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The nature of this book is admirably summarized in the preface. It consists of 'a series of abstracts or summaries of thirty-four articles and one book published in Germany between 1915 and 1929 by the leading exponents of Gestalt psychology and their students'. 'The war, differences of tongue, sentiment and background, have all', Professor Ellis thinks, 'made it difficult for English-speaking readers to welcome, for what they were, the experimental methods and results of certain German psychologists', and, although, in the case of Gestalt, there now exists a considerable number of experimental reports in English, these are mostly of later date, and the present work aims at presenting in accessible and convenient form, a selection of the more important pioneer researches of this school. The original material, we are told, was about ten times as long, and considering the inevitable difficulty of condensation in this degree, Professor Ellis (who has enjoyed the guidance and collaboration of Professor Koffka) is to be congratulated on having produced a volume, which, though it confessedly makes some demands on the reader's attention, nevertheless appears to present the results in clearly understandable form, with no essential steps omitted, and which undoubtedly deserves a place in every library of psychology.
The page numbers of the original texts are indicated in the margin so that the student can easily fill the gaps, if at any point he finds the treatment too condensed or desires to consult the author's original presentation. As regards the choice of articles, the selection has on the whole been admirably made, and covers a wide field. Four selections deal with 'general problems', thirteen with 'perception' (inevitably the largest section, since it is in this field that Gestalt psychology has made its chief contributions), four with 'thought', two with 'psychical forces', six with 'pathological phenomena' and three with 'replies' to criticisms. Many readers wi