5t Mrtiau B&d1y
SUNDAY MAGAZINE
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 1922
"The Mind in the Making"
By James Harvey Robinson
(Published by Harper and Brothers) have a great stock of scientific knowl- in the same patient and scrupulous ing. The rural mechanic thinks scien-
(Copyright, 1921, by Harper and Bros.) edge unknown to our grandfathers manner. tifically; his only aim is to avail him-
. with which to operate. So novel are But, the knowledge of man, of the: self of his knowledge of the car, with
I. On tile Purose of This Volume the conditions, so copious the knowl- springs of his conduct, of his relation a view to making it run once more.
If some magical transformation edge, that we must undertake the ard- to his fellowmen singly or in groups, The Senator, on the other hand, ap-
could be produced in men's ways of uous task of reconsidering a great and the felicitous regulation of hu- pears too often to have little idea of
looking at themselves and their fel- part of the opinions about man and man intercourse in the interest of liar- ! the nature and workings of nations,
lows, no inconsiderable part of the' his relations to his fellow-men which mony and fairness, have made no such and he relies on rhetoric and appeals
evils which now afflict society would have been handed down to us by pre- advance. Aristotle's treatise on as- to vague fears and hopes or mere par-
vanish away or remedy themselves au- vious generations who lived in far tronomy and physics, and his notions tisan animosity. The scientists have
tomatically. "If the majority of influ- other conditions and possessed far of "generation and decay" and of been busy for a century in revolu-
ential persons held the opinions and tionizing the practical relation of na-
occupied the point of view that a few tions. The ocean is no longer a bar-
rather uninfluential people now do, "THE MIND IN THE 'itlNt ne, as it was in Washington's day,
there would, for instance, be no like- 1T to all intents and purposes a
lihood of another great war; the Through the kindness of Harper and Brothers and the courtesy smooth avenue closely connecting,
whole problem of "labor and capital" of the author, the Sunday Magazine has secured permission to run I rather than safely separating, the
would be transformed and attenuated; excerpts serially from "The Mind in the Making." We do not present eastern and western continents. The
national arrogance, race animosity, Professor Robinson's tenets arbitrarily-though we do not believe Senator will nevertheless unblushing-
political corruption, and inefficiency them to be in the least arbitrary--but rather for the thought which ly appeal to policies of a century
would all be reduced below the dan- they may stimulate. Regardless of Professor Robinson's particular back, suitable, mayhap, in their day,
ger point. As an old Stoic proverb views and any opposition which they may encounter, we know that but now become a warning rather
has it, men are tormented by the opin- they are thoughtful and that they are conducive to thinking by the than a guide. * * * *
ions they have of things, rather than reader. From this standpoint, at least, "The Mind in the Making" Those who have dealt with natural
by the things themselves. This is em- has been the most remarkable book published during 1921. It has, phenomena, as distinguished from
inently true of many of our worst fortunately, enjoyed a large sale, and has been very popu'ar here in purely human concerns, did not, how-
problems today. We have the avail- Ann Arbor. Of course, it is advisable that the book be read in its ever, quickly or easily gain popular
able knowledge and ingenuity and entirety, and we regret greatly that we have neither time nor space approbation and respect. The process
material resources to make a far fair- for the whole work. But we can introduce it, and in a measure, we of emancipating natural science from
er world than that in which we find can give the nucleus of it. current prejudices, both of the learn-
ourselves, but various obstacles pre- Professor Robinson will be r emembered as one who gave a ed and of the unlearned, has been long
vent our intelligently availing our- very stimulating lecture on history in the Natural Science auditor- and painful, and is not wholly com-
selves of them. The object of this tum last fall, a lecture which caused a deal of comment, discussion pleted yet. If we go back to the open-
book is to substantiate this proposi- and argument. ing of the seventeenth century we find
tion, to exhibit with entire frankness THE SUNDAY EDITOR. three men whose business it was,
the tremendous difficulties that stand above all, to present and defend com-
in the way of such a beneficent change moon sense in the natural sciences. The
of mind, and to point out as clearly as less information about the world and' chemical processes, have long gone by most eloquent and variedly persuasive
may be some of the measures to be' themselves. * * * * - the board, but his politics and ethics of these was Lord Bacon. Then there
taken in order to overcome them. No one who is even most superfi-' are still revered. Does this mean that was the young Descartes trying to
When we contemplate the shocking' cially acquainted with the achieve-! his penetration in the sciences of man shake himself loose from his training
derangement of human affairs which lments of students of nature during the' exceeded so greatly his grasp of nat- in a Jesuit seminary by going into the
now prevails in most civilized coun- past few centuries can fail to see ural science, or does it mean that the Thirty Years' War, and starting his
tries, including our own, even the that their thought has been astound-j progress of mankind in the scientific' intellectual life all over by giving up
best minds are puzzled and uncertain ingly effective in constantly adding to: knowledge and regulation of human for the moment all he had been
in their attempts to grasp the situa- our knowledge of the universe, from affairs has remained almost station- taught. Galileo had committed an of-
tion. The world seems to demand a the hugest nebula to the tiniest atom; ary for over two thousand years. I fense of a grave character by discuss-
moral and economic regeneration moreover, this knowledge has been so think that we may safely conclude' ing in the mother tongue the problems
which it is dangerous to postpone, but applied as to well-nigh revolutionize that the latter is the case. * * * of physics. In his old age he was im-
as yet impossible to imagine, let alone human affairs, and both the knowl- When we compare the discussions in: prisoned and sentenced to repeat the
direct. * * * * We have unprece- edge and its applications appear to be the United States senate in regard to' seven penitential psalms for differing
dented conditions to deal with and no more than hopeful beginnings, with the League of Nations with the con-' from Aristotle and Moses and the
novel adjustments to make - there indefinite revelations ahead, if only sideration of a broken-down car in a teachings of the theologians. On
can be no doubt of that. We also the same kind of thought be continued roadside garage the contrast is shock- (Continued on Page 2)
The Poets Who Come to Ann Arbor
II. Sandburg
(By Lois Elisabeth Whitcomb) These lines and the following ones pects, the crowds that swarm in the lon's rancor and terror, free, too,
Carl Sandburg, the second in the from "Prairie," one of the poems city streets, the large vulgar emotions' from the artificial forms of the fif-
series of five poets who are to be in which is printed in his second vol- of the masses, all expressed with a teenth century. He uses the rapid
Ann Arbor under the auspices of the ume, "Cornhuskers," are representa- directness and vigor that is empha- cadences of free verse. To the casual
American Association of University tive of the two most typical phases sized by the very homeliness of the eye it looks like a page of the "spaced
Women, will speak at 4:15 o'clock of his work. expressions that are used, rank col- prose" which it has been accused of
Wednesday, April 5, in Hill auditorium. "I was born on the prairie, and the loquialisms, racy slang, the warm, being, but read it aloud, listen to it,
Mr. Sandburg is essentially a poet milk of its wheat, the pungent speech of the market place, and you will be aware of an odd and
of the Middle West. He was born red of its clover, the eyes of its rich with living. interesting rhythm, varying with
in Galesburg, Illinois, and was edu- women, gave me It is lean, sinewy stuff, for the most each poem, but maintaining a pecu-
cated in Lombard College, Galesburg. a song and a slogan." part, without a trace of flacidity or liar individuality throughout. His
Most of his life has been spent in The two notes of which the verses a vestige of fatigue. "Brutal" is the most characteristic line is long, flow-
Chicago, and it is with that city that quoted are characteristic are sounded term most frequently applied to ing, loose yet cumulative. It sounds
his name is always connected. His again and again throughout his Sandburg's work, sometimes deserv- careless, even casual, but it gathers
first volume of poems, which appear- ( work. The one is a deep loud note edly perhaps, but "forceful" is usu- force as it moves, and it is well suited
ed in 1915, is entitled "Chicago that rings through many of the "Chi- ally the true adjective. His poetry to the sweep of his emotion.
Poems," and one of his best known cago Poems," and much of his latest is splendidly alive. It has a pulsing His emotion is usually intense,
verses is "Chicago," which begins: volume, "Smoke and Steel," (Har- quality that is found all too rarely. often violent. The quality of his line
"Hog-Butcher for the World, court, Brace and Howe). The other He has probed the overlay of dull- bears him along, carrying him beyond
Tool-maker, Stacker of Wheat, is a lighter silver tone, heard less ness and found life cheerful. In its the natural range of his initial im-
Player with Railroads and the Na- frequently in his pages, yet insist- speed and intimacy and strength his pulse. His is the voice of revolt. It
tion's Freight-handler: ently recurrent. work is similar to the sort of thing' is not easy to attach to him the tag
Stormy, husky, brawling, Most of his verses are concerned that Villon did three hundred years of any particular party or faith. He
City of the Big Shoulders." with humanity in its unlovelier as- ago. But Sandburg is free from Vil- (Continued on Page 7)