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Multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis

The Eclipse of God: Studies in the Relation Between Religion and Philosophy by Martin Buber, and: Judaism and the Modern Man: An Interpretation of the Jewish Religion by Will Herberg

BOOK REVIEWS 403 The Eclipse of God: Studies in the Relation Between Religion and Philosophy . By MARTIN BullER. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1952. Pp. 192 with index. $2.50. J,udaism and the Modern Man: An Interpretation of the Jewish Religion. By WILL HERBERG. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Young, 1951. Pp. 31:3 with index, $'1.00. Two sons of the race of prophets have taken up the prophetical office for modern man. Buber and Herberg wish to lead souls away from the practical godlessness of our times, beyond the self-imposed limits of materialism and atheism, skepticism and idealism to the God of Revelation. Their message should prove beneficial to the modern man without faith; however, certain serious theological and philosophical deficiencies preclude the recommendation of these books to Catholics, and even diminish their value for others. Both authors survey the contemporary situation and its antecedents, but Buber is concerned with the philosophical antecedents, especially idealis~, while Herberg exposes the modern substitute faiths, especially scientism. Buber works as an essayist, gently pointing his remarks which display excellent and delicate perceptions accurately expressed, although his meaning is not always made explicit. Herberg is rather a forceful and systematic expositor who shows genuine acumen in the analysis of contemporary attitudes. Both declare the solution of the problem to be a genuine religion which will embrace the internal and external life of the individual and extend itself to society. But Buber, while retaining Judaism as his point of view, is concerned with the "eclipse of God" rather than with any sustained effort to develop an interpretation of Judaism. Herberg, however, goes from the modern crisis to the solution he finds in his interpretation of the Jewish religion. Nevertheless, Herberg admits that Judaism is not the exclusive solution; he believes that Judaism and Christianity together have a divine mission. Indeed, both authors are free from what Herberg himself has characterized as the "negativism of minority group defensiveness." Both are at least tolerant of Christianity and speak as integral members of a modern society to which they uphold with some intellectual power and attractiveness the supremacy of God, of the God who desires to be the God of our hearts. Marl;in Buber is a man of seventy-five, a famous man whose long career as a sincere Jew warmly devoted to God and at the same time an existentialist in philosophy is reflected in these lectures given at several American universities in 1951. In these studies on the relation between religion and philosophy, it is evident that by religion Buber means virtue of religion which leads the soul baek to the Reality of realities. By philosophy, 404 BOOK REVIEWS he understands for the most part idealism with its intellectual constructions and their aftermath which he believes has resulted in the eclipse of God. It is this philosophy to which he addresses his criticism. He characterizes Spinoza (although he does not seem to recognize his pantheism), Hegel, Kant and Nietzsche as philosophers who led to the eclipse of God by denying in various degrees His reality. The existentialists-Kierkegaard , Heidegger and Sartre-Buber, though existentialist himself, criticizes insofar as they neither rightly acknowledge nor interpret the faith of the Old Testament. Bergson, Hermann Cohen, Jung and Whitehead are also considered among the philosophers. Buber's committment to Judaism and his existentialism limit his religious outlook to an insistence on the imageless God, Who has not revealed anything about Himself, His revelation being concerned only with His deeds. Perhaps his religious limitation is responsible for some of his astonishing assertions about Christianity which he finds " ' Hellenistic ' insofar as it surrenders the concept of the ' holy people ' and recognizes only a personal holiness." (p. 138) Similarly inaccurate in his statement that " the peoples won to Christianity ... did not stand, like Israel, in a fundamental relationship to Him as the people of a covenant." (p. 139) Likewise "the Pauline and Paul stic theology depreciated works for the sake of faith." (p. 140) Moreover, even as a philosopher, Buber betrays a fundamental ignorance of Aristotelian and scholastic philosophy about which he nevertheless permits himself to make repeated depreciating remarks, laden with existentialist bias. Aristotle indeed did...

Pyrogallol derivatives as antioxidants for carotene

ConclusionsCertain derivatives of pyrogallol have been shown to possess marked activity as antioxidants for carotene in some systems while they are of little value in others. Thus all the derivatives which are more effective than pyrogallol in protecting carotene in mineral oil are very much less effective than pyrogallol in lard and, with two exceptions, are also less effective in coconut oil. Neither pyrogallol nor any of its derivatives tested were effective antioxidants for carotene in alfalfa meal. Insufficient data are available to permit conclusions regarding relationships between changes in antioxidant activity and minor structural variations.

The Total Ionization Produced in Air by Electrons of Various Energies

Range in air and total ionization by electrons of energy up to 2225 volts.---Electrons from a tungsten filament were accelerated to a cylindrical anode with a small axial hole through which a fraction passed into a hemispherical ionization chamber maintained at a definite pressure by means of an adjustable leak, while the filament chamber was connected to a diffusion pump. The number of electrons entering the ionization chamber and the number of positive ions formed by them was measured with an electrometer. From ionization-pressure curves the range of electrons of various energies was determined, and was found to obey the fourth-power velocity law $R\ensuremath{\propto}{v}^{4}$, or $\sqrt{R}=\frac{V}{15900}$, where $V$ is the energy in equivalent volts and $R$ is in cm at atmospheric pressure. The total ionization curve begins at 17 volts, and rises with minor peaks at 127, 250, 375 and 494 volts of 1.83, 2.70, 4.10 and 5.05 ions per electron, to 43.2 ions per electron at 1000 volts; then the increase is approximately linear to 55 ions per electron at 2225 volts, and the values of others for high speed electrons indicate that this increase continues at about the same rate. These results tend to confirm Bohr's theory of ionization as corrected by Fowler. The voltages at which the total ionization shows peaks are interpreted as the ionization potentials of the L-electrons of argon (250) and the K-electrons of nitrogen (375) and of oxygen (494). The ionization per cm of path at 1 mm pressure, obtained by di viding the total ionization by the range, reaches a maximum of 112 ions/cm for 40 volts and a second maximum of 13.9 ions/cm for 987 volts. The first maximum agrees with that predicted from the ionization potentials of the molecule and atom of nitrogen, and the second corresponds to twice the ionization potential for the K-electrons of oxygen and gives a value of 22.8 volts energy per ion pair produced, in agreement with theory. For electrons with 40 volts energy, Bohr's theory gives the maximum effective radius of air molecules during collision as approximately 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ cm. The 987 volt electrons are probably those which give the "sphere" tracks in C. T. R. Wilson's photographs. Their range is.04 mm at atmospheric pressure.

The Total Ionization Produced in Air by Electrons of Various Energies

Range in air and total ionization by electrons of energy up to 2225 volts.---Electrons from a tungsten filament were accelerated to a cylindrical anode with a small axial hole through which a fraction passed into a hemispherical ionization chamber maintained at a definite pressure by means of an adjustable leak, while the filament chamber was connected to a diffusion pump. The number of electrons entering the ionization chamber and the number of positive ions formed by them was measured with an electrometer. From ionization-pressure curves the range of electrons of various energies was determined, and was found to obey the fourth-power velocity law $R\ensuremath{\propto}{v}^{4}$, or $\sqrt{R}=\frac{V}{15900}$, where $V$ is the energy in equivalent volts and $R$ is in cm at atmospheric pressure. The total ionization curve begins at 17 volts, and rises with minor peaks at 127, 250, 375 and 494 volts of 1.83, 2.70, 4.10 and 5.05 ions per electron, to 43.2 ions per electron at 1000 volts; then the increase is approximately linear to 55 ions per electron at 2225 volts, and the values of others for high speed electrons indicate that this increase continues at about the same rate. These results tend to confirm Bohr's theory of ionization as corrected by Fowler. The voltages at which the total ionization shows peaks are interpreted as the ionization potentials of the L-electrons of argon (250) and the K-electrons of nitrogen (375) and of oxygen (494). The ionization per cm of path at 1 mm pressure, obtained by di viding the total ionization by the range, reaches a maximum of 112 ions/cm for 40 volts and a second maximum of 13.9 ions/cm for 987 volts. The first maximum agrees with that predicted from the ionization potentials of the molecule and atom of nitrogen, and the second corresponds to twice the ionization potential for the K-electrons of oxygen and gives a value of 22.8 volts energy per ion pair produced, in agreement with theory. For electrons with 40 volts energy, Bohr's theory gives the maximum effective radius of air molecules during collision as approximately 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ cm. The 987 volt electrons are probably those which give the sphere tracks in C. T. R. Wilson's photographs. Their range is.04 mm at atmospheric pressure.

Practical Harmonic Analysis

Making the assumption that the graph of a periodic function is given, the problem of the best way of determining the Fourier constants in the series equation which represents it is considered. The ordinary method of procedure is to neglect all the harmonics above a certain order and determine the coefficients of the harmonic terms by making the curve represented by this equation pass through a number of arbitrarily selected points on the given curve. This is the method used, for instance, by Runge and Grover. A serious defect in this solution is that the values found for the amplitudes of the harmonics, more especially for the higher harmonics, may be very different from their true Fourier values. The method gives no indication of the magnitude of these errors. Gauss pointed out many years ago that the solution of this limited problem could be written down at once mathematically, and that it was of importance in certain interpolation problems in astronomy. Another method has been suggested recently by Silvanus Thompson. He uses certain series formulae for finding the Fourier constants. The author suggests other series formulae of a similar kind. If the given curve be approximately sine shaped so that the amplitudes of the higher harmonics are small, this method is both simple and accurate. For distorted waves, however, the lack of accuracy is serious in practice. It has also the drawback that an error made in computing the value of one of the constants may introduce errors in the computed values of others. The author gives numerical examples to illustrate the accuracy attainable by the use of infinite series formulae. He concludes by pointing out that in the great majority of cases much the best method of procedure when determining the constants is to evaluate Fourier's integrals by the methods of mechanical quadrature given in books on the calculus of finite differences. In particular he has found that Weddle's rule is admirably adapted for the practical computation of the Fourier integrals. By means of this rule, a new and simple proof of which is given, each constant is determined separately to a high order of accuracy. Numerical examples are given to illustrate this. The series formulae used by Thompson can be usefully employed either for verifying the values found by mechanical quadrature or for indicating when the higher harmonics cannot be neglected.

XIII. On the appendicular skeleton of the primates

The interesting question regarding the number and value of the anatomical resem­blances and differences existing between Man and the rest of the Primates, has led to complete and detailed descriptions and comparisons such as those of Professors Owen, Duvernoy, and Gratiolet. But the valuable treatises of these authors yet leave much to be desired, because they relate only to the highest forms of the Order, and some distinctions resulting from such limited comparisons are apt to disappear, and the anatomical value of others to decrease when the survey is considerably extended. The memoir of Professor Vrolik § gives a somewhat more extended view, and Pro­fessor Huxley || has carried his observations and comparisons much further; but for the thorough investigation of the skeleton of the limbs of the Primates, nothing less than the careful examination of every bone throughout the whole series of forms is requisite, while man’s peculiarities can be justly appreciated only after a similarly ex­tensive comparison.