two new general text books

Two New General Text BooksAn Introduction to Sociology: A Behavioristic Study of American Society. by Jerome Davis;Harry Elmer Barnes; Readings in Sociology. by Jerome Davis; Harry Elmer Barnes; L. L.Bernard; The Science of Social Relations: An Introduction to Sociology. by Hornell HartReview by: Floyd N. HouseSocial Forces, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Mar., 1928), pp. 474-477Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3004874 .

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LIBRARY AND WORK SHOP Special Book Reviews by HARRY ELMER BARNES, FRANK H. HANKINS, CLARK WISSLER,

PHILLIPS BRADLEY, FLOYD N. HOUSE, MALCOLM WILLEY, AND OTHERS

INDEX TO BOOKS REVIEWED PAGE

Two New General Text Books ......... ............................................ Floyd N. House 475 Davis and Barnes' AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY; Davis and Barnes' READINGS IN SOCIOLOGY; Hart's

THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN RELATIONS.

Science and Human Development ................................................ Frank H. Hankins 477 Whitehead's SCIENCE AND THE MODERN WORLD; Luckiesh' FOUNDATIONS OF THE UNIVERSE; Shearcroft's MATTER MAN AND MIND; Otto's NATURAL LAWS AND HUMAN HoPES; Mason's CREATIVE FREEDOM.

A Sociologist Looks at Life ............ ................................................ Read Bail' 479 Cooley's LIFE AND THE STUDENT.

McLauglhlin's THE SPIRITUAL ELEMENT IN HISTORY ................................. Harry E. Barnes 480

Thought and Social Technology ................................................. Frank H. Hankins 483 Thomson's BRAIN AND PERSONALITY; Hankin's COMMON SENSE AND ITS CULTIVATION; Wallas' THE ART OF THOUGHT; Hobson's FREE-THOUGHT IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES.

Studying the Family .............................................................. Katharine Jocher 485 Groves' SOCIAL PROBLEMS OF THE FAMILY; Groves and Groves' WHOLESOME MARRIAGE; Lindsey and

Evans' THB COMPANIONATE MARRIAGE; Mowrer's FAMILY DISORGANIZATION.

The World War and International Law ............................................ Phillips Bradley 487 Potter's THE FREEDOM OF THE SEAS; Garner's PRIZE LAW DURING THE WORLD WAR; Ralston's THE LAW

AND PROCEDURE OF INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNALS; Lindley's THE ACQUISITION AND GOVERNMENT OF

BACKWARD TERRITORY IN INTERNATIONAL LAW.

Bramer's PAROLE . ............................................................. Le Roy E. Bowman 489

Wissler's THE RELATION OF NATURE TO MAN IN ABORIGINAL AMERICA ..... ............ Frank H. Hankints 489

Rogers' THE AMERICAN SENATE ................................................. George B. Galloway 490

Panunzio's IMMIGRATION CROSSROADS ........ .......................................... W. G. Beach 492.

Religion and Psychology ......................................................-.L. L. Bernard 493 Hickman's INTRODUCTION TO THE PSYCHOLOGY oP RELIGION; Schou's RELIGION AND MORBI3D MENTAL

STATES.

Angell's THE PUBLIC MIND .................................................... Frank H. Hanikinis 494

Blum's LABOR ECONOMICS ..................................................... Horace B. Davis 495

Edie's ECONOMICS, PRINCIPLES AND PROBLEMS ........................................ Clyde Olin Fisher 497

Ormsbee's THE YOUNG EMPLOYED GIRL . ................................. IfIarriet L. Herring 498

Malinowski's CRIME AND CUSTOM IN SAVAGE SOCIETY ................ ............... Frank H. Hankins 499

Book Notcs and Lists ...................................... Katharine Jocher 5o0

474



LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP 475

TWO NEW GENERAL TEXT BOOKS

FLOYD N. HOUSE

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY: A BEHAVIORISTIC

STUDY oP AMERICAN SOCIETY. By Jerome Davis, Harry Elmer Barnes, and others. Boston: D. C. Heath and CompanV, I9X7. xxiv + 92.6 pp. $4.48.

READINGS IN SOCIOLOGY. Edited by Jerome Davis and Harry Elmer Barnes, with the collaboration of L. L. Bernard and others. Boston: D. C. Heath and Company, I927. xviii + io65 pp. $6.00.

THE SCIENCE OF SOCIAL RELATIONS: AN INTRODUCTION

TO SOCIOLOGY. By Hornell Hart. New York: Henry Holt and Company, I927. xix + 664 PP. $4.50.

In many ways the two text books for use in college classes which lie before us for consideration are similar; both, for instance, are strongly oriented with reference to concrete data and the practical problems of carrying on community and national life, in both instances the authors have studiously attempted to avoid un- controlled speculation, and in neither is there a disposition to refrain from grap- pling with the question of social values. It is, however, a part of the obligation of the reviewer to discriminate between them, to point out the respects in which they are different.

First, and most obvious of such differences is the difference in mass of materials provided. Professor Davis and his col- leagues have compiled two thick volumes, one of text written for this purpose by the various joint authors, and one of selected readings; while Professor Hart has written one volume of respectable dimensions, but one which is still not equal in size to the text volume of the Davis and Barnes' set. Hart's book could, at a pinch be com- pleted in a one semester course of "three hours" credit; the two-volume set would certainly require nine months of a three- hour course. Other differences become apparent upon even a cursory examination

of the contents of the two works: the most important of these may be summed up by saying that Hart has prepared a text book suitable for use in a first college course in sociology, in the sense in which the latter study may be quite definitely distinguished from other social sciences; while Davis and collaborators have prepared two corre- lated volumes suitable for use in a year course, presumably for freshmen,-an "orientation course" introductory to all the social studies, including history, and, to some extent, psychology and pedagogy.

A striking feature of the Davis volumes is the fact that 187 pages of the text volume, and 283 pages of the volume of readings are devoted to a summary and interpretation of the history of the western world, prepared by Professor Harry Elmer Barnes. Of partially similar significance are the sections on Society and Its Physical Environment, and Society and Its Biological Equipment, prepared by Ellsworth Hunt- ington and Frank H. Hankins, respec- tively. In Book II, The Forces Shaping Society, Part III, The Psychological Founda- tions of Society, is by L. L. Bernard; Part IV, Society and Its Cultural Heritage, by Malcolm M. Willey; while Seba Eldridge contributes Book III, Social Organization. Each of these contributions is paralleled by readings in the second volume; and these latter three contributions, con- sidered collectively, contain the "sociology," in the strict sense of the term, together with some material which would perhaps be claimed by the economists and political scientists. Jerome Davis has prepared a fourth book, Sociology Applied to Social Problems, which, with collateral readings, completes the two volumes. It will easily be seen from this summary that



476 SOCIAL FORCES

the whole of this two volume text book constitutes a very massive foundation of printed materials for use in a college course, also that a thoroughgoing evalua- tion of the various contributions is pre- cluded by the limitations of the space which might reasonably be devoted to this review. It is noteworthy, however, that the seven co-authors seem to have agreed quite closely upon the policy of treating their subject-matter from a consistently "behavioristic" point of view. Natu- rally, one can easily discover passages in which there are slips from the behavioristic position, for example, that in which Barnes refers to "the practical results of these bourgeois political ideas" (I, I74),

and that in vwhich Bernard explains the inferiority complex, certainly a subjective concept, and so treated by him, but without apology for the departure from the behavioristic point of view. One won- ders whether the attempt to push the behavioristic approach to social questions as far as it has been pushed in these volumes is not pedagogically unwise since it is never completely and consistently carried out. At the ends of the chapters in the text volume are placed references to the readings in the other volume, together with questions on the readings, "'case problems" in which the "problem" isnot always clearly indicated, "problems for study," and bibliographies of books and articles for wider reading. Certainly the instructor who uses these volumes cannot complain of a shortage of teaching helps; yet it is likely that a sufficiently large task is left for the instructor toperformin organizing and presenting his course. The reviewer ventures the comment that to insure assimilation and integration of the materials provided in the readings, considerable written work should be re- quired of students in a course based on these volumes.

Notwithstanding its substantial bulk, Professor Hart's The Science of Social Rela- tions is a compact, well-integrated text book, in which marked consistency of viewpoint is maintained. This viewpoint is on the whole psychological, but not "behavioristic," and is derived to a considerable extent from the data and in- sights afforded by modern psychiatry. Although the author states in his preface his intention to include the material of greatest utility in solving practical problems, the presentation is not greatly dis- torted by preoccupation with ethical questions. Significant features of the book are (i), the skillful use of concrete case material to illustrate the various concepts and generalization, without the use of an excessive amount of space in the presentation of the cases; and (2) the excellent summaries, questions for discussion, and written assignments placed at the end of each chapter. The reviewer cannot help feeling dubious, however, concerning the author's plan for objective tests, to be graded for a fee under his direction (pp. 3-4). Certainly overbur- dened instructors who are not provided with "readers" will welcome an arrangement whereby they can avoid the drudgery of grading papers from large classes, collecting the fees, presumably, from the students. Something is to be said, also, for having the tests graded by some one else than the instructor in charge of the class or his immediate subordinates. One cannot feel certain, however, that in the present stage of development of the science of sociology tests of students' assimilation of the subject can be made so objective that they can be graded fairly by one who had nothing to do with the teaching of the course, without doing violence to the purposes of the study.

In summary it can be said that Professor Hart has written an extraordinarily good



LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP 477

text book for use in classes composed, let us say, of second- and third-year college students. The character of the written assignments provided and the questions for thought and discussion is such that it would be possible to adjust the length of the course within fairly wide limits to the exigencies of the local curriculum and teaching force. Within the limitations imposed by the realities of human nature and the college community, a good

approximation to the sociology instructor's dream of heaven could be attained in the teaching of this book to classes of students who had been exposed in their freshman year to the volumes prepared by Professor Davis and collaborators. All that is necessary is to persuade the various departments represented on the college faculty to give the freshman "orientation course in social science" the necessary place in the curriculum.

SCIENCE AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

FRANK H. HANKINS

SCIENCE AND THE MODERN WORLD. Lowell Lec- tures, i92.5. By Alfred N. Whitehead. New York: The Macmillan Company, i92.6. -96 pp. $3.00.

FOUNDATIONS OF THE UNIVERSE. By M. Luckiesh. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, i92.5. 2-45 PP- $3.00.

MATTER, MAN AND MIND. By W. F. F. Shearcroft. New York: The Macmillan Company, i92.6, I9I PP.

NATURAL LAWS AND HUMAN HopEs. By M. C. Otto. New York: Henry Holt and Company, i92.6. 97 pp- $0.90.

CREATIVE FREEDOM. ByJ. W. T. Mason. Ncw York: Harper and Brotlhers, i92.6, 538 pp. $4.00.

No one can peruse the above books and not realize that both the world of science and that of philosophy are undergoing momentous changes. The simple assump- tions of materialistic philosophy of the past generation are confronted not merely with the marvelous discoveries of the nature of light and of the atom but with the incomprehensible mysteries of rela- tivity and fourth dimensional space. And yet, while the layman confesses to a good deal of improvement in his understanding of things both infinite and infinitesimal, to a stretching of his imagination, as also to some confusion of his reason, he must also assert that he

emerges from the strenuous discipline of reading these volumes with a renewed conviction that the universe is unalterably orderly. That orderliness is not of the simple static variety envisaged in the Newtonian laws; it is vastly more complex, more dynamic. It is an evolutionary orderliness imbued with creative power. But it is orderly; whatever occurs flows by an inevitable logic of natural causation from the nature of things themselves.

It is for this reason that the attention of three of these authors to the newer findings in physics gives one a clearer view of the universe as a whole. Shearcroft gives a readable but not very illuminating popular account of the state of knowledge with reference to everything from floating continents to crowd mind. His style is excellent and his substance good, but he has attempted too much for one small volume. Luckiesh has limited himself to an account, in non-mathematical terms, of the contributions of modern physics. He is readable most of the time and one must know more about light, space, and the atom when one has finished; but he confuses the reader by lugging in historical data, by not telling a straight-out story,



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