Abstract
THIS is a somewhat bulky but handsome well-printed volume, the title of which is a little unfortunate; it should, however, prove useful to students preparing for such examinations as those of the Science and Art Department, for the Army, or for Cooper's Hill. The author takes as a basis the South Kensington syllabus, and, by sundry additions, covers nearly the whole ground necessary for other examinations. The book is a trifle paradoxical, for while in the solid geometry information abounds, in the plane geometry the opposite is the case, and generally anything approaching to an explanation of the principles underlying the constructions has apparently been eliminated. This, we think, is a matter for regret, as a much larger sphere of usefulness would be obtained by a few judicious explanations, or by an occasional reference to Euclid; indeed, a step further might well be taken, and the equations of curves be given. The student would thus be familiarised with mathematical formulas, and by a little instruction would be enabled to follow the rationale of the construction instead of simply learning it by heart; for instance, the equation, r = a + b cosec θ, of the conchoid of Nicomedes (p. 183), shows at once the reason for the given construction being adopted. Such additions need not necessarily make the book more bulky, as the drawings on pp. 31-34, 60, 61, 78-80, and 164 might well be omitted.
Science and Art Drawing: Complete Geometrical Course.
By J. Humphrey Spanton, Instructor in Drawing, H.M.S. Britannia. Pp. 582, and 689 figures. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1895.)
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Science and Art Drawing: Complete Geometrical Course. Nature 53, 128 (1895). https://doi.org/10.1038/053128a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/053128a0