably adapted to senior high school use.

In Elementary Sociology, by Professor Finney, of the University of Minnesota, the point of view is that of the social psychologist. The thesis is that the happiness of the individual and the progress of society come 8 Authors' Preface.

only through a widespread realization of the "we-feeling," or "togetherness." All social institutions, according to Finney, are conditioned by mental states; in fact, they exist only in so far as they are in people's minds. Hence our social institutions can be controlled and directed along progressive lines if large numbers of individuals discover "what are the most worth-while activities and the most satisfying interests in life, and why they are worth while and satisfying." Thus better institutions will be in people's minds and consequently in the social order. It would seem that Professor Finney takes too little account of the forces exercised by social habit and the mores of particular groups. Not the least valuable part of the book is the wealth of questions and suggestions for activities and research placed at the end of each chapter. By their use the pupil will gain contact with, and interest in, the social life around him. In the organization of his book, Professor Finney has attempted to get away from the problem type of text. He tries to lead the pupil to an understanding of normal social relationships rather than to discuss such maladjustments as divorce, dependency, crime, etc. But he has been unable to escape entirely the usual overemphasis on social pathology. He has also failed to develop sufficiently the economic and historical backgrounds of social institutions. However, the clear and interesting style, the freshness of viewpoint, the provisions for activities, and the carefully annotated bibliographies make the book a real contribution to the teaching of elementary sociology.

Occasionally there appears from the press a book that stands as a landmark in its special field. Without doubt Elements of Social Science, by Henry Pratt Fairchild, of New York University, occupies this coveted position. The book fills a well-defined need felt by teachers of social science in the senior high school for a text which presents the basic principles underlying human relationships and human institutions, written in simple but scholarly style. In the presentation of these basic principles Professor Fairchild has not hesitated to break over the lines of demarcation between the fields of anthropology, sociology, economics, and political science. In the words of James Harvey Robinson, he has successfully followed "some phase of human interest rather than some field of scientific investigation." Pupils who study this book should gain a view of the field of social science broad enough to serve them as a foundation for more advanced work in some special field, and specific enough to assist them to understand the forces, principles, laws, and rules at work in community relationships. Not only has Professor Fairchild set a new standard in the organization and treatment of subject-matter, but he has provided for photographs and pen drawings of exceptional merit. One's tend

ency is to look at the pictures. They are the last word in visual education applied to social science. The only characteristic of the book that may hinder its wide use in the high schools of the country is the frank treatment of social origins. Many high schools are not permitted the academic freedom which the subject requires if treated scientifically. Of course, truth should be presented, "let the chips fall where they may." But, until the general level of understanding of evolution has risen considerably, the author who does not leave certain truths for the teacher to develop will find the usefulness of his books curtailed.

FRANCES K. HEPNER
WALTER R. HEPNER

FRESNO, CALIFORNIA

A History of Political Theories (Recent Times). Essays on Contemporary Developments in Political Theory. Contributed by students of the late Professor William A. Dunning, of Columbia University. Edited by CHARLES EDWARD MERRIAM, PH.D., LL.D., University of Chicago, and HARRY ELMER BARNES, PH.D., Smith College, New York: The Macmillan Co., 1924. Pp. xii+597. $2.25.

This volume is the combined work of six of the former students of the late Professor Dunning who have sought not only to bring Professor Dunning's volumes on political theory up to date, and so complete his intention, but incidentally to pay some tribute to his memory. The symposial make-up of the book has made possible a wide survey of the various lines of research bearing on the science of political institutions, and it ranges from an account of the later phases of the doctrine of sovereignty to a statement of the more recent findings of anthropology. It is in this accounting of very various talents not only a graceful tribute to the influence of Professor Dunning, but a unique effort to present in unity the entire schema of political and social investigation during the last fifty years.

The thought of such a survey has raised ordinarily the spectacle of a gigantic devil-dance, with the sociologists and philosophers, the political scientists, anthropologists, and anthropogeographers dancing round the befuddled figure of man, uttering each his own specialized imprecations and invocations. The present work, however, has been content to summarize the activities and indicate broadly the movement of thought in each department. It achieves order; at the expense sometimes of turning itself into mere animated bibliography.