They were discovered by Röntgen in the course of his researches with cathode rays. His discovery was in effect that electric rays emanated from the part of the tube struck by the cathode rays. They were not cathode rays, though produced by them, and had the amazing property of penetrating certain insulating substances, such as ebonite, paper, etc., while not penetrating metals, except through short distances. Unlike the cathode rays, they were not deflected by magnets; and neither did they seem to be reflected or refracted similarly. Their most important property was that of acting photographically on sensitized plates, even when in closed slides, and wrapped carefully in black paper.
The greatest usefulness of the X-rays thus far made has been in photographing internal parts of the human body; for the rays pass through certain parts less readily than through other parts; through bones for instance, less readily than through soft parts. Fractures or displacements of bones can therefore be readily detected. So also can the formation of pus in cavities, and the appearance of abnormal products of many kinds. To this discovery we must give a rank as high as almost any other that we have noted in this book, though we cannot tell, of course, how long it will hold it. With mechanical and scientific inventions, as with books and poems and inventions of other kinds, the question of permanence of value or of usefulness cannot be decided until after many years.
One of the curious properties of X-rays is that of rendering the air through which they pass a conductor of electricity. So far as the author is aware, no invention of practical usefulness has yet been made, based upon this property.
In 1896, Marconi brought out the first practically successful system of wireless telegraphy, Finsen demonstrated the usefulness of certain rays of the spectrum for treating certain skin diseases, and Becquerel discovered what have since been called the Becquerel rays. In experimenting with X-ray photography, he found that a sensitized plate, though covered with black paper, was acted on not only by X-rays, but also by the metal uranium and certain of its salts; and he also found that the mere presence of uranium made the contiguous air a conductor, as did the X-or Röntgen rays. The amazement caused by the discovery of such undreamed-of properties, especially in so commonplace a substance as uranium had been supposed to be, can easily be imagined; and it is plain why strenuous efforts were made at once by scientific people, to see if other substances did not possess those properties also. As a result, it was soon found that other bodies did possess them. To those bodies that seem to possess the quality of radiating activities of certain kinds, the adjective radio-active has been applied. The most important radio-active elements are uranium, thorium and radium, of which the last is immeasurably the most active and important. Radium was discovered in 1898 by M. and Madame Curie and M. Bémont, while experimenting with the uranium mineral pitchblende. It seemed to some people at the time to challenge the theory of the conservation of energy, and to threaten the destruction of the whole science of Physics, by emanating energy without loss to itself. It has since been found, of course, that radium does give up part of its substance; that it disintegrates in fact, as a result of its emanations.
How great an influence the discovery of radium is going to exert, it is now impossible to predict with confidence; but it is manifest that the three successive and allied discoveries of cathode rays, X-rays and radium have introduced a new and growing science into the Machine; and it is seemingly possible that that science may, soon or tardily, ascertain the nature of the atom, and even teach us to divide it. It seems that an atom of radium does actually disintegrate, and by disintegrating give out energy. The energy it gives out is so enormous in proportion to the mass which gives it out, as to suggest to us an almost infinite source of available power, if other substances can be made to disintegrate. It is said that one gramme of radium can emit a quantity of heat of about 100 calories per hour; that is enough heat to raise 100 grammes of water a 1° centigrade in temperature, by simply existing. It is true that radium is the most expensive article in the world; but that is only because of the difficulties of obtaining it at present. Now if radium is so potentially powerful and disintegrates so easily, it seems possible that other substances less easily disintegrable could emit greater energy, if (or when) a means is discovered for disintegrating them.
The interesting question now suggests itself of what would happen if some man should some day discover accidentally a means of disintegrating—say carbon—and should unintentionally disintegrate a few tons of coal in Wall Street. We know what has happened at times when piles of explosives have been accidentally detonated. But explosives are merely chemical compounds, and, compared to atoms of radium are relatively microscopic in the energy developed when broken up. We remember the story of the commotion caused by the monk's experiment in making powder, when the mixture exploded and hurled the pestle out of the mortar and across the room. Imagine a few tons of carbon atoms exploding.
In 1894 a war, long presaged, broke out between China and Japan. In 1854, when Commodore Perry went to Japan, and gave a virtual ultimatum that resulted in Japan's opening her seaports to the commerce of the world, China and Japan were on the same plane of civilization, though China was many times greater in area and population. But the people of Japan were different from those of China in the essential mental characteristic of imagination,—at least their rulers were. For those rulers, noting the superior power of the foreign war-ships as compared with theirs, and reasoning from this to the conditions of the countries that produced those war-ships, and that produced also the implements of war on board that were so much superior to the Japanese, made a mental picture of what would happen to Japan some day, when those war-ships should come to Japan and demand submission. To make such a picture did not require much imagination, maybe; but the fact seems to be that no other Asiatic nation, and no African nation, made it. Then the Japanese made another picture, that required imagination of a brilliant kind; and that was a picture of Japan learning the arts of the foreign devil, and then utilizing those arts to keep the foreign devil himself at bay.
To us, looking back on the perfectly clear record of performance that Japan has made since then, that performance may seem not very difficult either to attempt or to achieve. But no other nation in the history of the world has ever paralleled it, or even approximated it. To appreciate it, one must exert all the imagination of which he is capable, and see himself in Japan as Japan was in 1854, amid all the influences of the history and environment then prevailing, with all their accompaniments of ignorance, prejudice, inertia and racial pride. It is the consensus of opinion throughout the world that the performance of Japan since 1854 has been amazing. It is part of the humble effort of this book to show that, in all great achievements, the result should be attributed mainly to the estimate originally formed of the situation, and the decision (invention) made to meet it. "C'est le premier pas qui coute": the rest follow as results.
The war between China and Japan, and in greater degree the result of that war, give clear and impressive demonstrations of the influence of invention on history; because the victors were victors simply because they had taken advantage of the inventions made in Europe and America. There was no marked difference physically in favor of the Japanese. Whether there was morally, we have no means of judging. Was there a difference mentally? We have an excellent means of judging this,—the fact that the Japanese had made a correct estimate of the situation and come to a correct decision, while the Chinese had not.
In the war that occurred ten years later, between Japan and Russia, the influence of invention was even more clear and striking, for the reason that Japan was a virtually semi-barbarous country in 1854, while Russia was one of the five great powers of civilization and Christendom; and yet in exactly fifty years, Japan demonstrated her equality with Russia in the decisive court of war on land, and beat her ignominiously in the equally decisive court of war on sea.
Why? Because during that fifty years Japan had availed herself of the aid of invention more than Russia had done; with the result that when they went before the supreme tribunal, Japan had better methods, better equipment, better plans, better soldiers, better ships, better tout ensemble. The most important single item was the naval telescope sight invented by the author. That was the cause of the immeasurably superior gunnery of the Japanese at the decisive naval battle of Tsushima.
Concerning Japan's war with China in 1894, the same truths may be uttered, though not with quite so much emphasis; for the results had not been so startling. Both wars demonstrate the same principles, though in unequal degrees of convincingness. Both wars show that the influence of invention has been to build up a Machine which is powerful not only for peace but for war; to assist those nations the most that avail themselves of it with the greatest skill and energy, and therefore to spur ambitious and far-seeing people to the study of whatever knowledge the world affords. The study most clearly indicated is that of the resources of physics and chemistry, and the experiences recorded in history.
In 1897, Henry A. Wise Wood invented the autoplate, a machine for making printing plates previously made by hand, which multiplied fourfold the reproduction of the type page in printing plates. This invention facilitated and cheapened the cost of printing, and was therefore a valuable addition to the Machine.
In 1898 a war, giving us lessons similar to those of the Japanese wars, broke out between the United States and Spain. The disproportion of material resources was great, and was in favor of the United States. Yet in the early part of the sixteenth century, Spain had been esteemed by many to be the greatest of all the powers, while the territory later held by the United States was the wild domain of savages. Why had Spain fallen so far below a country so new, living three thousand miles away from the civilization of Europe? Because she had lost her vision; because she had become infected with the disease of sordidness which quickly-gotten wealth, especially ill-gotten wealth, has often brought to nations; because she had ceased to encourage such bright visions as she had encouraged in the days of Columbus and Magellan, and settled down in the torpor of unimaginativeness. The United States, on the other hand, had been seeing such visions and following them to learn what lay beyond; and had been embodying all that could be embodied in practical projects and machines and methods and instrumentalities of all kinds. The United States had been taking all possible advantage of the potentialities of invention, but Spain had not.
An important result of this war was the proof, and its utilization on a large scale in Cuba and other Spanish-American countries, that the mosquito is a carrier of the infections of yellow fever and many other diseases.
Hardly had this war finished, when a war broke out in 1899 between Great Britain and the Boer Republic in South Africa. It is an evidence of the important influence of invention that it was possible for Great Britain to wage effective war so far away, and finally to triumph. She triumphed mainly because of the superior power of her military machine; but she had been able to construct and to improve it continually by her persistent utilization of the possibilities of invention. The possibilities that she had utilized became especially conspicuous when the necessity came for transporting the necessary troops and guns and munitions and supplies over the vast ocean spaces intervening, and for handling them on a foreign soil; under conditions very novel, and against a wary and yet skilfull and aggressive foe.
This war had not closed when the Boxer rebellion broke out in China, and a lesson even more clearly marked was given to the world. For the Chinese Government was perhaps the oldest in the world and the Chinese nation the most numerous. The revolt grew out of a series of aggressions by certain European powers, especially Great Britain, Germany, France and Russia, that consisted in virtually appropriating under various pretexts, certain important positions and valuable pieces of territory in China. Because of the fact that China had lost her vision, and had not even been stimulated to realizing facts by the example of Japan, China was at this time an incoherent aggregation of separate states and organizations; though she was supposed to be a coherent nation, under the emperor in Pekin. Because of a lack of such a nervous system as was given to each civilized nation by its railways, mails, newspapers, telegraphs and telephones, China was a soft and almost amorphous mass; with no definite purpose and no strength, either external or internal. China was not a machine in any proper sense of the word, and was therefore incapable of any action of an effective kind. The result was that, although the cause of the Boxers was not only just but laudable, the whole movement resulted in a series of pitiful atrocities committed by the Boxers in Pekin, followed by a forced entry into that ancient capital by a few thousand troops from the principal civilized nations, and a quick and complete suppression of the entire revolt.
There, in Pekin, in the closing days of the year 1900, could be seen, in two contrasting groups, peoples representing the highly organized and effective Machine of Civilization on one side and its crude and ineffective predecessor on the other side. What was the cause of the enormous difference between the groups? In physical strength and size and courage, little difference if any was observable;—yet one went down before the other, like tenpins before a bowling ball. Some may say that the difference was due to the difference in race. Yet the Japanese were of the same race as the Chinese, and the Japanese troops were as markedly superior to the Chinese as were the troops of any other nation: in fact, it was the consensus of opinion that the Japanese troops were superior to all the others, except the German. Some may say it was because of the difference in religions. Yet the Japanese were of virtually the same religion as the Chinese. Of course, the paramount difference was in the degree of civilization. What was this difference in civilization due to? Clearly, it was due to numberless causes; but there seem to be two causes more important than the others: a difference in attitude toward the possibilities of invention, and a difference in what has been called "the fighting spirit."
But the fighting spirit and a receptive attitude toward invention are usually found together, though the fighting spirit may sometimes lie dormant in inventive and enterprising people; may lie dormant, even for considerable periods, when conditions are peaceful, and prosperity prevails. But Achilles—(so the legend runs)—dwelt at one time in hiding, dressed in woman's garb, quiet and unsuspected. Yet when suddenly the bugle rang, he grasped the sword and shield. So, in 1914, and for some years before, Great Britain, the United States and France slumbered under the narcotic spell of pacifism; yet when suddenly the German War Machine advanced upon them, each nation and all three nations together rose in quick and yet majestic armed reply, and proved their fighting spirit was not dead, although it had been sleeping.
CHAPTER XIV
THE FRUITION OF INVENTION
The twentieth century was the fruition of all that invention had achieved during the ages of the past. When it opened, the world was a world far different from what it had been, even in times not long gone by. It was far different from the world of 1850, or even 1875; for many inventions had been made and utilized during the passing years.
The last quarter of the nineteenth century, the interval between 1875 and 1900, has been called the "industrial age," because of the great advances made in all industrial appliances, and the consequent advance made in the size and wealth and power of industrial organizations of all kinds. In especial, the organizations dealing with systems of transportation and communication, and with manufacturing the many appliances needed by them had expanded greatly. Other organizations had expanded also; for the improvement and extension of the means of transportation and communication rendered possible the existence and successful operation of organization in many branches of effort, to a degree impossible before. Cities grew in area and population; the buildings in size and especially in height; railroads increased in number, length of route and speed of travel; locomotives and cars grew commensurately; colleges, hospitals, churches, clubs, scientific bodies, benevolent societies—all seemed to take a start about 1875 and to grow at increasing speed, as year succeeded year. But the greatest single advance was made in ocean transportation; for the sea, by the year 1900, had become a plane across which steamers moved with a speed and a certainty and a safety, rivaling that of railway trains on land.
The factors most immediately and importantly to be credited with all these advances were the improvements in the steam engine, the electric telegraph, and the manufacture of steel; also the invention of the dynamo-electric machine, the electric light and the telephone. These factors had given such power and certainty and speed to the Machine of Civilization that the nations which joined it and became contributory parts of it, advanced rapidly in prosperity and wealth, both actually and also relatively, as compared with nations that did not.
In the year 1900, the great nations of the world were Great Britain, France, Germany, the United States and Japan. Of these Japan had advanced the most in civilization during the preceding half century, then the United States, then Germany, then Great Britain, and then France. The nation that had increased the most in territorial extent was Great Britain. In 1900, the British Empire, including India, covered about one-fourth of the whole surface of the earth. It comprised, besides Great Britain and Ireland, five self-governing colonies, the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Union of South Africa, New Foundland and New Zealand, in addition to the 1,800,000 square miles of British India and her three hundred million people. France had "expanded" in both Africa and Asia; that is, she had conquered territory in those partially civilized continents. Germany had done similarly; and Russia had subjugated the nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes of Central Asia. The United States had taken only a little territory, that included in the Philippines and Porto Rico; for she had expanded her constructive energy and skill in developing the vast and fertile area within her own boundaries. Japan had expanded only slightly in actual territory; the exercise of her constructive talents being urgently required at home.
It may be declared that invention should not be credited with any of this expansion, for the reasons that to increase one's possessions is an instinct of human nature, and that the colonization of savage and barbarous lands has been a favorite activity with great nations always. True: but the inventions enumerated in this book, and the agencies which they supplied for going quickly, surely and safely to places far away; of taking to those places certain tools of conquest, such as guns and powder; and of supplying afterward to the conquered people finer conveniences of living, juster laws and better government of every kind, have been the effective means to an end that could not have been attained without them.
It may be objected that the principal factors in all of these achievements have been omitted, the commercial enterprise of the merchants, the farseeing wisdom of the statesmen, the valor and skill of the strategists, and (back of all) the courage and enterprise of the original explorers. That these have been omitted, is true; for the reason that this discussion is intended to point out only what invention has done. It is obvious that the main incentive of colonization has been commercial gain, and that the initiators of colonization schemes have usually been merchants. It is equally obvious that the statesmen are to be credited with the framing and execution of the measures needed to make any colonization scheme effective; and it is equally obvious that strategists and explorers did work without which no expansion whatever would have been possible. Nevertheless, it must be clear that the essential difference between the conquerors and the conquered, by reason of which the uncivilized were conquered by the civilized, lay in the aids which civilization had supplied to the civilized. Colonization and conquest have been going on ever since the beginning of recorded history and before; but from the days of Thutmose III in ancient Egypt until now, the conqueror and the colonizer have in almost every case been more civilized than were their victims. It is true also that savages have sometimes overrun civilized countries, and even conquered them, for Alaric captured even Rome: but up to the present time, the fruits of such conquests have not been permanent, whereas the fruits of colonization have been.
In 1900, then, the Machine of Civilization was in operation in all parts of the world; in the dark continent of Africa, the deserts of Asia, the wild regions of Australia, and even on the ocean. In fact, it was on the ocean that the Machine was operating with the most efficiency and effectiveness; for nowhere else are the power and the harmony of machinery of all kinds, inert and human, seen in such perfection as in great steamships on the sea.
We seem safe in concluding, therefore, that while invention was only one of many factors in bringing about the world-wide conditions that prevailed in 1900, invention was the initiating factor. It was invention that suggested to the explorer that he explore; to the merchant that he launch his enterprise; to the statesman that he encourage the merchant and assist him with wise laws; to the strategist that he make such and such plans, to meet the emergencies that arose. Finally, it was invention that made possible the actual transportation of explorers and merchants and troops to designated spots, and made successful the operations which ensued there.
But the Machine still continued growing. In 1900 Hewitt invented his beautiful mercury-vapor electric light, and in 1901 Santos-Dumont invented his air-ship and demonstrated its practicability by going around the Eiffel Tower in Paris in it and returning to the spot from which he started. This feat began that great succession of feats with dirigible balloons with which we are so familiar now, and which promise to be succeeded by a condition of world-wide transportation through the air.
In 1900, the author of this book patented the method of controlling the movements of vessels, which consists in using radio telegraphy. This invention has recently been brought to the stage of practicality by the United States Navy. It was utilized in July, 1921, for steering the Iowa when bombed by airplanes.
In 1903 came the first successful flight by aeroplane, which was made by the brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. This was an epochal adventure; it inaugurated an age which is already called the Aerial Age, and which will bring about changes so vast that our imagination cannot picture them.
An interesting and instructive fact connected with this flight, and with the aeroplane in general, is that the aeroplane was not practicable and could not be made practicable before the internal-combustion engine had been invented and developed; because all preceding engines had been too heavy. This illustrates the fact occasionally adverted to in this book, that one of the most important factors in the influence of invention is that each new invention facilitates later inventions. The influence of invention is cumulative.
In 1905, Elmer Sperry invented his gyroscopic compass which is unaffected by terrestrial magnetism and points to the true north. In 1907, he invented his gyroscopic stabilizer which reduces greatly the rolling of ships, aeroplanes, etc.
Meanwhile, the endeavor to accomplish photography in color had been receiving persistent attention from many scientific experimenters, but without much practical success. The achievements of Becquerel, Lippman, Joly, Lumière, Finlay and others have doubtless laid the initial stepping stones; for color-photography by their efforts has been made an accomplished fact. As yet, however, the art is still in its infancy, and has not, therefore, reached the stage of maturity that enables us to estimate what importance it will eventually assume.
In 1908 Goldschmidt invented the thermit process of welding; thermit being a mixture of aluminum with some metallic oxide such as oxide of iron. When this mixture is ignited, the oxygen leaves the iron and unites with the aluminum, causing an enormous rise of temperature, and the consequent formation of molten iron. This molten mass being poured around the ends of two pieces of iron, welds them together at once. In the following year, Hiram Maxim invented his silencer for fire arms, by means of which the noise resulting from firing a gun is greatly lessened. How valuable a contribution this will be to the Machine, it is impossible at the moment to predict with confidence.
In 1910, Henry A. Wise Wood invented his printing press that more than doubled the speed of printing, produced a thousand newspapers of the largest size per minute, and directly enhanced the solidarity of the Machine.
In 1911 Glenn Curtiss produced his epochal flying-boat, Just and Hanaman invented the tungsten electric light, and Drager his pulmotor, for reviving persons who have been asphyxiated or partially drowned, by forcing oxygen into their lungs. The pulmotor has come into use to a surprising degree, and has already been established as a part of the Machine with a recognized value. It belongs in the class of remedial agents, about which nobody questions the beneficence, and for which everyone recognizes the debt of gratitude owed by mankind to the inventors.
In 1912, the author of this book invented the torpedoplane, a simple combination of the automobile-torpedo with the aeroplane, so designed that an aeroplane can carry a torpedo to a predetermined point near an enemy's ship and then drop it, while simultaneously operating the torpedo's starting mechanism: so that the torpedo will fall into the water, and then continue under its own power toward its victim. As the torpedoplane combines the most powerful weapon with the swiftest means of transportation, many Navy officers think it an invention of the first rank of importance, that threatens to wipe all surface fighting vessels off the seas. During the World War, it played only a subordinate part, though it was used effectively by the British and the Germans. Our Navy did not use it at all, as Secretary Daniels rejected it. The British Navy has already adopted it as a major instrument of war, and constructed two especially designed fast vessels, each of which carries twenty torpedoplanes. It seems obvious that such a ship, if sufficiently fast to keep out of the range of a battleship's guns, could sink her without much trouble.
In the same year Flexner discovered his antitoxin for cerebro-spinal meningitis, and Edison invented the kinetophone, a combination of the phonograph and the kinetoscope. As yet, this has not been made to work with such complete success as to warrant its introduction into use. The probabilities seem to be that someone will eventually supply the link that is evidently necessary, and make the voice and the picture on the screen cooperate in unison as they should. Two years later, Flexner isolated the bacillus of infantile paralysis and Plotz that of typhus fever.
The World War that broke out in August, 1914, was marked with far greater utilization of new inventions than had marked any war before, and foreshadowed even greater utilization of new inventions in the next war.
The first evidence of any new appliance was a rain of heavy projectiles on the tops of the Belgian forts; the forts having been designed to resist projectiles on their sides. The projectiles, it was discovered later, came from mortars of a kind the existence of which had not been suspected. Soon after, the German submarines showed qualities of endurance and radius of action that bespoke new appliances; and then came attacks on the Allied troops with poison-gas that almost were successful. The Allies replied with new inventions, especially in wireless telegraphy and telephony, mines, "depth-bombs" and "listening devices;" the latter being employed under water to detect the movements of submarines. Many other inventions were almost on the point of practicality when the Armistice was signed, but were not quite ready; showing what had often been shown before, that inventions for use in war, like all other preparations for war, should be complete ready for use, before the war begins.
As soon as the war broke out in Europe, the present author began to urge that the United States develop naval and military aeronautics to the utmost; in order that, when we should finally enter into the war, we should have available a large force of bombing aeroplanes and torpedoplanes. When we finally entered into the war, in April, 1917, he urged continually that we develop a great aeronautical force and send it to Europe to prevent the exit of German submarines from their bases, to destroy those bases and to sink the ships of the German fleet. These suggestions were rejected by Secretary Daniels as impracticable; but subsequent developments have proved that they were thoroughly practicable; in fact, an expedition was organized in England to carry them out, when the Armistice was signed.
It is interesting to consider what would have been the effect on the war (and, therefore, on all subsequent history) if the United States had sent a large force of bombing aeroplanes and torpedoplanes to Europe shortly after we entered the war in the Spring of 1917. This we easily could have done, if we had started to get them ready, when the suggestion was first made; or even at a considerable time thereafter. Certainly, the war would have been greatly shortened, and much suffering averted.
The inventions and discoveries made since the Great War began, though some are evidently important, are so recent that we cannot state with any confidence what their effect will be; and for this reason the author craves permission to close his brief story at this point.
A noteworthy fact observable in the history of invention is that it has been confined almost wholly to Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, China, Persia, Greece, Italy, Germany, France, Great Britain, and the United States, and to a few men in those countries. Now it is in those countries that the highest degree of civilization has been developed, and it is from them that other nations have drawn theirs. The almost total absence of invention in women is more noteworthy still; for Mrs. Eddy and Madame Curie seem to be the only women who have contributed really original and important work.
Another noteworthy fact is that the idea-germs from which all inventions have been developed have been very few and very tiny. But what a numerous and important progeny has been brought forth; and how wholly impossible civilization would be now, had it not been for a few basic inventions and certain improvements made upon them! We can realize this, if we try to imagine the effect of removing a single one of the basic inventions (and even of certain derived inventions) from the Machine of Civilization.
Try to imagine what would happen if the invented art of—say writing—for instance were suddenly lost. Would not the whole civilized world be thrown into chaos as soon as the fact were realized? A like disorder would be occasioned, though possibly not so quickly, if men should suddenly forget how to print, or even how to use the telegraph, telephone or the comparatively unimportant typewriter. Try to imagine what would happen in even one city,—say New York—if the typewriter were suddenly to be withdrawn! Would not all the business of New York be paralyzed in a single day? Or fancy that all the machines for making and utilizing electricity for supplying light and power should suddenly become inoperative. Would there not be a panic within twenty-four hours or less? Fancy that all the elevators should have to stop. Imagine what would happen if the steam engine should suddenly cease to operate, and all the steamships and railroad trains should stop, and the countless wheels of industry that are turned directly or indirectly by steam should cease to turn. Imagine that gunpowder should cease to function, and that savages could meet modern armies on equal terms.
Some one may declare that this line of argument does not prove as much as it seems to prove regarding the influence of invention, for the reason that it includes a sudden change, and that every sudden change produces results which are caused merely by the suddenness of the change. So let us grant this, and then imagine that the changes suggested would not take place suddenly, but very slowly. Imagine, for instance, that we should discover that the various inventions noted in this book were gradually to cease to operate, but that they would not cease altogether for twenty years, or even forty. Is it not certain that the human race would revert to savagery, after those inventions had ceased to operate?
CHAPTER XV
THE MACHINE OF CIVILIZATION, AND THE
DANGEROUS IGNORANCE CONCERNING IT,
SHOWN BY STATESMEN
The originating work of inventors of all kinds, and the assistance rendered by countless wise and good men and women, have built up a Machine of Civilization that is surpassingly wonderful and fine.
To keep the great Machine in order and to handle it, large numbers of men have been educated in specialties pertaining to its various parts. The first men were probably the warriors, who defended whatever little Machines the various tribes had built up, in their little villages and towns. Next, probably, came the kings or rulers who commanded the warriors; and then, the priests who inculcated in the people the various virtues, such as loyalty, courage, honesty, etc., that tended toward the discipline of the individual and the consequent solidarity of the tribe. Probably agriculturists came next, who tilled the soil; and then came the inventors, who assisted the warriors and the agriculturalists by devising implements to help them do their work. It seems probable that the artisans came next; and that it was by the co-operative working of them with the inventors, that the conceptions of the inventors were embodied in implements of practical usefulness and value. As time went on, and implements were produced that consisted of two or more parts, the activities of the artisans were enlarged, so as to take care of those implements and keep them in adjustment. The bow and arrow, for instance, would not work well, unless the cord were maintained at the correct degree of tension, the feathers on the arrows were kept straight, the ends of the cords properly secured to the bow, etc. Similarly, the mechanisms made for spinning and weaving and fabricating pottery had to be kept in proper condition and adjustment; and if we could realize the small amount of mechanical knowledge extant in primeval days, we would probably also realize that the difficulties of keeping these crude appliances in good working order were as great as are the like difficulties now, with the most complicated printing-press.
Furthermore, it was not only for keeping mechanisms in good condition that artisans were needed: a higher degree of skill was needed for operating them. We are forced to the conclusion that, as soon as mechanisms were produced, the need of artisans trained to operate them was felt. Not only this: the fact that the mechanisms were operated, the facts that flax was spun and textures were woven, and pottery was fashioned and baked, and that bows and arrows were used in battle, prove that operators were actually trained to skill in the various arts. This means that, as soon as the Machine of Civilization was begun, operators skilled in the kinds of work which that Machine required were trained in their various parts, and did their appointed work.
It was not only machines of brass and iron and wood, moreover, that required skilled operators: the individual human machines were continually getting out of order, and men were trained in whatever knowledge the world contained, to keep them in good order. Hence the physician came into being.
The merchant must have been developed shortly after the agriculturist and the artisan, to act as the agent for placing the products of the soil and the products of the mechanisms in the possession of the consumers.
As a tribe or nation increased in size, laws had to be formed to regulate the mode of living of its members, decide disputes, punish offences, and regulate conduct in general. Hence the lawyer was gradually developed.
It seems probable, therefore, that even in prehistoric times, warriors, rulers, priests, physicians, agriculturists, inventors, artisans, merchants, and lawyers were at work, and that the activities of men were divided mainly among those classes.
The activities of men are similarly divided now. In fact, it is by these separate activities that the separate parts of the Machine are handled. That these separate parts are handled well, the progress made in those parts convincingly testifies.
Despite this fact, however, no book on invention would be complete which did not point out that the Machine, as a whole, is not being handled well.
The Machine in each country is, of course, handled by the ruler and his assistants. Originally the ruler handled it alone; but, as it increased in complexity and size, the task became too great for one man, and advisers and ministers were appointed to assist him. Men fulfilling such tasks and allied tasks we now call statesmen.
Now it is to the hands of the statesmen of each country that the actual management of the Machine of Civilization is committed. Yet it is a well-known fact that although there are but few men in the world so wise and learned that they know much about the Machine or any of its parts, yet it is not from the wise and learned class that the great officials of governments are selected!
The truth of this statement cannot reasonably be denied. That the whole safety of the Machine of Civilization is in the hands of men untrained in statesmanship is incontrovertible. In fact, the whole status of statesmanship is disconcertingly vague; for in all the grand progress of mankind, no science of statesmanship seems to have developed, or any system of training to practice it. There seem to be no fixed principles of statesmanship, no literature except of an historical kind, and little activity save of an opportunistic sort. No special education seems to be thought necessary in a statesman, or any record of achievement; for in all countries, irrespective of their form of government, men are placed in positions carrying the utmost of human power for good and for evil, with little previous experience or training, and without having to pass any examinations of any kind!
This fact demands attention. Of what avail is it to train men to handle the separate parts of the Machine, if the Machine as a whole is to be handled by untrained men? Of what avail is it to train engineers, warriors, priests, physicians, lawyers and merchants to handle their several parts, if the Machine as a whole is to be handled by statesmen who have not been trained to handle it? It must be obvious that no men can handle the Machine as a whole, unless they comprehend the Machine as a whole, and also understand all its parts enough to realize their relation to the whole. No man can well handle any machine, be it large, or be it small, without such knowledge. No man can be a good captain of a battleship, for instance, until he has spent many years mastering the necessary knowledge. Ignorance of the parts and the whole of a battleship is not permitted in a captain of a battleship. Why is ignorance of the parts and the whole of their respective responsibilities permitted in officials occupying higher places in the governments?
That there are few men in the world who understand enough of all the various parts of the Machine to understand the Machine as a whole is certainly unfortunate; that almost none of these few men are selected to fill the positions of statesmen is dangerous to the last degree. For the Machine has grown to be extremely complicated; and it has the quality, which all machines have in common, that an injury to any part affects the whole. This quality is highly valuable, in fact it is essential; but it carries with it a menace to the entire machine, if it is operated by unskilled men. The Machine of Civilization came very near to being smashed in the World War; because the statesmen of France and Great Britain were so inefficient in the most important part of their work (that of guarding the Machine as a whole) that they permitted Germany to catch them unprepared.
The longer this condition continues to prevail, the greater the danger to the Machine of Civilization will become. The resources of invention are infinite. The resources of invention are almost untouched. Every new discovery or invention prepares the road for a multitude of others. These inventions and discoveries improve and enlarge the Machine; but they complicate it more and more, and demand greater knowledge in statesmen; just as increase in complexity of ships demands greater knowledge in captains.
It can be mathematically proved by the Theory of Probabilities that, if there be any chance that a certain accident may occur, it will surely occur some day if the predisposing causes are suffered to continue; and that therefore, any machine committed to unskilful handling will be wrecked some day, if the unskilful handling is suffered to continue. This establishes the probability that our Machine of Civilization will be wrecked some day, unless statesmen be trained to handle it.
An invention seems to be needed that will insure adequate knowledge in high officials in governments. But such an invention is not really needed, because it is merely necessary to utilize an invention made and used in Greece many centuries ago. This invention consisted in conceiving, developing and producing a system whereby every candidate for any office was required to show adequate knowledge of matters coming within the jurisdiction of that office, by passing a rigid examination.
Such a system may be deemed impracticable in modern representative governments. Why? It is followed in all civilized armies and navies.
If it be really impracticable, then it is impracticable to assure that wise and able men shall manage the complex Machine of Civilization. This means, if history has any lessons for us, that sooner or later, it will again go down in ruin;—as it has gone down at different periods of the past, in Egypt and Assyria and Babylon and Rome.
That influences are already at work which impair the functioning of the Machine in the present and threaten its continuance in the future, cannot reasonably be denied. Of these, the two most powerful may be classed under the general heading "bolshevistic" and "pacifistic." At the bottom of the bolshevistic movement is, of course, the thirst for wealth and power; the thirst for opportunities for handling and using the Machine and its various parts, by men who have done no work in designing, or building, or caring for it. At the bottom of the pacifistic movement is effeminacy: a desire for mere ease and luxury and softness, a shirking of responsibility and discipline and sacrifice.
These two influences, unlike though they are, combine to threaten the Machine; the bolshevistic by assault, the pacifistic by insuring weakness of resistance to assault. Of these, the pacifistic is the more dangerous, because the more insidious; for the same reason that a disease hidden inside is more dangerous than an attack made openly outside. The most potent cause of pacifism is the effeminacy caused by the combination of prosperity and long-continued peace, with its resulting division of a population into a vulgarly ostentatious rich minority and a more or less envious poor majority. When a division like this has come to pass, hostile conflict has usually ensued. Such a conflict produced the French Revolution, and almost wrecked the Machine in France. Such a conflict is now in progress in Russia, and threatens some parts of Europe.
Unfortunately, the progress of invention, by enlarging the scope and speed of communication and facilitating the acquiring of superficial knowledge, has put into the hands of men possessing merely the natural gift of eloquence the power to influence large numbers of people, without possessing knowledge or skill in statesmanship. It has facilitated demagoguery:—and herein lies the root of the danger to the Machine; for without the demagogue, the bolshevist and the pacifist would be unable to get their civilization-destroying doctrines presented attractively to the people.
Fortunately, the Great War, though it caused tremendous suffering, broke up many visionary notions that were crystallizing into beliefs, and brought the world face to face again with realities. And although the violent disturbance of society's always unstable equilibrium is still evident in the world-wide unrest among the poorer classes, yet the unrest seems gradually to be dying down, with the realization that better conditions of living will be theirs in future.
And as every nation that is not wholly degenerate, possesses the power within itself to save itself, and as the great nations of the earth are very far indeed from being degenerate, we are warranted in assuming that each nation will take the necessary steps, not only to guard the Machine of Civilization, but to increase its power and excellence.
CHAPTER XVI
THE FUTURE
The fact that invention has not only been increasing during the past one hundred years, but that its speed of increase has been increasing and is still increasing, is well recognized. There seems to be a constant force behind invention that imparts to it an acceleration, comparable to that of gravity in accelerating the descent of a falling stone. Such a phenomenon would be thoroughly conformable to modern theories; and that there is a force, impelling people to invent, must be a fact; for otherwise, they would not invent. If that force be constant, the acceleration imparted to invention will be constant. If the force be variable, the acceleration imparted to invention will be variable. In other words, the future speed of invention, like that of every moving body, must be governed by the force behind it and the resistances opposed.
At the present moment, the resistance to invention is being gradually lessened because the benefits coming from invention are being realized. Simultaneously, the facilities for inventing are being increased.
These facilities are mainly in instruments of measurements and research. So many of these are there now, that it would only complicate matters to enumerate them and describe their spheres. Two of the most important are the spectroscope and the photographic camera. By means of the spectroscope, the astronomer can ascertain the chemical elements of far distant stars, the temperature and pressure under which they exist, the stage of progress of the star, and its speed and direction of movement, whether toward us or away. By means of the photographic camera, not only can records be made of stars so far away and faint that light-waves from them cannot be noted by the eye, even with the assistance of the most powerful telescope,—but a virtually unlimited number of permanent records can be made.
All fields of research now feel the assistance imparted by new instruments and methods. Even the chemist realizes the aid of instruments invented by the physicist; while every physicist welcomes the aid that comes to him from chemists. The chemists and the physicist are now working together in harmony and with enthusiasm, engaged in a friendly rivalry as to which shall help the other most. And, as discovery succeeds discovery, and invention succeeds invention, they find themselves—although the domain of each is widening—not drifting farther apart, but drawing closer together. For it seems to be coming more and more assured that the Laws of Nature are simpler than we thought, that chemistry and physics are more alike than we supposed. Many startling generalizations have been suggested, with much reason; such as, that matter and energy are one, that space and time are one, and that even the mind of man may be subjected to physical methods and analysis. In fact, some of the greatest advances made during the past twenty-five years have been in psychology, and achieved largely by the use of physical apparatus. Many subjects, formerly included with alchemy and astrology in the class of occult if not deceitful arts, are now being developed apparently toward more or less exact sciences; as alchemy was developed into chemistry, and astrology into astronomy. Efforts are even being made to communicate with distant planets and with the spirits of the dead.
That much is being attempted that may not be realized is true. But if we realize that the universe is now supposed to be many millions of years old, it seems only yesterday that the phenomena of electrical and magnetic attraction and repulsion were confusing the minds of even the wisest: and now electricity and magnetism are harnessed together, and working together in perfect harmony and marvelous effectiveness, for the good of man.
That the future of invention is to be as brilliant as its past, every omen indicates. In what direction will it proceed? Probably in all directions. But the line of direction that will occur the first to many, is probably in aerial flight. Doubtless it is in aerial flight that the greatest advance has been made since flight was first successfully accomplished in 1903; and doubtless it is in that line that the greatest progress is being made now. The enormous speeds already achieved; the growing size of both aeroplanes and dirigibles; their increasing speed, safety and convenience; the fact that roads are not needed for aerial transportation as they are for carriages and railway trains, or deep water channels as for water craft; and the comparative cheapness with which people and light packages can be carried swiftly and far, all point to a vast increase in aerial transportation, and a great modification in all our modes of living in consequence.
Akin to transportation is communication:—but in communication, one may reasonably feel that we have arrived almost at the boundary line, not only of the possible but even the desirable. For we have almost instantaneous communication all over the surface of the earth and under almost all the ocean, by the telegraph and telephone, using wires and cables; and nearly equally good communication by radio telegraph, using no material connection whatever. The wireless telephone is following fast on the heels of the wireless telegraph; and by it we can already telephone hundreds of miles between stations on land and sea, and carry on conversation for several miles between fast moving aeroplanes.
But progress is going on rapidly also in the older fields of invention. The ocean steamship, especially the battleship, is growing in size, speed and safety; so is the locomotive, so is the automobile. Because of the progress in all the useful arts and sciences, buildings of all kinds are being constructed higher and larger, and more commodious and safe; civil engineering works of all description—roads, canals, bridges and tunnels are setting their durable marks of progress all over the earth; the uses of electricity are growing, and showing every indication that they will continue so to do; and so are the uses of chemistry and light and heat. And through all the industrial world, in manufactures of every kind, we see the same unmistakable signs of progress, increasing progress and increasing rate of progress.
In the field of pure science, we note the same signs of progress, increasing progress, and increasing speed of progress. Naturally, however, it is far more difficult to predict with confidence the direction which future progress will take in this field than in the field of the practical application of pure science, in which invention usually bestirs itself. The fact, however, that any actual advance has begun in any new science gives the best possible reason for expecting that the advance is going to continue. Therefore, we may expect continuing progress in all branches of pure science: for the near future, for instance, in biology, psychology and what is loosely called "psychics," which seems to be a virtual excursion of psychology into the hazy realms of telepathy, clairvoyance, spiritualism, and so forth.
That invention and research are concerning themselves more and more with immaterial subjects is a fact that is not only noticeable but of vital importance to us, for signs are not lacking that man's material comfort is already sufficiently well-assured; in fact, that perhaps he is already too comfortable for his physical well-being. Already we see that labor saving and comfort-producing appliances are impairing the physical strength of men and women, and to such a degree that artificial exercises are prescribed by doctors. Inasmuch as "the mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven," it seems probable that the direction of effort in which the greatest real benefit can be attained is in research and consequent invention concerning the mind itself. But, for the reason that this is probably the most difficult road, it seems probable that success in it may come the latest. It seems probable also that even in that road, progress will be achieved by means analogous to those by which it has been achieved in other roads; that is by the use of physical and chemical instruments and methods. Much has been done already by their aid in psychology, and much more is promised in the not distant future.
The idea of influencing the mind directly to states of happiness, and guarding it from unhappiness, is far from new; for what were the epicureans, stoics, and others trying to do but that? Such attempts, many systems of philosophy and many mystic sects distinctly made. Of these sects, one of the most interesting was that of the omphalopsychites, who were able to raise themselves to high states of happiness by the simple and inexpensive process of gazing at their navels. Some advantages of their system are obvious. Certainly it was less costly than other means of gaining happiness, such as wearing narrow-toed shoes, chewing tobacco, smoking cigarettes and drinking whiskey; and there is no evidence that it ever caused ingrowing toe-nails, delirium tremens, or Bright's disease.
That invention and progress have produced and may be relied upon to continue to produce prosperity, may reasonably be predicted. But will they together produce happiness?
The author respectfully begs to be excused from answering this question. He requests attention, however, to the manifest facts that invention is a natural gift, that the impetus to invention has always been the desire to achieve prosperity of some kind, and that to employ our natural gifts to satisfy our natural instincts can reasonably be expected to further our happiness; unless, indeed, we suspect Nature of playing tricks upon us.
That Nature sometimes seems to do this, and that it is dangerous to follow our instincts blindly is of course a fact. But it seems to be a fact also that the danger in following our instincts seems to come only when we follow them blindly; and that, though there may be danger sometimes in following them even under the guidance of our reason, yet the only way in which we have ever progressed at all has been by following our instincts under reason's guidance, and invention's inspiration.
And since the civilized world is in virtual agreement that civilization is a happier state than savagery, and since we have been impelled toward civilization by invention mainly, there seems no escape from the conclusion that it is to invention mainly that we must look for increase of happiness in the future.
It may be, of course, that happiness does not come so much from a condition or state attained as from the act of striving to attain it. It may be suggested also by some one that life is merely a game, and that happiness comes from playing the game and not from winning it, just as children delight more in constructing a toy building with their blocks than in the building when completed: for they no sooner complete the building than they knock it down, and begin to build it up again. But, even from this point of view, the desirability of fostering invention would be apparent; because it would continually supply us with new games to play, and new toys with which to play them.
But that any thoughtful person could really think life a game is an impossibility. No man with a mind to reason and a soul to feel can contemplate the awful suffering that has always existed in the world, and think life a mere game. No man can think life a mere game, who with an eye to see and an imagination to conceive, gazes upon the infinite sea of stars visible to his unaided vision, realizes how many thousands upon thousands of stars there are besides, that the photographic camera records, and realizes also that, though light travels even through air at a rate exceeding 186,000 miles per second, yet that some stars are so distant that the light now reaching us from them started ages before the dawn of history. And no man who is able to follow the teachings of science, even superficially, can note the enormous development of civilization during the last few thousand years, and realize that a development similar though infinitely grander, must have been going on in all the universe for countless centuries, without realizing also that "through the ages an increasing purpose runs." He may even note a likeness between it and the development on an infinitely smaller scale, of the conception of a merely human inventor. Possibly, his fancy may even soar still higher: possibly he may even wonder if all this great creation may not be in effect a great invention, and God its Great Creator, because its Great Inventor.
So, whether we fix our thought on what the scientists tell us of the probable course of development of the universe during the countless ages of the past, or consider merely the development of man since the dawn of recorded history, we seem to find as the initiating cause of both—invention.
Let us therefore utilize all means possible to develop this Godgiven faculty, the chiefest of the talents committed to our keeping. That way lie progress, prosperity and happiness. How far and how high it may lead us, God only knows; for the resources of invention are infinite.
The End.