A Gallon Of Learning In A Pint Pot

These two small books, An in troduction to the peoples and cultures of Micronesia, and An in troduction to the peoples and cultures of Melanesia, are second editions of volumes that appeared in the Cummings Modular Programme in Anthropology, and they pose the reviewer with a difficult task to per form.

In both volumes there are less than 100 pages of direct textual material, yet both are dealing with areas of the world that are immen sely diverse in physical structure, and in the cultures of the people that inhabit them. I feel that in some ways these two books embark upon too ambitious a literary exercise, they are attempting to squeeze a gallon of knowledge into a pint of printed output. The compression is too traumatic and, at the best, I feel that they should be regarded as being very much in the category of initial and introductory primers.

But that is not to say that I think

that they are not of value in some re spects. Throughout both there are many very significant references to the major research that has been un dertaken in many of the fields of concern.

There are useful and substantial bibliographies accompanying both books, but again I am rather puzzled by the intent of the authors. Are they suggesting that the works they cite are those that the reader might well consult? If it is agreed that these are books for the “beginner”, then I think that the bibliographies may be misleading when they make reference to unpublished papers and theses which are not normally available to the non-specialist reader. For instance, if reference is made to unpublished American PhD dissertations, then I think that it is incumbent upon the compiler of the bibliography to indicate that the particular thesis may be obtained through the University Microfilms

Service at Ann Arbor at very modest cost.

For publications of this nature, released in 1977, I would have ex pected a rather more critical and up-to-date coverage of the political and constitutional developments in places like Micronesia, the Solomons and Papua New Guinea.

These volumes will serve a limited purpose in academic circles.

For the non-academic, who may, in fact, be looking for value for money, I think that I would much rather invest in the Pacific Islands Yearbook. But then I may be biased towards what I think is a worthwhile attempt to provide an extensive and up-to-date service for those who want reference material about the

Pacific.

W. G. Coppell

(An Introduction To The Peoples And

CULTURES OF MICRONESIA. By William H. Alkire.

Published by Menlo Park, Cummings Publishing Co, 1977. $3.50. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PEOPLES AND CULTURES OF MELANESIA. By Ann Chowning.

Published by Menlo Park, Cummings Publishing Co, 1977. $2.95.)