Book Reviews 459

the population explosion can be dealt with by such methods, especially if the traditional
populations of Asia and Africa are to be uncritically assimilated to a model provided
by the proletarian lower class in the United States.

The Singer of Tales. ALBERT B. LORD.Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1960.

xv, 309 pp. $6.75.
Reviewed by ANN CHOWNING, Barnard College
To an anthropologist the most interesting part of this book is the first, in which
Lord describes the composition of Yugoslav epic songs. The singer retells familiar
stories in metrical verse, relying heavily on the use of stereotyped phrases (“formulae”)
and situations (“themes”) as aids to rapid improvisation. The procedure by which
each singer develops an individual style within the tradition is well illustrated with
numerous texts and translations, though a guide to pronunciation is unfortunately
lacking. As an example of the techniques of one group, the data are fascinating. They
do not, however, prove Lord’s thesis that “oral narrative poetry” is everywhere and
always composed in the same fashion. The generalizations scattered throughout the
book betray inadequate acquaintance with relevant material, in prose as well as verse,
from other areas, and assumptions about the ritual and mythological origins of the
epic reflect complete ignorance of the anthropological literature.
The second half of the book is a fairly convincing attempt to prove by analogy that
the Homeric and other European epic poems were produced by methods identical with
those used in modern Yugoslavia.

Automation Cybernetics and Society, F. H. GEORGE. New York: Philosophical Library,

1959. 283 pp., bibliography, 23 figures, index, 4 plates. $12.00.
Reviewed by RICHARD N. ADAMS,University of California,
Berkeley, and Michigan State University
This volume treats the implications of automation and cybernetics for the future
of human society. It is an extended essay within a materialistic philosophic position
about man-in-society. Part I is introductory, discussing the nature of science and auto-
mation (42 pp.). Part I1 reviews (in 162 pages) relevant evidence (and a t the same
time introducing the reader to theory) from cybernetics, communication-information
theory, linguistics, logic, digital and analogue computers, psychology, physiology,
general systems, and learning. Part 111goes further, going into “anthropology,” social
science in general, and winding up with discussions of the future of automation and
civilization in general. No new materials are presented.
The task is a tremendous one. While in fundamental agreement with the general
position from which the essay is written, I found myself confused by the exposition.
The basic position is that automation is increasing to become a feature of human life;
therefore, it is necessary that we understand it so that it may be used as a tool for the
development of civilization. The presentation, however, attempts to simplify a large
body of material that frequently defies simplification. As a result, the reader fails to
be led to an understanding of some of the cybernetic and logical analyses basic to the
argument. Instead, the author must leave him without the basic argument, and ad-
vance to the speculative conclusions. The language of science in which these theories
were elaborated cannot be converted into English in a brief space, and it is not George’s
fault that he fails to do the impossible.