Abstract
THE author of this book has essayed a difficult task, and one cannot be surprised that he has achieved only a qualified success. The papers (eighty-five in number) are all short—too short, perhaps—but certainly do not lack variety. The work is intended for use in higher classes of primary schools, secondary schools and pupil teachers' “centres”; and the author's suggestion as to the use of th book is, “Each student should be provided with a copy, and a test (or more) should be given to the class one week, the answers of which should be returned the following week; this would give a fair opportunity of research in books of reference.” There is much to be said in favour of such a plan. It may be doubted, however, if some of the knowledge which the students are thus set to obtain is of sufficient value to justify any expenditure of time on the attainment thereof. It is not easy to see, for example, what useful purpose is served by causing a youth to ascertain the length of time a letter would take to go from London to Moscow, or the cost of sending a parcel about two pounds weight to Winnipeg, or the price of a 100l. share in the Great Western Railway. Nor is much gained by knowing who wrote certain books unless something is also known of their nature, contents, and purpose. Are any of the pupils for whom the work is intended sufficiently grounded in scientific method to answer such questions as, “How did the teaching of Aristotle differ from that of Bacon?” or can any be expected to “compile (sic) a simple form of a Will?” It is only fair to the author to say that many questions are really admirable, e.g. “What results in history may be traceable to the discovery of the New World?” Scientific subjects, too, are, on the whole, well treated, and much useful knowledge must result from the efforts to answer thoroughly the questions asked. The general character of the papers, however, is hardly satisfactory from an educational point of view. Too much is made of mere knowledge and too little of the ability to use it. Hence one fears that they will ultimately prove tests of memory rather than of observation and resource, and that instead of “stimulating a many-sided interest in the facts of everyday life,” the author will produce an irritating curiosity which grows on what it feeds. May we suggest a thorough revision? The book is worth it. Not only so, but in its present state there are many badly-worded questions and some few serious errors. We may attribute “in statu pupillanii” and “Carmen Sylvia” to careless proof reading; but the inaccuracies in the quotations in papers xi. and xxix. (to select two only) are quite unpardonable.
Test Papers in General Knowledge.
By H. S. Cooke Pp. vi + 97. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1902). Price 1s. 6d.
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[Book Reviews]. Nature 65, 533 (1902). https://doi.org/10.1038/065533b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/065533b0