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The Sooner Magazine

Earth History by Luther C. Snider,Century Company, New York . 1932 .

IT is very trite to say thatthis or that book reads like a novel ; butthat is exactly what I should like to sayabout Doctor Snider's Earth Historywhich is just off the press .A few years ago I had occasion to

write a review of a book on geology,written by a gentleman who was a news-paper writer and a socialist politician,but who had only a superficial knowl-edge of geology. The book was writtenin the most approved newspaper style,and from the standpoint of diction andphraseology, was quite readable . Butno geologist reading it would think fora moment that the writer had any firsthand knowledge of the subject. In re-viewing the book, I said in substance,that while it was probably a better bookon geology written by a socialist thanwould be a book on socialism written bya geologist, at the same time, it was veryobvious that the shoemaker should stickto his last.

Such a criticism can never be madeon Snider's book . It is a book aboutgeology written in an attractive style bya man who is himself an eminent ge-ologist .

Dr . Luther C .Snider, in 1908 chemist forthe Oklahoma GeologicalSurvey, 1910-15 assistantdirector of the survey, au-thor of "Earth History"which is reviewed in thisdepartment by DoctorCharles N . Gould

Belles lettres and bell ringers

November

The treatment is different from any-thing so far published in America withwhich I am acquainted . It is not de-Now there are scientists who run to

"big words." I know men who willnever use one short word if they can bysigned as a text book to be placed inthe hands of sophomores, although it isconceivable that even a sophomore mightwith profit use it as a text. Neither isit a manual to be thumbed by the special-ist, although the material is authoritativeand up to date, and the specialist mayfind therein much of value. As the titleindicates, it is primarily a story of theearth . But it is an arm-chair, cozy-evening sort of book, that the laymancan readily understand and that thespecialist will appreciate .

In a sense, Dr. Snider has achievedthe very difficult not to say impossible,task, of making popular a scientific sub-ject . Every science, every trade, everyprofession has its own vocabulary . Cer-tain technical expressions are not to beavoided. One cannot write long aboutelectricity without using such terms asvolts and watts, nor about automobileswithout speaking of spark plugs and

64

gear shifts . So with geology. Certainphraseology must be used in order tomake the subject understandable .any chance find two long words to ex-press the same meaning. Snider is notone of these individuals . He neverdodges an unfamiliar or technical term,but on the other hand, he never goesout of his way to use one. And when itbecomes necessary to use a distinctly ge-ological term, as for instance, fauna, anti-cline or Paleozoic, he defines it in thefewest possible terms the first time it isused .Were not the phrase "distinct contri-

bution" being so grievously overworkedthese days, I should not hesitate to useit in this connection . Snider's Earth His-tory should be to geology what WillDurant's Story of Philosophy has been tothat subject . It is a sort of a birds-eye-view of the entire science of geology,but non-technical, readable, understand-able .A word should be said about the 335

illustrations . So far as I am able tojudge, this is the best illustrated bookon geology so far published in America.Every photograph means something.With relatively few exceptions, all thepictures are original, in the sense thatthey have not been used before for il-lustrative purposes . The files of suchinstitutions as the U. S. Geological Sur-vey, the Canadian Geological Survey,The Field Museum, the American Mu-seum, the New York Botanical Garden,and similar organizations have beendrawn upon for photographs . Thismeans that the best illustrations in NorthAmerica have been used in the book .There are also many illustrative diagrams

The Sooner Magazine

and charts which aid greatly in the un-derstanding of the text .The index is unusually complete . The

book has 683 pages and is attractivelybound in blue cloth .Old timers on the campus of the Uni-

versity of Oklahoma will have no dif-ficulty in remembering the author .Luther C. Snider came to Norman inSeptember, 1908, as chemist for the Ok-lahoma Geological Survey . In 1910 hebecame assistant director of the surveyand served in that capacity until 1915,when he resigned to become associatedwith the geological department of theEmpire Fuel Company, of which he waslater made chief . For some years nowhe has been personal geological advisorto Henry L. Doherty, with an office at60 Wall street, New York City .He is generally recognized as one of the

leading men in the geological fraternityin America. Dr. Snider is first, last andall the time, a genuine scientist . Othersmay be better executives, or keener busi-ness men, or more successful promoters,but Snider is a scientist in the best senseof the term . He has a keen, analyticalmind, always searching for new truthand striving to tell it to the world .At the same time Snider is a writer .

We learned that fact in Oklahoma morethan two decades ago. While connectedwith the Oklahoma Geological Survey,Dr . Snider wrote a number of bulletinsdealing with clays, road materials, lime-stones, lead, zinc, asphalt, gypsum, salt,and other economic products of the state,besides several stratigraphic papers of apurely scientific nature . His best knownwork is Bulletin 27, published in 1917,entitled "Geography of Oklahoma ."

November

In the days beforethe Faculty club house wasbuilt, faculty members andtheir friends conducted so-cial activities in the form ofgay picnics . The whitelunchcloth spread on theground was not to bescorned by the jolly groupabove . The wicker lunchbaskets must have beenfilled to overflowing, andmany people who were con-nected with the campusthen, still are, and can re-member with pleasure thispicnic held about 1912 .This picture is among thememoirs of Mrs Eva E .Dungan, professor of piano,who was among those pres-ent

This book of 325 pages is by far the mostcomplete treatise on the subject so farwritten. A copy of Earth History willbe a valuable addition to any library.-

CHARLEs N. GOULD.

ALittle Jumping GoatGave Its Name toTAXICAB

Taxicab is an abbreviation of taximeter-cab-riolet-avehicle carrying an instrument forautomatically registering the tare . The namecabriolet is the diminutive of the French cab-riole, meaning "a leap" like that of a goat,and was applied to this type of carriagebecause of its light, bounding motion.Cabriole came from the Italian capriolameaning "a somersault," from Latin caper"a he-goat," copra "a she-goat." There arethousands of such stories about the originsof English words in

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