Sir John Adamson was a distinguished man of letters whose writings reflect his lifelong dedication to the improvement of educational theory and practice. He also wrote poetry and popularizing accounts of philosophy; he was a patriot who studied the history of his adopted country, South Africa, and wrote moving descriptions of its natural beauty; he was well versed in and made frequent reference to English literature; and he kept abreast of the rapid advances made in science during the first decades of the twentieth century. But Adamson's first love was education, and his other interests were all subsumed in his desire to improve the teaching of the young and the administration of the school system. He was not a prolific writer, but his themes are diverse: nature, science, society, politics, religion, economics, logic, language and literature, morality. His style is readable and clear, tending at times to the...