Introduction to Social Welfare. by Walter A.

Friedlander
Review by: Werner W. Boehm
The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 82, No. 4 (Apr., 1956), pp. 216-217
Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
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firmation.The author claims that "the problem of what logeny," includes his papers on vessel development and
statements are confirmable merely becomes the equiv- tracheary evolution. The relationship of plant anatomy
alent problem of what predicates are projectable from to plant taxonomy is made apparent in part IV by
known to unknown cases." three papers on the comparative morphology of certain
The other three chapters in the book are later lec- Ranalian families. Part V, "Entomology," includes his
tures that were given at the University of London deal- work on "neotropical ant-plants." In part VI, paleo-
ing with the same general theme. botanical relationships are shown by his paper concern-
RAYMOND J. SEEGER ing identification of Mesozoic coniferous wood. Ana-
National Science Foundation tomical relationships to wood technology in part VII
are demonstrated by his work on the structure of pit
membranes in coniferous tracheids in relation to the
entrance of gases and liquids. Part VIII, "Cooperation
Contributionsto Plant Anatomy. vol. 15, Chronica in scientific research," consists of selections from his
Botanica. Irving W. Bailey. Chronica Botanica, writings on the "Role of Research in the Development
Waltham,Mass.; Stechert-Hafner, New York, 1954. of Forestry,"which resulted from his national investiga-
xxvi+ 262 pp. Illus. + plates. $7.50. tion of natural forestresources.
Each of the eight parts bears an attractive title page
The book-embodiesselectedreprintsfromIrvingW. designed by G. L. Swamy. Anatomical designs on each
Bailey'sbibliographyof morethan 100 paperspublished title page suggest the subject matter of the particular
between1909 and 1953. Such a volume is a tributeto section, and in most sections they also convey a trend
Bailey: a tributenot frequentlygiven living scientific in phylogenetic specialization of xylem cells or tissues.
investigatorsand writers.There is no doubt that the In addition to these ornamental pages, interesting vi-
breadthand intensityof his work meritthis attention. gnettes are found elsewhere, and about one-half of the
The selectionand arrangementof papers are that of original figuresand plates have been reprinted.
Bailey himselfat the request of Barghoornand Ver- This volume will make Bailey's work readily acces-
doorn of the ChronicaBotanica. sible to students of plant anatomy and allied interests.
Bailey's early investigationsof the structuraland Many such students will want to own a copy. The com-
physicalpropertiesof wood transcendmere observation plete bibliography and the interestingbiography alone
and description.He has made frequentand far-reaching have intrinsicvalue. What a pity that such an interesting
practical applications,and has taken time to reflect book bears the uninspiringtitle of Contributions to Plant
upon the broad significance, of his detailed work. For Anatomy!
example,duringWorld War I, he advised on the selec- JANE PHILPOTT
tionof wood forairplanemanufacture.Somewhatlater Department of Botany, Duke University
he studiednationalresourcesof timberand advised on
futureneeds in timberproductionand wood products.
In contrastto thesepracticalapplications,his extensive
knowlegeof wood anatomyled him to discernbroad Introductionto Social Welfare.WalterA. Friedlander.
phylogeneticrelationships.These in turn inspiredin- Prentice-Hall,New York, 1955. xvii+ 683 pp. $9.
terestin paleobotanyas well as in taxonomicrelation-
shipsamongthe livingflora.AfterWorld War I, Bailey Walter Friedlander,who teaches at the University
studiedthe histologyand cytologyof the cambiumand of Californiain Berkeley,has writtena textbookthat
its derivativeswhich eventuallyled him (in collabora- is remarkablebecause of its scope. The book's 22 chap-
tion with Thomas Kerr) to studieson the plant cell tersare dividedinto threeparts: a historicalone, which
wall and its chemicalconstituents. deals with the developmentof social welfarein Eng-
Duringthisperiodhe collaboratedalso withWilliam land and the United States; a descriptiveone, which
Morton Wheelerin investigating the peculiar relation- covers the presentsystemand organizationof social
ships between ants and certain tropical plants, the welfare;and a thirdone, whichis entitled"Social wel-
mermecophytes. His more recentwork and reflections fare administration." Each chapteris supplied with a
on the comparativeanatomyand morphologyof vascu- selectedbibliography, and the book is indexed.
lar plantshave establishedthe signficanceof secondary This book is primarilydestinedforthe undergraduate
wood to phylogeny and, in particular,have shownphylo- who wantsto roundout his liberalartseducationor who
genetic relationshipsamong familiesof the Ranalian wantsto enterone of the fieldsof social workand for
complex.Much of Bailey'sworkhas been relatedto, or the citizen who is interestedin health and welfare.
in collaborationwith, other disciplines;and he chose Friedlanderhas succeeded in incorporatingmaterials
theserelationshipsas the centralthemein his selection that are seldom found in textbooksin this field-for
and arrangement of papers in the presentvolume. instance,materialson internationalsocial welfare,in-
The papers are groupedin eightsections.In part I dustryand social welfare, and public housing and
the relationshipsof plant anatomy to cytologyand social welfare.These inclusionsgive this book definite
ontogenyare shownby some of his work on the cam- advantagesover othertextbooks,because theybespeak
bium and its derivatives.Part II concernshis investiga- an alertnessto new or emergingsocial welfareneeds
tionsofthecell wall whichdemonstrate therelationships and make forconsiderablebreadth.
of his workto chemistryand physics.Part III, "Phy- I am somewhatpuzzled by the organizationof the

216 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY

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materials.For instance,it is difficultto discerna ra- tion to ordinary rhetoric may produce, at best, a tour de
tionalefor the placing underthe heading"Social wel- forcelike Laplace's Essai philosophiquesur les prob-
fare administration" materialon communityorganiza- abilite's, a work that is rich in meaning to those mathe-
tion,whichis usuallyconsidereda social workmethod, matically adept enough to recast its phrases into proper
and on professional aspectsof social work,whichis more mathematical form and all but meaningless to the
in the realm of issues and could be treated under a mathematically inept for whom it was supposedly
separateheading.While the authorhas wiselyavoided written.With less verbal and rhetorical skill, the present
an extensiveand detailed expositionof the social work author has brought forth a turgid collection of ex
methods,he has alreadydealt with communityorgani- cathedra generalizations. Typical of these are the follow-
zation in an earlierchaptercalled "Methods of social ing:
work." (p. 18) "Metaphorically speaking, nature is endowed
Some readersmightalso have preferredthat issues with a memory, a retentive faculty, which leads over
in the field of social work, such as questionsof the and over again back into the past."
scope of the fieldand problemsof undergraduateand (p. 25) "The universe is inhabited by nothing but self-
graduateeducationalcontent,mighthave been brought maintaining systems."
out moreforcefully. (p. 50) "Every active or self-maintaining source of
With referenceto the fieldof social workeducation, fitnessis alive."
it is particularlyregrettable
thatthereis no mentionof (p. 63) "Organism and image are space-temporally
the 1952 curriculumpolicy statementof the Council equivalent with regard to their confines."
on Social Work Education, which representsa more (p. 94) "The relation between body and soul neces-
recentdevelopmentthan the basic eightareas of social sarily is the same as the relation between the content
workeducationthat Friedlandermentions.This policy of cognition and cognition itself."
suggestsa divisionof the curriculuminto threebroad
domains: the social work methods,the social services, These statements have, of course, been quoted out of
and the humangrowthand behaviorsequence. context, but I think most readers of the book will agree
In summary, althoughthisbookhas considerablemerit that their meaning is not much greater in their original
by virtueof the scope of its factual content,it would surroundings. The trouble is that the author somehow
have more admirablyfulfilledits purposesof serving fails to make contact with his reader, fails to develop
the citizenand the futuresocial workerif at the same that counterpoint of ideas, examples, evidence and
timeit containedmore analysis. counterevidence that gives the reader the illusion that
WERNER W. BOEHM he is being talked to. The book is a soliloquy that surely
Universityof Minnesota has not had the benefit of healthy criticism by either
School of Social Work(on leave) colleagues or editors. Only by making this assumption
Curriculunm StudyCouncil on Social WorkEducation can we account for the frequent appearance of Rabelai-
sian catalogs of analogous items, such as in the sentence
that starts on line 8 of page 14 and ends, 23 semicolons
and 57 commas later, on page 15. And the last three
The UnifiedSystemConcept of Nature. Stephen Th. words of this promising entrant in the nonstop sentence
Bornemisza. Vantage, New York, 1955. viii+ 137 derby are (naturally!) "and so forth."
pp. $3. Those who are desirous of learning the elements of
self-maintainingsystems theory are still best advised to
This book has a noble aim: to showthe ubiquityand read Cannon's The Wisdom of the Body or Wiener's
meaningof self-maintaining systemsin nature.It spite Cybernetics.
of the provocativewritingsof several able men, chief GARRETT HARDIN
amongwhom are W. B. Cannon, NorbertWiener,and Departmentof Biological Sciences,
AlfredEmerson,the significance of such systemshas not Santa Barbara College
yetpenetratedverydeeplyintotheconsciousness of most
biologists.
The reasonsfortheslownessofdiffusion ofthis
pointof view are not altogetherplain. Perhapsas much
to blame as anythingelse is the factthatthisheterodox Advanced Calculus. Angus E. Taylor. Ginn, Boston,
approach demands that we thinkin termsof process, 1955. xiii+ 786 pp. Illus. $8.50.
using a language that has a stronglysubstantivalbias.
Onlyslowlydo we escape thislinguisticprejudgement of The increasingneed for rigorousanalysisin mathe-
natureby inventingsuch "things"as vectorsand dif- maticsand the otherscienceshas encouragedthe pub-
ferentialoperators.Processis not idiomaticin the Indo- licationof severaltextbooksin recentyearsdesignedto
European languages,and our intellectualescape from place more emphasison rigorthan seems advisable in
the shacklesof substanceis being effectedalmost en- the firstyear in the calculus,and at the same time to
tirelythroughthe use of the languageof mathematics. introducetopics either not treated at all in the first
What a pityit is, then,that Bornemiszaelects to do course,or treatedtoo briefly.The textbookby A. E.
withoutthispowerfullanguagein his attemptto summa- Taylor has accomplishedthese purposesadmirably,es-
rizetheprocessistic approachto nature.Whenreallydif- peciallythe introduction of rigorby a considerationof
ficultideas are beingexpounded,an author'sself-restric-the real numbersystemand some point set theorysuf-

April 1956 217

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