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The reader will be able to obtain a fair summary of Dr. Laird's book from his own statement on the first page: 'Psychology is now reaching the point where it is also possible to have ratings of the capacities and stamina of the human beings engaged in business.' He had previously made reference to the fact that the capacities of mechanical equipment are judged by ratings made by engineers. His own assurance and belief in the devices of the psychological laboratory, his repeated emphasis on the 'scientific method of selecting employees' and his implied promise that by the use of such methods the worker will engage in the work best suited to him and the employer will have less trouble with his staff, all make one skeptical.
With the emphasis upon the need for care in selecting employees there can be no quarrel, and his plea for a better understanding of applicants on the part of those in employment offices is extremely timely. But exception can and should be taken to his methods around and through which the complexities of the human being escape. The book is from the pen of a classroom teacher who aims to give 'a technical account in a non-technical way of the fundamental considerations in selecting men'. It will not prove to be a practical tool for the employer who will be confused by the very numerous charts, graphs, statistical tables and pictures. It will, perhaps, be more widely read by psychologists and students who are interested in claiming for psychology the rank of a science and who expect from it more than it can possibly measure up to at the present time.