The Growth of the World and of Its Inhabitants

H. H. SWINNERTON. London: Constable & Co. I929. 7 x 5 inches; 2II pages; and illustrations. 55s This little book attempts too much for its size, and would probably have been better if it had been confined either to the growth of the world or to the evolution of its inhabitants instead of trying to deal with both. The thirty chapters into which it is divided are so short that the reader scarcely has time to become interested before his attention is diverted in a new direction. But with the limitations of space imposed upon him the author has done his work well. His style is clear and easy and he is careful to avoid the use of technical terms without explanation. Only one seems to have been overlooked. Tissue in its biological or anatomical sense is not self-explanatory, and is apt to puzzle those who meet it for the first time. It is a little surprising that a geologist should say that Lyell laid the foundation of modern geology, as if there had been no Hutton or William Smith before him. P. L

Geography · Science and Climate Studies