The Arab reader will surely be surprised to learn that the first call to develop and improve education was French. Yes! French education in schools and universities at the end of the nineteenth century had reached a stage of great deterioration that could not be tolerated (as Gustave Le Bon, the book's author, sees it). Major committees were formed to examine the issue—and how could they not?! The path to any true renaissance depends on the soundness and quality of education, which is impossible as long as the teaching method is limited to measuring the student's ability to memorize and recall information that they quickly forget after the exam. Meanwhile, the ultimate goal of education is to create generations with strong personalities capable of solving their society's problems and dealing with the challenges of the times. Taha Hussein does Arab culture a distinguished service with his translation of Le Bon's famous book, "The Spirit of Education." What a fine author and translator.