Abstract
(1) THIS volume of lectures delivered at Cambridge in the summer of 1918 contains only two chapters of direct technical interest to the readers of NATURE—namely, that of Prof. J. W. Cunliffe, on “American Universities: their Beginnings and Development,” and that by Dr. G. E. MacLean on “State Universities, School Systems, and Colleges in the United States of America.” The first of these gives a very interesting account of the English origins of American universities, of the effect of the different environments in bringing about a gradual departure from the English model, the injection of German influence, and the subsequent growth along more independent lines. The similar process of development is traced by Dr. MacLean with respect to the State-supported institutions, which have no direct counterpart in Great Britain. A very clear account is given of the various ways in which State and federal subsidy is provided for these institutions, and there is a brief discussion of the type of administrative organisation which has grown up. Both Prof. Cunliffe and Dr. MacLean rightly emphasise the ideals of universal education which have led to such a large expenditure of public money upon the school system as a whole. The result is, perhaps, that the reader unfamiliar with the situation would get too rosy a picture of the state of affairs. Not that there is any loss of faith in the ideals, but that, as Dr. MacLean points out, there is a strong feeling that great changes of method are necessary, and, indeed, such changes are constantly under discussion and under trial. Though they have no direct bearing on the subject of education, chaps, iii. and iv., by Lord Eustace Percy, on “State Municipal Government” and “Social Legislation,” read in conjunction with those on education, will give a fairer idea of the tremendous problems presented by education in America and of the political and social difficulties involved in their solution.
(1) The America of To-day. Being Lectures delivered at the Local Lectures Summer Meeting of the University of Cambridge, 1918.
Edited by Dr. Gaillard Lapsley. Pp. xxv + 254. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1919.) Price 12s. net.
(2) The Voyage of a Vice-Chancellor.
Pp. ix + 139. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1919.) Price 6s. net.
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M., C. (1) The America of To-day Being Lectures delivered at the Local Lectures Summer Meeting of the University of Cambridge, 1918 (2) The Voyage of a Vice-Chancellor. Nature 104, 151–152 (1919). https://doi.org/10.1038/104151a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/104151a0
