Science in the Modern World-After 37 years

I am re-reading Whitehead's Science in the Modern World. As I thumbed through my copy, bought for Dr. Bill Wagman's history of psychology course at the University of Baltimore, I came across an old bookmark. It was an IBM library punchcard (you know, the ones that said: "DO NOT FOLD, SPINDLE OR MUTILATE) I had taken from another library book. The due date was July 13, 1972.

That was probably the last time I had looked at Whitehead's book. I recall it being particularly dense reading back then. Thus far, I have only re-read the first two chapters. I was struck this time, however, by sentences like: "There is no reason to doubt the intrinsic capacity of individual Chinamen (emphasis added) for the pursuit of science." (p. 6).

A few years after I had graduated, I visited Wagman and we talked about the book. He said then that he had stopped using it in his history class. Students no longer had the ability to comprehend it, he said.

Now, I'm reading it again. In a few weeks I'll report back on how MY comprehension fares.