The Ascent of Man

Abstract

SIR OLIVER LODGE is unique among our men of science in commanding public attention on general and religious questions, as well as on the branch of science which he has made his own. Hence the little book before us will have a large audience, rather for its qualities of inspiration and feeling than for any definite contribution to its special subject. For on the biological side it is extremely scanty, and compares curiously in this respect with the volume of somewhat similar size and title from Prof. J. Arthur Thomson which we noticed a few months ago. The latter was from the pen of a biologist, this of a physicist, who has adopted with passionate conviction some highly speculative theories on psychical phenomena. But the book shows how perfectly Sir Oliver has learnt to use his great power of clear and simple exposition in the Service of the religious propaganda which has now become the main interest of his life. The language is always effective and moving, though the sentiments are often obvious enough and where he draws on his own province of physics, the illustrations are extraordinarily apt and sometimes beautiful. The concluding analogy of the Sun and the Divine is one of the best things of the kind we have ever seen. Making of Man: a Study in Evolution. By Sir Oliver Lodge. Pp.185. (London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd., 1924.) 3s. 6d. net.