Common Denominators in Art and Science ed. by M. Pollock (review)

Books 327 Pessimistic 'random thinking' (p. 155) on business matters is best edited out ofan art-teaching book. Suggesting the futility ofartists using 'vanity' galleries and publishers is dangerous where successful precedents exist. For example, during his lifetime, English landscapist J. M. W. Turner had showrooms in both Oxford and London for sales of his work. The book basically achieves its aim of increasing student painters' awareness through a series of eye-opening tips. The original publishers' suggestion of suitability for beginners and their teachers was largely retained in this edition, though their confident claim of abundant information content for artists of "all levels of experience" is not borne out. Many specialist landscapists would find more lasting inspiration in Professor Minnaert's sparkling Dover paperback, The Nature ofLight and Color in the Open Air. Man The Promising Primate. Peter J. Wilson. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1980. 200 pp. $15.00. ISBN: 0-300-02514-9. Reviewed by David Smith* Darwin's theory ofevolution has endured many years of criticism, both from within and without the scientific profession. It survives in a form which is a synthesis of the theory of natural selection and modern genetics. Currently this form is being challenged in a debate involving three different schools of scientific thought: punctuated equilibria, cladistics and biological fields. The debate involves ideas ranging from those of the most literally evangelically minded Christians to those of the most determined atheist. Professor Wilson's book, written from the point of view of a social anthropologist, is a new contribution to this debate. He supports in part Darwin's theories, but he also incorporates some new ideas concerning the primates which make the theory in some respects less outrageous. He acknowledges the influence of the 17th and 18th century philosophers and to some extent Karl Marx. However, it would be a mistake to label this speculative work, for it is always open in its approach. The book begins with an historical survey of the philosophical anthropology of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hume and Kant. It defines the author's position with regard to the historical process considered as the sum of human activities and their results viewed in the light of their relationship to material conditions. Its central theme is that primates and, more especially, man show a capacity to adapt generally to a changing and problematic environment. This contrasts with the specific adaptive capacities of other species who have evolved through natural selectionand are more vulnerable in a changing environment. Professor Wilson illustrates this convincingly in the following areas: bipedalism, geographical adaptability, a kinship system, and dietary considerations. Truth is partly penetrated by the application of reason to chosen and authenticated facts. Professor Wilson has taken this approach to give his readers much to consider in their own searches for truth. But truth is also penetrated by applying imagination to the facts and experiences of life. The value of this exploration would be enriched by application of the artist's imagination to the subjects it handles. This would lead to a clearer distinction between the matter seen and the consciousness which sees it; between, in the simplest language, the ego which sees and the total self which is seen. Artists working on the material provided in this book could greatly broaden their teaching and insights. Professor Wilson draws on the insights of Shelley. A poet of that stature could carry the exploration into man's origins and his future a long way beyond the reach of this book. Common Denominators in Art and Science. M. Pollock, ed. University Press, Aberdeen, U.K., 1983. 191 pp., illus. $29.50. ISBN: 0-08-028457. Reviewed by Roger F. Malina** Common Denominators in Art and Science brings together the seventeen papers given at conference by the same name held in Edinburgh in November 1981. It includes a transcript of the lively discussions that followed presentation of the papers. The participants' analyses include historical case studies, thematic analyses, and philosophical discourses. *The Anchorhold, Hayward's Heath, Sussex RH16 lHN, U.K. **508 Connecticut St., San Francisco, CA 94107, U.S.A. Among these are E. Fobes's discussion of Goethe, G. Gage on Newton, D...