Heredity and Environment. Studies in the Genesis of Psychological Characteristics. By Gladys C. Schwesinger. Edited by Frederick Osborn. New York:  Macmillan, 1933. Pp.  484. Price $4.00.

This book, according to the Preface, is “a reference work on psychological measurement and a summary of studies on the developmental origins of mental characteristics.” It is an attempt to bring together and evaluate the vast amount of work that has been done in very recent years upon the inheritance of human traits and upon the modification of inherent traits by environmental factors. As the authors note, this is perhaps the earliest moment at which such a summary could have been made, and it is of very great importance as a sort of stock-taking of our present knowledge, and a point from which to take off, so to speak, in further exploration of the still largely unknown field of human personality.

The first two chapters discuss the present status of measurement as applied to intelligence and to personality, respectively; the next two deal with the heredity-environment problem, first from the genetic standpoint, and second from the standpoint of the effect of environment upon intellectual development. A fifth chapter presents viewpoints on personality from various professional and scientific backgrounds, from the morphol-ogists and physiologists to the mental hygienists. But stated thus one gets little idea of the wealth of material brought together, and of the fine balance and competence of its presentation and interpretation. It is not only a compilation and evaluation of the work done during the last two decades in the field of personality study, but it teems with illutninating