Book reviews

The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume I, The Land of Iran. Edited by W. B. Fisher. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968. xix + 784 pp., maps, bibliogr., index. $12.50.

The Cambridge History of Iran. Volume V, The Saljug and Mongol Periods. Edited by J. A. Boyle, Cambirdge: Cambridge University Press, 1968. xiii + 763 pp., maps, tables, bibliog., index. $12.50.

Planning and Development in Iran. By George B. Baldwin. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1967. xv + 212. $6.95.     

Book reviews

History of Iranian Literature. By JAN RYPKA. Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel Publishing Co., 1967. 928 pages. $35.00

The Sociology of Development: Iran as an Asian Case Study. By NORMAN JACOBS. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1966. 541 pages. $17.50.     

The Poverty–Purdah Trap in Rural Bangladesh: Implications for Women's Roles in the Family

Trends in poverty, working through changing roles of women in income generation, have been advanced as one explanation of changing fertility in Bangladesh. This paper examines women's work patterns in two rural villages in northern Bangladesh and finds little evidence of increasing workforce participation, despite high contraceptive use rates. Observation of women's work patterns suggests that purdah, the practice of female seclusion, influences and conditions women's decisions regarding roles they assume, and remains a dominant influence in women's lives, showing little evidence of responsiveness to poverty.     

Wissens‐ und Wissenschaftstransfer – Einführende Bemerkungen

Knowledge and science transfer – introductory remarks. The article presents introductory remarks on the historical study of knowledge and science transfer. Discussion focuses initially on the reasons for speaking of knowledge transfer and not only about science transfer, and the relations of this topic to current research in general history on cultural transfer. Multiple levels of knowledge / science transfer are then discussed, specifically: (1) transfer by means of migration or other movement of people across geographic boundaries; (2) scientific changes related to the transfer of objects (such as plant specimens or instruments) across continents or disciplines; (3) knowledge or science transfer in practical contexts. Addressed throughout is the problematic character of the concept of transfer itself. The author suggests that users of this concept often presuppose a static conception of scientific and cultural contents being more or less successfully transferred; more interesting, however, are the changes in science and culture conditioned or caused by the migration of individuals as well as the transfer of culture by other means.