Page Volume Research Articles

The Correspondence of Sigmund Freud and Sándor Ferenczi

ERNST FALZEDER AND EVA BRABANT WITH THE COLLABORATION OF PATRIZIA GIAMPIERI-DEUTSCH (EDS.): The Correspondence of Sigmund Freud and Sandor Ferenczi. Volume 2, pp. 1914-1919. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1996, 395 pp., $46.95, ISBN 0-674-17419-4. This sad, poignant, and gripping collection of the correspondence of Sigmund Freud and Sandor Ferenczi during World War is as fascinating and revealing a publication as one can imagine. Freud is often criticized for having blundered badly into a boundary crossing, demanding that Ferenczi choose between the two women he loved (a mother and her daughter, both of whom were his analysands!) by marrying the mother, who was eight years older than Ferenczi. This occurred at the same time Ferenczi was putatively an analysand of Freud's, having experienced some short periods on the couch representing this that Freud considered finished, not terminated, but rather broken off because of unfavorable circumstances (p. 153). The personalities of the two correspondents emerge dramatically in their letters. Ferenczi is mercurial, unstable, passionate and neurotic. He addresses Freud as Dear Professor; Freud in turn writes to him as Dear Friend. Freud is solid, stable and somewhat gloomy, as well as consistent, mature, and dedicated. His intense internal struggle to maintain a certain analytic distance from Ferenczi is quite manifest, while at the same time his need for the friendship and his appreciation for Ferenczi's warmth and devotion to him is apparent. All this occurs against the background of being on the losing side in World War I, with the miseries and frustrations that obviously entailed. Freud at one point had three sons in uniform and was very much worried about each of them; Ferenczi's career was continually disrupted by calls to serve as a military physician, a disruption that made it almost impossible for him to dedicate himself to psychoanalysis. He was so determined to continue this dedication that he even attempted to analyze his commanding officer while they were both on horseback, the first instance, as he puts it, of hippic psychoanalysis (p. 50). Given the background of this terrible war it is easier to empathize with the struggles of both Freud and Ferenczi to maintain some kind of stability and to continue a very human relationship that was sometimes one of an analyst and patient and sometimes one of an older with a younger friend. Freud has been much criticized for this vacillation, but without it am certain that both parties would have suffered greatly, and Ferenczi, the patient, most of all. Probably Freud's most glaring mistake was to write directly to Ferenczi's intended betrothed, conveying an offer of marriage at Ferenczi's request. In the outstanding introduction to this book by Axel Hoffer, it is suggested that Freud had, at least, an unconscious attraction to Ferenczi's betrothed himself, which might account for Freud's continual pressure on Ferenczi to marry her. This may or may not be so, but it does raise the issue of the status of Martha, Freud's wife. She is rarely referred to in this almost 400 page volume of correspondence, and when she is mentioned, it is in a rather disparaging manner by Freud, characterizing her as essentially a fuss-budget who has little tolerance of discomfort. For example, Freud writes, I don't dare bring my wife to an unknown second- or third-rate Hungarian spa. …

From William Smith to William Whitaker: the development of British hydrogeology in the nineteenth century

Abstract Some of the earliest applications of the principles of geology to the solution of hydrologic problems were made by William Smith, who used his knowledge of strata succession to locate groundwater resources to feed the summit levels of canals and supply individual houses and towns. The industrial revolution led to a huge demand for water resources to supply new towns and cities. Nottingham, Liverpool, Sunderland and parts of London all relied on groundwater. By the middle of the nineteenth century James Clutterbuck had already recognized that groundwater was a finite resource and that if abstraction was more rapid than replenishment by rain, water levels would decline and quality would be affected by saline intrusion. In 1851 Prestwich produced the first British geological map that included groundwater information. Before 1870 the Geological Survey had shown little concern for groundwater, perhaps because its Director, Murchison, had little interest in the economic applications of geology. After his retirement in 1871 there was an explosion of activity. Lucas introduced the term ‘hydrogeology’ in 1874 and produced the first real hydrogeological map in 1877 after leaving the Survey to work as a consultant water engineer. De Rance was for 20 years the secretary of a British Association Committee set up in 1874 to inquire into the underground circulation of water and in 1882 produced a 600 page volume on the water supply of England and Wales. William Whitaker, sometimes described as the ‘father of English hydrogeology’, was a collecter of well records and his work led to the inclusion of page after page of well records in survey publications in the southeast of England and in 1899 to the first water supply memoir — The Water Supply of Sussex from Underground Sources . From Smith to Whitaker, knowledge of groundwater grew throughout the nineteenth century, providing the basis for the sophisticated models of today.

Aerosol Inhalation: Recent Research Frontiers

BOOK REVIEW Aerosol Inhalation: Recent Research Frontiers Edited by J. C. M. Mariinissen and L. Gradoh This 301 page volume containing 23 sepa- rate contributions is the proceedings of an international workshop held September 14-16, 1995, near Warsaw, Poland. The purpose of the workshop was to bring to- gether scientists from various disciplines to get a complete view of the aerosol inhala- tion, lung transport and deposition in rela- tion to the current environment. No single workshop or volume can be expected to achieve such an ambitious goal. However, several of the papers included provide timely and excellent reviews of important topics, and other papers present detailed reports of the specific research of the au- thors. In addition, two papers summarize panel discussions and two others provide perspectives on the workshop. The strength of this book lies in its several lucid papers that contain either new information or orig- inal perspectives on topics of current inter- est. The main weakness is that the produc- tion quality is poor. For example, some papers resemble early drafts and some have missing information because the printed page in my copy was not sufficiently wide to capture the entire complement of text. Still, the book is highly recommended to all aerosol scientists who are interested in en- vironmental particulate exposures and hu- man health. The lead paper by Morton Lippmann presents a comprehensive review of early and recent epidemiological evidence for the adverse health effects of atmospheric aerosols. Lippmann considers three eras: the highly-polluted coal-smoke era, the less-polluted intermediate era, and the recent past (since 1985). He identifies Aerosol Science and Technology 26:289-290 (1997) O 1997 American Association for Aerosol Research Published by Elsevier Science Inc. key unresolved questions regarding the health effects of current PM-10 (particulate mass in particles under 10 p m aerodynamic diameter), including a discussion of possi- ble causal factors for mortality and morbid- ity (PM-2.5 mass, hydrogen ion, particle number, and hybrid factors such as acid- coated fine particles are suggested). With nearly 70 references, this paper provides an excellent update on the issue of modern particulate material and the related human mortality and morbidity. The second paper, by Roger McClellan, thoroughly covers the topic of cancer risks in relation to the inhalation of diesel ex- haust and carbon black. In addition to re- viewing and discussing the risk assessments made by various governmental and other agencies, McClellan presents an in-depth mechanistic analysis of the numerous rele- vant rodent studies that have been con- ducted and identifies several issues that call into question the extrapolation of the re- sults of such studies to human populations. This well-referenced chapter (with over 100 citations) presents the full complexity and identifies the important gaps in knowledge relating to risk assessments for diesel exhaust soot and carbon black. Among the author's conclusions is that the expo- sure-response relationship observed at high exposure levels should not be extrapolated to low-level exposures typical of well con- trolled work places or the general environ- ment. Particle deposition and clearance, major emphases of the book, are discussed in 10 papers. Among these, one finds: an exami-

1996 Society For Information Display, 12–17May, San Diego, California

Abstract The annual Society for information Display (SiD) Conference was held in beautiful San Diego, California. The SiD Symposia are certainly the best way for researchers and technologists to keep in touch with the ever changing and dynamic display arena. The 1996 SID Symposium was an exciting, highly informative, and entertaining event that made participants more knowledgeable, effective, and productive. I strongly encourage that more ILCS members take part in the SID Symposia in the future. The conference is heavily dominated by liquid crystal materials and displays. Although it is strongly focused towards electro-optic appllcations and displays, there is a lot of basic physlcs, chemistry, and engineering to be learned from the excellent papers and talks. The proceedings are published in a 1022 page volume entitled SID International Symposium Digest of Technical Papers, Volume XXVII (ISSN 0097-966X). edited by Jay Morreale, and it can be purchased from SID, 1526 Brookhollow Drlve, Suite 82, Santa Ana...

Book reviews

An advantage of this textbook is that it provides an overview of the radiology of the genitourinary tract in a single 500 page volume. In the preface to the first edition it was stated that the book was aimed at: general radiologists requiring a concise update in the subject, radiology and urology residents, urologists, nephrologists and medical students.

The 1890s: An Encyclopedia of British Literature, Art, and Culture edited by G.A. Cevasco (review)

188Victorian Review have come from — all of these questions remain unanswered and for the most part unasked. The reader who comes to this work believing that women in the nineteenth century were much like their late-twentieth century counterparts only (in what I have come to believe is a revealing choice of words) "more suppressed" will find that belief confirmed rather than challenged here. In the end, Victorian Women serves to reveal, rather than to bridge, the gap between "popular" and "scholarly" understandings of women's past. JOYDfXON University ofBritish Columbia G.A. Cevasco (ed.) The 1890s: An Encyclopedia ofBritish Literature, Art, and Culture. New York and London: Garland P, Inc., 1993. xxi + 714. $150.00 CDN. Imagining the kind ofcourage it takes to create an encyclopedia would be enough to daunt the hardiest of scholars. Contemplating the stalwart qualities necessary to envision and assemble an encyclopedia on the 1890s — that under-conceptualized era of yellow covers and spiritual quests, cocaine-injecting consulting detectives and women of no importance — might catapult readers into the muddled song of the Victorian musical version of Macbeth, he who warbled: "Is that a dagger I see before me?/My wits are scattered in a whirlwind stormy." So it is that the first order of reviewing business is to congratulate heroic editor G.A. Cevasco. The second job of work is to welcome this seven hundred page volume to the light of day. Attending midwives include Garland's Senior Editor Phyllis Körper, consulting editors Gary Paterson (King's College, University of Western Ontario) and Murray G.H. Pittock (Edinburgh University), and more than three hundred contributors from many countries. The 1890s: An Encyclopedia ofBritish Literature, Art, and Culture includes over eight hundred topics, alphabetically listed. Most of the entries are on "individual authors, artists, political figures, historians, scientists, philosophers, theologians, journalists, actors, and music hall entertainers" (viii). Sensibly, the volume lists people whose influential work began in earlier decades as well as those who blossomed — like the dandy's peacocks on leashes — in the century's final decade. And included among the entries are over one hundred entries on the most important books of the period. Mr. Cevasco defines important books as Reviews189 tiiose "that had die most representative influence on their readers, as well as on other writers, during die decade and beyond" (viii). Lasdy, the volume covers general topics such as "Art for Art's Sake," "Darwinism," and "Pornography." Widi celebration and description behind us, I must admit, widi rueful admiration, that Mr. Cevasco has attempted to disable die reviewer from die rest of her job. In a defense half-disguised as an apologia, he says: "literary scholars, as well as art and cultural historians, may be able to carp that diere are topics that should have been included in this volume, but were not. Among those that had been included, it may be argued, some should have received more — or less — attention; and possibly diere are even a few entries mat could have been omitted" (viii). What bottom-feeding fresh-water carp would dare to carp after that? Yet — carpe diem — the volume under review is not beyond reasonable criticism, even while leaving die question of additional topics or factual errors to other Causabons. A disappointing number of entries seem to turn on outdated arguments or assessments. For example, the entry of Robert Louis Stevenson defends his oeuvre, arguing that "the work of restoring him to die Victorian canon still remains to be done" (590). Certainly Stevenson's twentiedi-century reputation took a Tennysonian nose-dive, anchored with charges of low-cultural crudeness and boyish escapism. But an ongoing Stevenson renaissance and reappraisal began in die seventies widi Ian Campbell's Nineteenth-Century Scottish Fiction (1979) and Jenni Calder's cottage industry of Stevenson scholarship. The one hundred year anniversary of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) saw a veritable orgy of respectful and lively work on Stevenson. The contemporary critical position for Stevenson's work seems strangely misrepresented and not explicable dirough die assumption that an encyclopedia was probably in the works for more tiian a year or two. The question of principles for inclusion crops up widi dismaying frequency...

Book reviews

This is the first of a series of books on obstetric ultrasound aimed at highlighting important advances as they are reported from many disciplines across the world literature. The editors consider that the rapid pace of development in obstetric ultrasound demands prompt recording and authoritative review. This 300 page volume includes contributions from over 20 internationally recognized authorities. The detection of fetal abnormalities in the first trimester using transvaginal scanning and the finding of markers for fetal chromosomal abnormalities are both well described. The fetal lung and dilated urinary tract are particular subjects dealt with in detail in this first volume.

Review of Natural theories of mind: Evolution, development and simulation of everyday mindreading.

In recent years there has been a phenomenal growth in interest and research directed at what has become known as a Theory of Mind (ToM) and its development. Among the many edited books recently made available on the topic, Whiten's Natural theories of is unique in the eclectic, multidisciplinary approach it brings to this vital, yet fledgling area. As suggested by the subtitle; Evolution, development and simulation of everyday mindreading, Whiten has brought together researchers involved in everything from ethological approaches to mind - reading in primates and birds, to those developing formal mathematical models of planning and plan recognition.This interdisciplinary approach, which also includes a chapter by Carrithers placing the development of a theory of within the broader context of sociology and anthropology, is at the same time both the strength of this volume and it's limitation. strength comes from connecting what to an outsider at times seem like an esoteric and philosophical debate to the modelling of cognitive science, the careful ethological studies of primates, and experimental and descriptive studies of cognitive development in infants and children. necessary and negative corollary of taking such a broad strategy in a 362 page volume is that no single approach is developed in much depth. With the number of other volumes (Astington, Harris & Olson, 1988; Frye & Moore, 1991; Perner, 1991; Wellman, 1990) on theory of and it's development in humans, however, the niche for a volume on developing theories of in children is quite full.A key issue throughout this general area of research and this volume specifically (but only rarely made explicit, e.g., by Premack & Dasser and by Cheney & Seyfarth), is whether asking when (in the case of humans) or if (in other animals) a theory of exists is an empirical question. What constitutes sufficient evidence to conclude an individual has a theory of mind? Several chapters (most notably those by Leslie, Baron - Cohen, Bennett, Wellman, Astington & Gopnik) in this book suggest a number of gradations toward or distinctions (such as between desire - based and belief - based thoughts and actions) that contribute to making hypotheses in theory of testable.These gradations in mindreading also serve to tie in the continuity issues (from both ontogenetic and phylogenetic time frames) that underlie much of this book. (They also bog the reader down somewhat with different terminologies for what appear to be similar, if not identical concepts.) For now, at least, it still comes down to what Chandler, Fritz and Hala (1989) have termed the distinction between 'boosters' -- those willing to attribute a theory of to a child or animal without conclusive evidence -- and 'scoffers' -- those hesitant to attribute such a capability when alternate interpretations are available. distinction seems to be based primarily on: 1) whether one focusses on the experimental evidence (which tends to find evidence of a theory of only at later ages in humans and not at all in other species) or the anecdotal evidence; and 2) what one takes as the most parsimonious explanation of behaviour (if one cares for parsimony at all, cf. Bennett's chapter and below). chapters by Dunn, Reddy and Leekam describing teasing, joking, lying and pretence in children observed under natural conditions argue strongly for abilities yet to be captured in laboratory tasks, while Bennett argues that accepting the most parsimonious explanation of behaviour, at least for human behaviour, may be a flawed strategy. Perhaps the relative parsimony of behaviourist and mindreading explanations for animal behaviour was best expressed in the closing sentences of Premack and Woodruff (1978). The ape could only be a mentalist. Unless we are badly mistaken, he is not intelligent enough to be a behaviourist. (p. 526). (Would we say the same about a 2 - year - old? …

The New American Writing: Essays on American Literature Since 1970 ed. by Graham Clarke

164 Western American Literature seem to exhibit more promise than merit, Hanson’s study is certainly a signifi­ cant addition to the innovative critical perspective that Allen has brought to the appreciation of western American literature. That the perspective is now somewhat overburdened by jargon does not diminish the very rich possibilities it suggests. Finally, the most polished of these short studies is Lyman B. Hagen’s Dee Brown. Very evenly paced, succinctly integrating illustrative specifics and more general estimates, it covers all aspects of Brown’s career with equal insight. It manages to convey Brown’s important contributions as a novelist and historian without straining to overstate his stature. It should do much to promote further critical attention to Brown’s work—though other critics will be hard-pressed to match the seamless transitions that characterize Hagen’s treatment. In every sense, this study might serve as a model for what can be accomplished in a seemingly restrictive space. MARTIN KICH Wright State University The New American Writing: Essays on American Literature Since 1970. Edited by Graham Clarke. (London and New York: Vision Press and St. Martin’s Press, 1990. 186 pages, no price given.) “The word ‘new’ seems endemic to American culture,” says Graham Clarke in his introduction to this collection of essays on “The New American Writing,” taken mostly from fellow professors at the University of Kent in Great Britain. Indeed, this particular post-1970 “newness,” which Clarke aptly identifies as the desire to locate oneself in a history that “increasingly seems to overwhelm and threaten,” is the rubric, and paradox, under which this collec­ tion is organized. Attempting to define what is “new” is always tricky business, especially when, as Clarke says, “New is . . . now”; but these essays manage this close proximity well, and are useful not only for their attention to these “new,” often ignored authors, but as a document to be considered in discussions on canon reformation. With specific chapters on E.L. Doctorow, Toni Morrison, Don DeLillo, Raymond Carver, and Gordon Lish, and collective chapters on ethnic fiction and American crime fiction, this collection attempts to place itself at the nexus of popular culture and literature. In doing so in such an “academic” format, The New American Writing asks us to consider our criteria for what we call “literature” and, by extension, to consider the process through which we select new authors into the literary canon. Although the American West as genre is not addressed in this collection, Clarke’s fine essay on Raymond Carver and A. Robert Lee’s chapter on the “Ethnic Renaissance,” which discusses Louise Erdrich and Rudolfo Anaya, may be ofparticular interesthere. Reviews 165 I suppose that in any collection, one could always quibble over those figures not included, and Clarke does concede that this 186 page volume is not meant to be fully representative. However, with his stated emphasis on history and historical representation, the late Donald Barthelme is,perhaps, this collec­ tion’s most conspicuously absent figure. Although this book works admirably within the limitations of length, much more could have been accomplished with the addition of a few more chapters. CHRISTOPHER COATES University of Florida Home to Stay: Asian American Women’s Fiction. Edited by Sylvia Watanabe and Carol Bruchac. (Greenfield Center: The Greenfield Review Press, 1990. 321 pages, $12.95.) Watanabe explains that the writers in this anthology are American women of Asian descent or “non-Asian women who have experienced close contact with Asian cultures.” The work includes such celebrated writers as Maxine Hong Kingston, Bharati Mukherjee, and Amy Tan. Also included are many new writers—some of them in their early 20s—whose works here have not been published before. Of these, Elizabeth Gordon in “On the Other Side of the War: A Story” writes with wry understatement about anAmerican-Vietnamese family made legitimate in West Virginia. The stories are prefaced by brief autobiographical sketches of their authors which are as compelling as the fiction. Gish Jen writes humorously of her cherished nickname which her mother rejects. Sussy Chako writes that she was “born and raised in Hong Kong by immigrant parents who were Indone­ sian citizens of Chinese descent.” Marnie Mueller, a...

Disorders of the Spleen: Pathophysiology and Management

This beautifully illustrated, wellindexed 450 + -page volume presents a clear and comprehensive, yet concise, review of splenic disorders in adults and children. It begins with a discussion of normal anatomy and function, then proceeds to a review of gross and microscopic pathology in a variety of splenic disease states. Disturbed splenic function— both hyposplenism and hypersplenism—is discussed in depth. Emphasis is placed on pathophysiologic mechanisms, where known, and available clinical methods (including imaging techniques) for diagnosing the functional state of the spleen. There is detailed attention given to the workup and management of the patient with splenomegaly. Systematic review of neoplastic, storage/metabolic, infectious, and immune disorders is presented. Recommendations for treatment of asplenic individuals are included. This monograph is commended particularly for successfully relating data from the basic sciences to clinical features of disturbed splenic function. The pathology and relevant basic immunology are included not as a comprehensive review, but

Book reviews

I must confess that my heart sank a little when I was asked to review this weighty volume of 700-odd pages written by 76 contributors, especially as the title indicated algorithms, which I have never been fully at ease with. In fact I am still not fully convinced about the use of rigid algorithms even, as explained in the text, allowing for the modifications required for local availability, local expertise and developing technology. But this somewhat personal view about algorithms should not detract from the many excellent features to be found in this book.

Pre-Islamic Yemen in a recent publication

On 28 April 1987 an exhibition opened in Munich under the title “Jemen: 3000 Jahre Kunst und Kultur des Glucklichen Arabiens”. In connection with this, Werner Daum brought together a team of writers to supply background essays on all aspects of Yemeni culture covered by the exhibition; these were published in a sumptuously produced 492 page volume (with splendid illustrations), by Pinguin Verlag of Innsbruck under the simple title Jemen. There are in all 45 contributions, but the following remarks refer only to the 14 concerned with pre-Islamic Yemen.

Making Mary Male: the Categories ‘Male’ and ‘Female’ in the Gospel of Thomas

The CopticGospel of Thomasis one of the most spectacular of the fifty-two tractates filling the thirteen codices of the Nag Hammadi library. Discovered in December 1945 by several Egyptianfellahin, the Nag Hammadi tractates were subjected to a variety of political and scholarly ploys, and were not made available in their entirety until the very end of 1977, when the last of the volumes of manuscript pages in theFacsimile Editionand the one-volume edition ofThe Nag Hammadi Library in Englishfinally appeared.1One of the very first of the documents to be published was theGospel of Thomas, and its appearance has already stimulated the production of numerous articles and monographs by the scholars who have recognized its significance for our knowledge of Christian origins and early church history. Since the time of its initial publication scholars have suggested a variety of interpretations of theGospel, and to date no consensus has been reached. Yet, in my estimation, a reasonably strong case can be made that theGospel of Thomas, in its present form, belongs at least on the periphery of Christian Gnosticism, and to that extent the Coptic text may be termed a gnosticizing gospel.2

Seventeenth-Century English Women Engraved in Stone?

The question this article poses is: Are the assumptions about women in Lawrence Stone's The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, 1500-1800 sound and should his conclusions form the point of departure for the work of the growing number of scholars in both history and literature interested in early modern English women? The question really needs to be asked because of the commanding reputation of the author, his pioneering attempt at constructing an overarching conceptual framework for the evolution of family modes—an effort that has contributed to bringing into focus the work of other scholars in the fields of family and women's history—and the remarkable popularity of the book. By 1979, two years after its first publication the demand for this big, 800 page volume was lively enough to warrant an abridged paperback edition, and today the book is used in “hundreds” of courses and seminars in history, literature, sociology, and women's studies in universities and colleges in the United States and the United Kingdom. Personal conversations with scholars and students, especially those who do not work directly in women's history, indicate that Stone's assumptions about women have won uncritical acceptance. This is surely accountable to the fact that no scholar has published a close examination of Stone's treatment of women and only a few reviewers have suggested the need for caution in following his views about the condition of women.

Dimension: An Appreciation

By BREON MITCHELL Booksellers and poets often rail at people who say they love poetry but never buy any. At the opposite end of the spectrum are those rare individuals whose personal energy and vision enable the rest of us to share effortlessly in cultural riches. Such a person is A. Leslie Willson, editor and founder of Dimension, a journal of contemporary German arts and letters. The most recent issue of Dimension, devoted to the intriguing double talents of Durrenmatt, Grass, Hildesheimer, Kunert, Weiss and others, serves to remind us again of how much we owe to this splendid literary journal. I should say immeditately that I am not an entirely objective observer in the matter of Dimension. I have contributed, to the limit of my own modest abilities as a translator, to more than one issue. My praise is thus mixed with gratitude for having been allowed to join the ranks of those represented at one remove from the true source of literary creativity. My own experience serves to sharpen and focus an appreciaton I feel should be shared by all those concerned with contemporary literature. The new issue of Dimension is surely one of the handsomest ever, and it presents a suitable occasion for a retrospective look at the series. Beginning with the cover illustration by Giinter Grass, the 312^-page volume overflows with drawings, paintings and graphics, both in black and white and full color. In each case the poet-artist had contributed accompanying texts as well, and as Willson puts it in his opening remarks: Pity the poor critic who brings to his literary analyses little knowledge of artistic media but who senses the intricate and indelible relationship between the written word and its sketched or painted transformation. Twenty different German authors are represented, and as is normal for Dimension, the list includes both leading authors and their lesser-known but highly talented compatriots. The issue is thus a treasure trove of new material, much of which is largely unknown to American readers, including even specialists. Yet it is made accessible to all by a simple expedient: every contribution is presented both in the original German and in translation. It is this aspect of Dimension which gives it a truly unique position of importance as a literary intermediary between Germanand English-speaking peoples. When Dimension was founded in 1968, one of its primary purposes was to provide a wide range of contemporary German literature in English translations of high quality. It has never wavered from this commitment. Each and every translation undergoes the most careful editorial scrutiny. Many translators are in direct contact with the authors they are translating, and it is not unusual for a given version to pass from translator to author to translator to editor and back again, always with further queries and suggestions, always aiming at the impossible goal of perfection. Out of such interchanges a sense of literary community is established which dissolves national boundaries and promotes international understanding. My own experience with the work of Riidiger Kremer has been typical; more than simply a literary relationship has evolved. A friendship has grown in its place, owed at least in part to a literary magazine. Although my contact with other poets such as Bernd Rachel, Karl Opperman and Jiirgen Kross remains solely epistolary, I strongly suspect that these too will develop in time through our continued contact in Dimension. In the process much material is generated

The Physics of Semiconductor Devices

D A Fraser London: Clarendon/Oxford University Press 1977 pp ix + 148 price £5.95 This ambitious yet slim (148 page) volume is number 16 in the Oxford Physics Series, and is aimed at undergraduate students of physics, electrical engineering, electronics and materials science. The most important concepts of conduction in semiconductors are introduced with remarkable brevity in the first two chapters.

Asian mass communications: Selected information sources

The following material is drawn from a 700 page volume just published (citation on page 324) and is based on the author's many years of research and teaching in several Asian countries. Dr. Lent is a member of the journalism faculty at Temple University's School of Communications and Theater. The following bibliography is the first in a series being gathered by Dr. Lent and assembled by a number of area communications specialists, which the Journal will publish over the next two years. The next segment of the series will deal with Caribbean Mass Communications.

Three Hundred Years of American Drama and Theatre: From Ye Bear and Ye Cubb to Hair by Garff B. Wilson (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 203 THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN DRAMA AND THEATRE: FROM YEBEARAND YECUBB TO HAIR, by GarffB. Wilson. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973. viii & 536 pp. $11.95. Few tasks are more necessary, and more difficult to do well, than writing about the arts for a popular audience. The historian who addresses a wide readership of non-professionals must synthesize the controversies and minutiae of scholarly investigation into a coherent account accessible to anyone with sufficient curiosity to open his book. Yet he must do so without falsifying or distorting the knowledge - including the products of his own research - on whose authoritativeness his popularization depends. In the case of the American theatre and drama, attempts at synthesis have become familiar, but historians have focused, understandably , on either the literature produced by American dramatists or the conditions and activities associated with its stage performance. Garff Wilson has now sought to integrate the two emphases within one comprehensive, fivehundred -page volume chronicling "the development of dramatic art in America from 1665 to 1972," as the dust jacket explains. Perhaps it is vain to think the job can be done at all. At any rate, what Wilson has done is to juxtapose a series of well-planned chapters on dramatic history with concurrent accounts of the development of theatres and theatrical art, including acting, with some attention to scenic design and more to the allied arts of cinema and television. The result is a sometimes lively narrative, but not the synthetic combination to which the author aspires in his Preface. Nor is there consistent and extensive evidence of the fresh research, the rethinking of critical concepts, or the establishment of a conceptually sound, comprehensive point of view that the task would seem to require. These shortcomings are perhaps most clear with respect to Wilson's admittedly authoritative accounts of acting and in his treatment of melodrama. He knows American acting well, having demonstrated that knowledge in his 1966 history of the subject. But, in numerous instances where this reviewer compared passages, the pages on acting in the present work are a virtual cutting and pasting of his earlier discussions and so, although condensed, are far from being "greatly ... revised," as the Preface maintains in acknowledging the author's debt to his previous work. Clearly, no substantial attempt has been made to integrate the history of acting with other aspects of the larger subject. A similar deficiency emerges in the critical viewpoint Wilson brings to melodrama. Despite recent revaluations of the genre, including the social historian David Grimsted's explanation ofthe widespread needs and assumptions that gave melodrama its historical validity - an explanation Wilson quotes and endorses - his own view remains essentially that it was a "blight that perverted American dramaturgy" (p. 104). In fact he seems to think of melodrama less as a genre than as a collection of "devices" naively or mendaciously employed by otherwise promising playwrights. The insufficiency of this view be,')mes even more evident when the author takes up the rise of "realism" (a term that remains inadequately defined). The following passage explains the appearance of a new realistic drama in the late nineteenth century: The world had changed and the need for a literature relevant to the times was urgent. 204 BOOK REVIEWS Everywhere men were becoming aware of the deeply disturbing problems created by the industrial revolution, the urbanization of the population, and the impact of science, especially the conflict between science and religion. The conventions and attitudes of romantic literature were criticized for being outmoded and artificial. A desire for relevance and truth developed. Instead of exotic settings, there was a demand for the settings of everyday life. Instead of battles for political liberty, there was demand for social and economic freedom. Instead of princes, noblemen, and Byronic heroes, there was demand for characters who represented the average man. Instead of the romantic problems of love and honor, there was demand for a discussion of the disturbing economic, social, and personal problems of the day. Instead of the language of poetry or elaborate rhetoric, there was demand for the diction and rhythms of ordinary speech. A radically altered concept of the mission and method...

The Retromaxillary Space: A Clinical, Rontgenological and Surgical Presentation (published in German).

The space underneath the center part of the base of the skull has been neglected from a diagnostic as well as from a therapeutic view. This hidden area is located behind the maxillary bones and the pharynx where a growing neoplasm might be silent for a very long time. The soft tissue content of the area consists of the para- and retropharyngial spaces and is termed, by the author, retromaxillary space. Because of the rich content of nerves, blood vessels, and muscles the area has not been approached surgically, and interventions were restricted to the draining of abscesses. During the past 15 years, with the aid of tomography, angiography, and the experience gained through plastic surgery this area can be more easily exposed. These trends and results are presented in this 50 page volume with numerous sketches, photographs, and rontgenograms.

A Neurological Study of Newborn Infants, by David J. Beintema with a preface by Heinz F. R. Prechtl (Clinics in Developmental Medicine No. 28). London: Spastics International Medical Publications in Association with William Heinemann Medical Books Ltd, 1968. 178 pp., $4.80

There are two main ways in which this 178 page volume (appendixes and references included) should prove valuable. The first is in answer to questions one and two posed by the author in the introduction: "What is the developmental course of neurological signs during the neonatal period, and how consistent are single neurological signs in individual babies from day to day?" For anyone who wants to know how the Mono response, the rooting reflex, the crossed extensor reflex, and at least 28 other neonatal responses vary through the first 9 days of life, this carefully done study is an essential reference.