Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, Issue 45 — page 142: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION in science. MODERN SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED is fully up-to- date in the material of its sections—physics; chemistry, biology, astronomy and geo- logy. The subjects are ap- proached from the everyday angle and profuse illustrations link the work of the laboratory with the lives led outside them. Many quite recent scientific topics are fully dealt with—for instance, atomic physics, creative chemistry and visitors from space. Yet, in each case, the exposition is so clear and exact, and the illustrations so apt that no reader of normal intelligence could find difficulty in follow- ing the text. The authors of the sections are each experts in their particular study, and they bring scholastic compe- tence to every page. They are to be congratulated on doing well what this reviewer knows to be a most difficult task— presenting modern science in an easily understandable form. * THE MODERN SELF-EDU- CATOR is of the same high quality and has the same features to recommend it. It takes the form of twelve complete courses in: world history, English history, Eng- lish, economics, geography, biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, logic, psychol- ogy, philosophy. Each course is designed for the student working alone, and has a set of questions and answers by which the student can test his progress. A lively attitude is taken to each subject, and the exposition does not at any time become dull. Special praise is due, we think, to the authors of the economics and philosophy sections. These two seemingly vaguish sub- jects are pinned down ex- pertly and simply, yet cover an enormous amount of ground. The other sections are simpler to present, of course, and we find no fault with them, except, perhaps, that the biology and mathe- matics courses do not cover as much of their subjects as do the other sections. And it is a great pity that there is no index, no bibliography and no footnote references to sources of quotations. Per- haps the publishers will in- corporate these things into a second edition. There can be no doubt that the many readers who write to us deploring their lack of scientific knowledge will find in these two books a most 141 comiclbooks.corn