Abstract
THE object of a new periodical of this title which appears twice monthly (25 pfennigs per copy) is to give brief reviews of the progress and tendencies of modern scientific research. The subjects considered cover a wide field, including anthropology, political economy, agriculture, sociology and all the pure and applied sciences. There are articles on peasants and nomads, problems of German sociology, new concepts of natural science, methods of counting for statistical purposes, Paracelsus (a sketch), and many others. The contributors are chosen from the ranks of those who have done original work in their respective fields. In the article by Moglich dealing with the foundations of present-day physics, we find due acknowledgment paid to the epoch-making ideas of Planck and Heisenberg, but there are important omissions which detract from the value of the account. In highly compressed articles of this type, it is of primary importance that the authors should have not only a deep insight into their subjects but also a proper sense of values, if the services of a discriminating censor are not to be invoked. Goethe has said: “Die Vernunft ist auf das Werdende, der Verstand auf das Gewordene angewiesen”. This remark applies particularly aptly to the present journal, which bears the sub-title “Zentralblatt fur die gelehrte Welt”. The article on Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, commonly called Paracelsus, is of interest as his name has recently come into prominence again as one of the first great experimenters in medical science-one hears of a Paracelsus Renaissance in Germany-in spite of a certain notoriety as a vagabond miracle-worker which he probably only partly deserved. His ideas, if not actual results obtained, undoubtedly exerted a considerable influence on later workers. The journal is published by Walter de Gruyter and Co., Berlin W.10, Genthinerstr. 38.
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Geistige Arbeit . Nature 133, 607 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/133607b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/133607b0