,,invention1 ,,the ,,master-,,key ,,to ,,progress ,,invention ,,the ,,master-,,key ,,to ,,progress ,,by ,,rear-,,admiral ,,bradley ,a4 ,,fiske1 ,,ll4,d4 ,,united ,,states ,,navy ,former ,aid for ,operations of the ,fleet1 ,president ,u4 ,s4 ,naval ,institute1 ,gold ,medallist of ,u4 ,s4 ,naval ,institute1 the ,franklin ,institute and the ,aero ,club of ,america4 ,author of ,electricity in ,theory and ,practice1 ,war ,time in ,manila1 ,the ,navy as a ,fighting ,machine1 ,from ,midshipman to ,rear-,admiral1 ,the ,art of ,fighting1 etc4 ,inventor of the ,gun ,director ,system1 the ,naval ,telescope ,sight1 the ,stadimeter1 the ,turret ,range ,finder1 the ,horizometer1 the ,torpedoplane1 etc41 etc41 etc4 ,,new ,,york ,e4 ,p4 ,,dutton ,,company #fha ,,fifth ,,avenue ,copyright1 #aiba1 ,by ,e4 ,p4 ,dutton ,company ,all ,rights ,reserved ,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states ,,of ,,america ,,preface ,to show that inventors have accomplished more than most persons realize1 not only in bringing forth new mechanisms1 but in doing creative work in many walks of life1 is1 in part1 the object of this book4 ,to suggest what they may do1 if properly encouraged1 is its main intention4 ,for1 since it is to inventors mainly that we owe all that civilization is1 it is to inventors mainly that we must look for all that civilization can be made to be4 ,the mind of man cannot even conceive what wonders of beneficence inventors may accomplish3 for the resources of invention are infinite4 ,the author is indebted to ,ginn ,company1 ,boston1 for the use of illustrations from ,general ,history for ,colleges and ,high ,schools1 by ,philip ,van ,ness ,myers1 and ,ancient ,times1 ,a ,history of the ,early ,world1 by ,james ,henry ,breasted1 and to ,george ,h4 ,doran ,company1 ,new ,york1 for the use of a map from ,a ,history of ,sea ,power1 by ,william ,oliver ,stevens and ,allan ,westcott4 ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,invention ,,in ,,primeval ,,times #a ,,ii4 ,,invention ,,in ,,the ,,orient #bd ,,iii4 ,,invention ,,in ,,greece #ea ,,iv4 ,,invention ,,in ,,rome3 ,,its ,,rise ,,and ,,fall #ha ,v4 ,,invention ,,of ,,the ,,gun ,,and ,,of ,,printing #aja ,,vi4 ,,columbus1 ,,copernicus1 ,,galileo ,,and ,,others #abe ,,vii4 ,,the ,,rise ,,of ,,electricity1 ,,steam ,,and ,,chemistry #adh ,,viii4 ,,the ,,age ,,of ,,steam1 ,,napoleon ,,and ,,nelson #agi ,,ix4 ,,inventions ,,in ,,steam1 ,,electricity1 ,,and ,,chemistry ,,create ,a ,,dangerous ,,era #bjc ,x4 ,,certain ,,important ,,creations ,,of ,,invention1 ,,and ,,their ,,beneficent ,,influence #bca ,,xi4 ,,invention ,,and ,,growth ,,of ,,liberal ,,government ,,and ,,american ,,civil ,,war #bee ,,xii4 ,,invention ,,of ,,the ,,modern ,,military ,,machine1 ,,telephone1 ,,phonograph ,,and ,,preventive ,,medicine #bgi ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,conquest ,,of ,,the ,,ether--,,moving ,,pictures--,,rise ,,of ,,japan ,,and ,,the ,,united ,,states #cja ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,fruition ,,of ,,invention #cbb ,,xv4 ,,the ,,machine ,,of ,,civilization1 ,,and ,,the ,,dangerous ,,ignorance ,,concerning ,,it1 ,,shown ,,by ,,statesmen #ccc ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,future #cda ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,page ,carvings in ,ivory and in ,stone of ,cavern ,walls made by the ,hunters of the ,middle ,stone ,age #c ,early ,babylonian ,signs1 ,showing ,their ,pictorial ,origin #bg ,villa of an ,egyptian ,noble #cd ,the ,pyramids of ,gizeh #cf ,assyrians ,flaying ,prisoners ,alive #dd ,two ,cretan ,vases #eb ,insurgent ,captives ,brought ,before ,darius #eh ,the ,lighthouse of the ,harbor of ,alexandria in the ,hellenistic ,age #gg ,triumphal ,procession from the ,arch of ,titus #if ,the ,printing of ,books #aac ,portuguese ,voyages and ,possessions #abf ,hero's ,engines #aej ,hero's ,altar ,engine #aea ,leupold's ,engine #aed ,,invention1 ,,the ,,master-,,key ,,to ,,progress ,,invention1 ,,the ,,master-,,key ,,to ,,progress ,,chapter ,i ,,invention ,,in ,,primeval ,,times ,our original ancestors dwelt in caves and wildernesses2 had no sewed or fabricated clothing of any kind2 subsisted on roots and nuts and berries2 possessed no arts of any sort2 were ignorant to a degree that we cannot imagine1 and were little above the brutes in their mode of living4 ,today1 a considerable fraction of the people who dwell upon the earth enjoy a civilization so fine that it seems to have no connection with the brutish conditions of primeval life4 ,yet1 as these pages show1 a perfectly plain series of inventions can be seen1 starting from the old conditions and building up the new4 ,the progress of man during the countless ages of prehistoric times is hidden from our knowledge1 except in so far as it has been revealed to us by ruins of ancient cities1 by prehistoric utensils of many kinds1 and by inscriptions carved on monuments and tablets4 ,the sharp dividing line between prehistoric times and historic times1 seems to be that made by the art of writing2 for this epochal invention rendered possible the recording of events1 and the consequent beginning of history4 ,of prehistoric times we have1 of course1 no written record2 and we have but the most general means of estimating how many millenniums ago man first had his being4 ,geological considerations indicate a beginning so indefinitely and exceedingly remote that the imagination may lose itself in speculations as to his mode of living during those forever-hidden centuries that dragged along1 before man had advanced so far in his progress toward civilization as to make and use the rude utensils which the researches of antiquarians have revealed4 ,inasmuch as the most important employment of man from his first breath until his last has always been the struggle to preserve his life2 inasmuch as the endeavor of primeval man to defend himself against wild beasts must have been extremely bitter 7for many were larger and stronger than he71 and inasmuch as man eventually achieved the mastery over them1 one seems forced to conclude that man overcame wild beasts by employing some means to assist his bodily strength1 and that probably his first invention was a weapon4 ,the first evidences of man's achievements that we have are rude implements of stone and flint1 evidently shaped by some force guided by some intelligence2--doubtless the force of human hands1 guided by the intelligence of human minds4 ,many such have been found in caves and gravel-beds over all the world4 ,they were rough and crude1 and indicate a rough and crude but nevertheless actual stage of civilization4 ,some call this the ,old ,stone ,age and others call it the ,early ,stone ,age4 ,besides stone and flint1 bones1 horns and tusks were used4 ,among the implements made were daggers1 fish-hooks1 needles1 awls and heads of arrows and harpoons4 ,one of the most interesting revelations of those rude and immeasurably ancient implements is the fact that man1 even in those times1 possessed the artistic sense2 for on some of them can be seen rough but clear engravings of natural objects1 and even of wild animals4 ,illustration3 ,carvings in ,ivory 7#a and #c-g7 and in ,stone of ,cavern ,walls 7#b71 made by the ,hunters of the ,middle ,stone ,age ,men naturally supported themselves mainly by hunting and fishing1 as savages do now2 and it was because they had invented suitable implements and weapons for practicing those necessary arts1 that their efforts were successful4 ,the first weapon was probably the fist-hatchet1 a piece of sharpened flint about nine inches long1 that he grasped in his hand4 ,at some time during the centuries of the ,old ,stone ,age1 someone invented a much finer weapon1 that continued to be one of the most important that was known1 until the invention of the gun1 and is used even now in savage lands--the bow and arrow4 ,what a tremendous advantage this weapon was in fighting wild beasts 7and also men not possessing it7 it is not hard for us to see2 for the arrow tipped with flint or bone1 could be shot over distances far greater than the spear or javelin could be thrown1 and with sufficient force to kill4 ,the club and spear had probably been devised before1 for they were simpler and more easily imagined and constructed4 ,how the bow and arrow came to be invented we have no intimation4 ,the invention of the club and spear did not probably involve much creative effort1 so simple were those instruments1 and so like the branches that could be broken from the trees4 ,yet1 to the untrained mind of the primeval savage1 the idea of sharpening a straight branch of wood into a fine point at the end1 in order that penetration through the skin might be facilitated1 must have come as an inspiration4 ,no such thing as a spear exists as a spear in nature1 and therefore the making of a spear was a creative act4 ,to us1 the use of the spear as a projectile may not seem to have required the inventive faculty--unless the hurling of stones may also be supposed to have required it4 ,it may be1 however1 that with the dull mind of primeval men1 even the idea of using stones or javelins as projectiles was the result of a distinct1 and perhaps startling inspiration4 ,the invention of the bow and arrow was one of the first order of brilliancy1 and would be so even now4 ,it is not easy to think of any simple accident as accounting for the invention2 because the bow and arrow consists of three entirely independent parts--the straight bar of wood1 the string1 and the arrow2 for the bow was not a bow until the string had been fastened to each end1 and drawn so tight that the bar of wood was forced into a bent shape1 and held there at great tension4 ,when one realizes this1 and realizes in addition the countless centuries during which the bow and arrow held its sway1 the millions of men who have used it1 and the important effect it has had in the overcoming of wild beasts1 and the deciding of many of the critical battles of the world1 he can hardly escape the conclusion that the invention of the bow and arrow was one of the most important occurrences in the history of mankind4 ,a still more important occurrence was the invention of making fire4 ,probably less inventive effort was needed for this than for the bow and arrow2 for fire could be seen in the lightning and in trees struck by lightning1 and in the sparks that came forth when two hard stones were struck together4 ,the discovery of fire may have been made by accident2 but this does not mean that no invention was needed for devising and producing the means whereby fire could be produced at will4 ,to note the fact of a phenomenon1 say the production of fire when stones are accidentally struck together1 or the falling of an apple from a tree1 requires no special effort1 and of itself brings forth no benefit2 but to reason from the appearance of the sparks to the production of an apparatus for making fire at will2 or to reason from the falling of an apple to the enunciation of ,newton's ,law of ,gravitation1 is the kind of successful mental effort that has produced the effects which it is the endeavor of this humble book to indicate4 ,these effects have combined as progress has advanced1 to put civilized man in a position relatively to his natural surroundings very different from that held by primeval man1 and very different from that held by the brutes1 both in primeval days and now4 ,evidently1 the effects have been made possible by some faculty possessed by man and not by brutes4 ,this faculty is usually called reason1 and is held to be a faculty by means of which man can infer cause from effect1 and effect from cause1 and can remember events and facts to a degree sufficient to enable him to hold them in his mind1 while reasoning about them4 ,but it seems impossible to explain the advent of even the oldest and simplest inventions by the possession of reason only1 using the word reason in its ordinary sense2 for it is obvious that no matter how clearly a man could reason as between cause and effect1 no matter how great a student of all phenomena he might be1 no matter how good a memory he might have1 he might nevertheless live for many years and never invent anything4 ,in fact1 we see men at the present day who possess great knowledge1 splendid energy1 keen powers of analysis1 high courage1 and even great administrative talent1 and yet who are obviously deficient in originality1 who seem to possess the constructive faculty in only a small degree1 and who seem incapable of taking any step forward except on paths that have been plainly trod before4 ,countless instances can be cited of the persistence of men1 even in civilized lands1 in following a certain practice for long periods1 until someone possessing the inventive faculty has devised a better one4 ,for the sake of brevity1 only two cases1 and those well known1 will be mentioned as illustrative4 ,one was the invention of movable type1 and the other that of pointing the wood screw4 ,man had continued for centuries to make blocks of wood or other material on which words and phrases were engraved or cut1 and then to print from them4 ,suddenly a man in ,germany 7usually said to be ,john ,guttenberg7 made the change1 so slight in appearance and yet so tremendous in results1 of cutting only one letter on a block1 and arranging and securing the blocks in such a way as to enable him to print any word or words desired4 ,this did not occur until about the year #adcd ,a4 ,d4 ,why had not someone done this in all the long centuries8 ,surely it was not because men of great reasoning faculties had not lived2 for in the long interval the civilization of ,egypt1 ,assyria1 ,babylon1 ,persia1 ,greece and ,rome had flourished2 and ,plato1 ,aristotle1 ,csar and the great inventor ,archimedes had lived6 ,similarly1 men continued to use in wood the same flat pointed screw that they used in metals1 boring the hole first in the wood with a gimlet1 and then entering the flat point of the screw into the hole4 ,suddenly 7but not until the nineteenth century ,a4 ,d47 an inventor made and patented a screw which came to a sharp point like a gimlet1 which could be forced into wood just as the gimlet was1 and then screwed into the wood without further ado4 ,how can we explain the curious fact that countless men of reason1 intelligence and mechanical skill had continued century after century to bore into wood with gimlets1 and then follow the gimlet with flat-pointed screws8 ,the explanation seems to be expressed in the phrase1 the idea had not occurred to them4 ,why had it not occurred to them8 ,this question cannot1 of course1 be answered convincingly2 but it may be pointed out that there is a small class of men to whom original ideas seem to come of their own accord4 ,the inventor of mechanical appliances is in this class1 and is perhaps its most conspicuous exemplar4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it may be pointed out1 however1 that the inventors of mechanical appliances are not the only men to whom original conceptions come2 for original conceptions evidently come to the poets1 the novelists1 the musical composers1 the artists1 the strategists1 the explorers1 the statesmen1 the philosophers1 the founders of religions and the initiators of all enterprises great and small4 ,it may be pointed out also that their mental processes are similar1 and that they are best described by the greatest of all poets in the lines-- ,the poet's eye in a fine frenzy rolling1 ,glances from heaven to earth1 from earth to heaven2 ,and as imagination bodies forth ,the forms of things unknown1 the poet's pen ,turns them to shapes1 and gives to airy nothing ,a local habitation and a name4 ,these lines suggest that the first step in invention is made almost without effort2 that a picture1 confused and dim but actual1 is made by the imagination on the mental retina2 and that1 after that1 the constructive faculties arrange the elements of the picture in such wise as to produce a clear and definite entity4 ,regarded in this way1 the inventor of mechanical appliances suddenly sees a confused and dim picture of an instrument or a mechanism 7or a part of it7 that he has never seen with his bodily eyes2 the musical composer hears imperfectly and vaguely a new musical composition2 the sculptor sees a statue1 the painter sees a new combination of objects and colors producing a new effect1 and the poet feels the stirring in him of vague1 but beautiful1 or powerful or inspiring thoughts4 ,if now the picture is allowed to fade1 or if the constructive faculty is not able to make it into an actuality1 or if the picture has not in itself the elements which the state of civilization then prevailing make it possible to embody in an entity1 no invention of a mechanical appliance is made1 no plan of campaign1 no musical composition1 no statue1 no painting1 no poem is produced4 ,if1 however1 the constructive effort develops successfully the conception that the imagination made1 and if the circumstances of time and place are all propitious1 then the art of making fire at will is born1 or ,bonaparte's suggestion at ,toulon is made1 or the strains of ,beethoven's music inspire the world1 or the statue of ,moses is carved1 or the ,immaculate ,conception is pointed1 or ,hamlet is written1 or the electric telegraph binds the peoples of the earth together4 ,the inventor in mechanics1 the sculptor1 the painter1 the novelist and the poet embody their creations in material forms that are enduring and definite1 and constitute evidences of their work1 which sometimes endure throughout long periods4 ,the architect and the constructing engineer are able similarly to produce lasting and useful monuments to their skill2 but it can hardly be declared that their work is characterized by quite so much of originality and invention1 because of the restrictions by which the practice of their arts is bound4 ,it is1 in fact1 hard to conceive of a bridge very different in principle or design from bridges that had been built before2 and while it is not difficult to conceive of an engine different in principle and design from previous ones1 yet we realize that the points of novelty in such an engine would be attributable more to invention than to engineering4 ,this is because the arts of engineering and architecture rest on principles that have long since been proved to be correct1 and on practices that are the results of long experience2 whereas one of the main characteristics of invention is novelty4 ,it is true that many of the most important inventions have been made by engineers2 but this has been because some engineers1 like ,ericsson1 have been inventors also4 ,but it is also true that only a small proportion of the engineers have made original inventions2 and it is equally true that many inventions have failed--or have been slow in achieving success--because of lack of engineering skill in construction or design4 ,these facts show that the work of the inventor is very different from that of the engineer1 and that the inventor and the engineer are very different people1 though an engineer and an inventor sometimes live together inside of the same skin4 ,in fact1 it is by a combination of inventive genius and engineering talent in one man that the greatest results in invention have been achieved2 though great results have often followed the intimate cooperation of an inventor and an engineer1 the two being separate men4 ,it is in the latter way that important advances have usually been made2 and it is somewhat analogous to the way in which authors and publishers1 actors and managers1 promoters and capitalists cooperate4 ,but while the individuals whose inventions have taken the form of new creations1 such as novel machines and books and paintings1 have received the clearest recognition as men of genius1 may not the inventive faculty be needed in other fields and be required in other kinds of work8 ,if an instrument is produced by the joint exercise of imagination and constructive talent1 is not every puzzle worked out1 and every problem solved1 and every constructive work accomplished by the similar exercise of those same faculties8 ,it may seem obvious that this question should be answered in the negative1 and so it unquestionably should be4 ,but there always has been much cloudiness as to what constitutes invention in our own minds2 and it must be admitted that the dividing line is not immediately obvious between invention and the art of meeting difficulties with resourcefulness1 or between invention and the act of solving any of the perplexing riddles of our daily lives4 ,it may be declared with confidence1 however1 that the difference between invention and any one of these other acts is that1 while invention ends in performing such acts1 it begins with an exercise of the imagination4 ,a man who designs an engine to fulfil a stated purpose1 who solves any problem whatever that is presented to him from outside1 simply accomplishes a task that is given to him to accomplish2 whereas1 while the inventor accomplishes a similar task1 he does it as a second step in a task that was not given him to accomplish1 but that he himself had pictured to himself4 ,the act of inventing consists of three separate acts--the act of conceiving1 the act of developing1 and the act of producing4 ,of these three acts1 that of conceiving is obviously not only the first1 but also the most important1 distinctive and unusual4 ,for every real invention1 there have been countless constructive acts4 ,in the invention of the bow and arrow1 the conception was probably instantaneous and unbidden4 ,the subsequent work of developing the conception into material and practical shape was probably one of long duration1 consisting of many acts1 accompanied with many difficulties and disappointments1 and accomplished finally in the face of much active and passive opposition4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,old ,stone ,age gradually developed into the ,new ,stone ,age at different times in different localities1 as successive improvements in implements were made4 ,the ,new ,stone ,age was distinguished from its predecessor mainly by the fact that the principal weapons and utensils were formed into regular shapes1 polished into smoothness1 and in many cases ground to sharp points and keen cutting edges4 ,these improvements made the implements more effective both as weapons and as utensils1 by facilitating not only cutting but penetration4 ,how much invention was needed to make these improvements1 it is not easy to decide2 but probably only a little was required1 and that of an order not very original or high2 for the improvements were rather in detail than principle4 ,perhaps their character can be best indicated by saying that they were improvements1 rather than inventions of a basic kind4 ,it may here be pointed out that the act of improving upon an invention already existing may be almost wholly a constructive act1 performed on a visible and tangible material object1 and not on a picture made by the imagination on the mind4 ,in such a case1 the act of improving belongs rather in the category of engineering than of invention1 for the reason that it involves only a slight use of the imagination4 ,it may also be pointed out1 however1 that a mere improvement may be1 and sometimes has been an invention of the highest order4 ,as a rule1 of course1 basic inventions have been the most brilliant and also the most important4 ,but it was not only by polished instruments of stone and bone that the ,new ,stone ,age was characterized2 for we find in the records which our ancestors unintentionally left us1 many evidences that they had invented the arts of making pottery1 of spinning and weaving1 and of constructing houses of a simple kind4 ,this ,age was characterized by many improvements besides those relating to articles of stone1 and was a period far in advance of its predecessor on the march to civilization4 ,it was marked by the domestication of animals and plants1 the tilling of the soil1 and a gradual change from a purely savage and nomadic mode of life4 ,this change was first to a pastoral life1 in which men lived in fixed habitations and tended their flocks2 thence to an agricultural life1 in which men cultivated the ground over large areas and grew crops of cereals and vegetables2 and then to a still more settled existence1 in which men congregated in villages and towns4 ,certainly1 the race had taken the first steps1 and had started on the path which it has since pursued4 ,in order to make the start and to proceed afterwards in the line begun1 many physical1 mental and spiritual attributes were needed and employed1 that mere brutes did not possess1 and because of which the civilization of the ,old ,stone ,age had been begun and gradually developed4 ,of these faculties1 those principally characteristic seem to have been mental2 and among those faculties1 invention1 reason1 construction and memory seem to have been the most important4 ,it would be unreasonable to declare any one of those faculties to have been more important than the others2 but it can hardly be denied that the first steps in the march of progress should be credited to invention4 ,clearly1 it was the weapons and utensils of the ,old ,stone ,age that made possible the subduing and subsequent domestication of certain animals1 such as the horse1 the cow1 the dog1 the sheep and the goat4 ,it may be pointed out1 in passing1 that many animals have not been domesticated even at this late day--such as the tiger1 the eagle and the bear4 ,but1 equally1 certain tribes of men have not been domesticated4 ,it may be that in both the undomesticated men and the undomesticated brutes1 the mind is of such a character that it cannot assimilate even the first grains of knowledge1 or make any effort whatever of an inventive character4 ,there was one invention that was probably made in the ,old ,stone ,age1 which must have needed considerable inventiveness to be developed as highly as it was developed during the ,old and ,new ,stone ,ages1 and that was language4 ,the origin of language is1 of course1 hidden in the impenetrable mystery of the childhood of the race2 and it may be that language was an original attribute of man4 ,if we reason1 however1 that the development of language must have been a continuing act from the first1 inferring it from the fact that it has been a continuing act from the dawn of recorded history until now1 and if we suppose that it had a rise and a growth like those of other arts1 we may reasonably conclude that some man invented the plan of making his wants known by the use of vocal sounds1 uttered in accordance with a preconcerted code2 that the invention was only partially successful at first1 and that it was afterwards improved4 ,that language was not a natural gift1 but rather the result of an invention and subsequent development1 is suggested by the fact that a child has to be taught to speak1 but does not have to be taught to exercise his natural functions1 such as breathing1 eating1 drinking1 walking1 etc4 ,which was the first invention ever made by man1 there is1 of course1 no means of ascertaining2 but it seems obvious that that of language must have been among the first4 ,the invention of weapons we may easily imagine to have been actually the first1 called for by the necessity of defense against wild beasts and other men4 ,following the defense by individual men of their individual lives1 it seems logical to suppose that a man and his wife1 a man and his brother1 and then groups of men1 banded together in their common defense against common foes4 ,to further their joint action1 what would be more valuable than a language consisting of vocal sounds1 arranged in accordance with a simple code1 as a means of conveying information1 issuing warnings1 and giving signals in emergencies1 to insure concerted action8 ,that language should later be used for manifold other purposes would be most natural2 for many other arts have been invented primarily to further man's first aim1 the preservation of his life1 and have afterwards been employed for other purposes4 ,the uses of clothing1 houses1 knives1 guns and of nearly all weapons are cases in point4 ,the ,new ,stone ,age seems to have passed gradually into the ,age of ,copper1 because doubtless of a more or less accidental discovery when native copper was seen upon the ground1 or when some copper ore was subjected to fire4 ,the metal1 by reason of its great durability1 ductility1 elasticity and strength1 came to be used for many purposes--the first use being probably in weapons2 for weapons were the main dependence of the people in their struggle against beasts4 ,a great advance was made when bronze was discovered1 with which weapons and tools of many kinds could be made that were harder than those of copper4 ,then the ,age of ,bronze succeeded the ,age of ,copper4 ,one can hardly imagine that bronze was really invented2 for it is difficult to see how1 knowing the softness of copper and tin1 any primeval man could have imagined a metal made from them much harder than either1 and then proceeded to make it by mixing about seven parts of copper with one part of tin4 ,the gradual improvement made in bronze implements1 and the different kinds of bronze that later appeared 7made by altering the proportions of tin and copper7 were doubtless due more to constructive and engineering methods than to pure invention2 but nevertheless a considerable amount of inventing must have been required2 for one can rarely effect any important improvement in any weapon1 instrument or tool1 without first imagining the improvement1 and then endeavoring to effect it4 ,in fact1 an overwhelming majority of the inventions for which patents are issued by our ,patent ,office1 are for mere improvements over existing apparatus2 and the bald fact that the thing accomplished is only such an improvement1 instead of the creation of something different from everything else whatever1 like the telephone or phonograph1 does not debar the achievement from being classed as an invention4 ,the pointed screw was merely an improvement over previous forms of screw1 and yet it was an invention of high originality1 novelty and importance4 ,obviously1 improvements occupy various positions not only in importance and scope1 but also in the relative degrees in which invention and construction were employed to bring them into being4 ,it is held by some that no purely human act can possibly create anything really new1 that there is nothing new under the sun1 and that therefore every so-called invention made by a man must be merely a novel arrangement of already existing objects4 ,of course1 no man creates anything1 in the sense that he makes anything whatever out of nothing2 but it is a well-known fact that he has created many things in the sense that he has made many entities to exist that had not existed before as such entities2 for instance1 man made the speaking telephone to exist4 ,the speaking telephone did not exist before ,bell invented it1 and it did exist after he invented it4 ,to say that ,bell did or did not create the telephone conveys a meaning dependent wholly on the meaning in which the word create is used4 ,men ordinarily use the word with such a meaning that it is correct to say that ,bell created the speaking telephone2 it being understood as a matter of common sense that ,bell did not create the metals and other material parts which he put together to make the telephone4 ,used in this sense1 primeval man 7or more correctly some primeval men1 and probably a very few7 created certain weapons1 implements and utensils1 that gave the men who used them such mastery over wild beasts and over men who did not use them1 that the steps since taken toward civilization were made possible4 ,our whole civilization can be traced back to those inventions1 and can be shown to proceed from them and be based upon them4 ,no other basis that civilization could have proceeded from can even be imagined2 for the actual progress of events was the outcome of the actual nature of man1 and the actual nature of his environment4 ,we seem forced to conclude1 therefore1 that we owe our civilization primarily to the invention of certain primeval implements and weapons1 the art of making fire1 etc41 and therefore to the inventors who made the inventions4 ,this does not mean that we do not owe it to other things besides inventions1 and to other men besides inventors2 for it is obvious that we owe it to all the facts of our history1 and to such of our ancestors as did anything to advance it4 ,we owe it in part1 for instance1 to the men who framed the laws that made living in villages and cities possible1 to the men who executed the laws1 and to all the men and women who observed the laws and gave examples of righteous living4 ,for it is obvious that1 no matter what inventions were made1 the march of civilization could not have even started1 unless there had been a sufficient number of good and intelligent men and women to keep the human procession in good order from the first4 ,it may be pointed out here that1 although every human being has much of evil in his nature1 yet even the most depraved person desires other people to be good4 ,even thieves see the advantage to themselves resulting from the fact that most men do not steal2 murderers have no inclination toward being themselves murdered1 and human beings as a class see the benefits of morality and good living throughout society as a whole4 ,for this reason1 and for the still more important reason that most individuals are not very different in their characteristics and abilities from the average of all individuals1 the tendency of society is to reduce men to a common level2 so that we see only a small fraction who are extremely good or extremely bad1 extremely brilliant or extremely stupid1 extremely large or extremely small1 etc4 ,similarly1 there is only a small fraction of the people who have done much good individually or much harm1 or who have exercised individually any noticeable influence of any kind4 ,we may reasonably conclude1 therefore1 that there were only a few men in primeval days who performed any acts that entitle them to individual recognition2 and as the only records that have come down to us indicate that the most important acts were the inventing of certain implements1 we seem forced to conclude that most of the recognition accorded to individuals of primeval days may be limited to a very small number1 and they inventors4 ,who they were1 and where and when they lived1 is not known and probably never will be4 ,for countless centuries their names and personalities have been forgotten as wholly as those of many beasts4 ,but maybe other achievements like those that have exposed the history of certain ,oriental kings and wise men to our knowledge1 will some day tell us who were the inventors who started the march of human progress1 and pointed out the road that it should follow4 ,yet1 if we infer the probable conditions of the remote past from the conditions of the present and recent past1 we shall have to conclude that1 while the names and deeds of prehistoric rulers may some day become known to us1 and even the names of authors1 poets and song singers1 the names of the original inventors will be forever hid4 ,for inventors have ever been depreciated in their day2 even at the present time1 despite the known facts as to what inventions and inventors have done for every one of us1 the inventor as an inventor is lightly regarded1 and so are his inventions4 ,so are his inventions until they have ceased to be regarded as inventions1 and have been accepted as constituent parts of the machine of civilization4 ,by that time the inventor has often been forgotten4 ,the ,age of ,iron succeeded the ,age of ,bronze in the countries from which we have inherited our civilization2 but in ,africa bronze does not seem to have been discovered until after iron was4 ,iron being an element like copper1 and not an alloy of two metals like bronze1 it seems probable that its discovery1 like that of copper1 followed the act of heating stones with fire4 ,the coming of iron seems due therefore to discovery rather than to invention2 but yet the mere discovery that a very hard substance had been accidentally produced would of itself have brought forth no fruit4 ,one is almost forced to infer from probability that the fact must have become known to many men1 but only as a plain and uninteresting fact4 ,finally1 some man realized that that hard substance was superior to bronze for making weapons1 and then set to work to ascertain exactly what kinds of stone it could be gotten from1 and exactly what process gave the best results4 ,to us who have been carefully taught the facts known at the present day1 and whose minds have been trained by logic and mathematics to reason from effect to cause1 and to construct frameworks of cause wherefrom to gain effects1 it seems that anyone who noted that the hard substance which we call iron came from heating certain stones1 would immediately invent a process for making iron in quantities4 ,but prehistoric man had no knowledge whatever save that coming from his own observation and the oral teachings of the wise men2 mathematics and logic did not exist2 and the only training given him was in those simple arts of hunting1 fishing1 field tilling1 etc41 by which he earned his livelihood4 ,for a mind so untrained and ignorant to leap from the simple noting of the accidental production of the metal to a realization of its value1 then to a correct inference as to the possibility of producing it at will1 then to a correct inference as to the method of producing it1 and then to devising the method and actually producing iron at will1 suggests a reasoning intelligence of an order exceedingly high4 ,nevertheless1 the art of making iron may have originated not so much from effort as from inspiration2 the process may have been less one of reasoning than one of imagination1 less one of construction than one of invention4 ,in fact1 when we realize that imagination is almost wholly a pure gift 7like beauty1 or artistic genius or a singing voice7 while the reasoning and constructive faculties require long education1 we may reasonably conclude that the production of iron and of all the metals and processes in prehistoric times1 was probably attributable mainly to invention4 ,the crowning invention of prehistoric man was that of writing2 for it lifted him out of his dependence on oral teachings1 with their liability to error and forgetfulness1 into a condition in which the facts and experiences of life1 and the reasons for failure or success1 could be put into permanent form1 and supply sure bases from which to start on any line of progress in the future4 ,the production of the art of writing seems to have been a pure invention1 and it has always been so regarded4 ,nothing resembling writing is to be found in nature2 nowhere do we see in nature any effort to preserve any records of any kind4 ,how man1 or a man1 was led to invent writing we can only imagine1 for we cannot ascertain4 ,when we realize1 however1 how entirely novel an undertaking the production of writing was1 and that there is no process of mere reasoning by which a man could arrive at a decision to produce it1 we seem forced to conclude that it must have been caused by one of those inexplicable conceptions that imagination puts into the mind1 and that constitute an inspiration1 coming from the ,great ,outside and its ruler1 the ,almighty4 ,in fact1 if one ponders the history and teachings of the ,christian religion 7in truth of all religions71 and notes that the revelations on which they are believed to have been founded seem to have come unbidden to certain men as inspirations from ,on ,high1 he must realize how similar are the conceptions that come to inventors in a field less spiritual1 but yet actual4 ,for in the case of each basic invention1 an idea seems to have come unbidden to the mind1 and grown and developed there4 ,the first writing was what we call picture writing1 in which representations in outline of well-known objects were scratched with a hard point on some softer substance4 ,this form of writing probably began in the ,old ,stone ,age4 ,it continued for different lengths of time among different peoples1 as have all other characteristics of any stage of civilization2 and it is practiced in some degree by some peoples even now4 ,in fact1 one might with reasonableness declare that many of the illustrations used in books and magazines and papers1 many of the paintings and drawings that adorn our walls1 and many of the moving pictures in our places of amusement convey messages by means of pictures1 and are therefore forms of picture writing4 ,as the intelligence of man increased1 and his consequent need for better means of expressing himself in writing increased1 the idea occurred to someone to use conventional drawings to represent vocal sounds1 instead of pictures of visible objects4 ,the first writing of this kind1 called phonetic writing1 used characters that represented spoken words1 and therefore required many characters and necessitated long and tedious study to master it4 ,it was gradually replaced among most peoples by an improved phonetic system1 in which each character represented a syllable instead of a word2 though the ,chinese have never wholly abandoned it4 ,the syllabic system needed1 of course1 fewer characters1 and was much more easily learned1 much more flexible and generally satisfactory4 ,the syllabic system was finally replaced among the more progressive peoples by the alphabetical system1 in which each character represents a separate vocal sound4 ,as the number of separate vocal sounds is few1 only a few characters are needed4 ,in most alphabets1 the number of characters varies between twenty-two and thirty-six4 ,we of the present day plume ourselves greatly on our achievements in invention1 and point to the tens of thousands of scientific appliances1 books and works of art with which we have enriched our civilization4 ,to most of us1 prehistoric man was an uncouth creature1 living in caves and uncleanly huts1 and so far removed from us that in our hearts we class him as little higher than the beasts4 ,yet to prehistoric man we owe all that we are and all that we have4 ,the gift of life itself came to us through him2 and so did not only our physical faculties1 but our mental1 moral and spiritual faculties as well4 ,it was prehistoric man who invented the appliances without which the wild beasts would not have been overcome1 and the man1 wilder than himself1 been kept at bay2 by means of which the soil was tilled1 and boats were made to move upon the water1 and villages and towns were built4 ,it was prehistoric man who invented spoken language and the arts of drawing1 painting1 architecture1 weaving and writing4 ,it was prehistoric man who started the race on its forward march1 and pointed it in the direction in which it has ever since advanced4 ,it was prehistoric man who made the inventions on which all succeeding inventions have been based4 ,the prehistoric inventor exercised an influence on progress greater than that of any other man4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,invention ,,in ,,the ,,orient ,the first countries to pass into the stage of recorded history were ,egypt and ,babylonia4 ,excavations made near the sites of their ancient cities have brought to light many inscriptions which1 being deciphered and translated1 give us clear knowledge of the conditions under which they lived1 and therefore of the degree of the civilization that they had attained4 ,as we note the progress that the inscriptions show us to have been made beyond the stage reached by prehistoric man1 it becomes clear to us that much--if not most--of that progress could not have been made without the aid of writing4 ,one cannot conceive of the invention and development of ,astronomy1 for instance1 without some means of recording observations that had been made4 ,in developing the art of writing itself1 much progress was effected in both countries1 and many improvements were made in the art itself that must have been due to that lower order of invention which consists in improving on things already existing4 ,in addition1 invention was employed in devising and arranging means for preserving the writings in an enduring form4 ,in ,babylonia1 this was done by making the writing on soft tablets of clay about an inch in thickness1 that were afterwards baked to hardness4 ,in the case of records of unusual importance1 the precaution was sometimes taken of covering the baked inscription with a thin layer of clay1 making a duplicate inscription on this layer1 and then baking it also4 ,if afterwards1 from any cause1 the outside inscription was defaced1 it could be removed and the inside inscription exposed to view4 ,in ,egypt1 the writing was done on sheets of papyrus1 made from a reed that grew in the marshes4 ,to devise and make both the baked clay tablets and the papyrus1 it is clear that invention had to be employed2 for nothing exactly like them existed in nature4 ,thus the invention of the art of writing was supplemented by the invention of the art of preserving the records that writing made4 ,the act of writing would have been useful1 even if no means had been invented for preserving the things written2 even if the things written had perished in a day4 ,but the importance of the invention of writing was increased ten thousand fold by the invention of the means for preserving the things written2 because without that means it would have been impossible by any process of continual copying of tablets to keep at hand for reference that library of records of the past on which all progress has been based1 and from which every act of progress has started1 since some inventor of ,babylonia invented baked clay tablets and some inventor of ,egypt invented papyrus4 ,it may be objected that there is no reason for assuming that any one man invented either2 that each invention may have been the joint work of two men1 or of several men4 ,this of course1 is true2 but it does not minimize the importance of either invention1 or the credit due to the inventors4 ,it simply divides the credit of each invention among several men1 instead of giving it all to one4 ,it is a notable fact1 however1 that1 although some inventions have been made by the joint work of two men1 and although some books have been written1 and some music has been composed by two men working in cooperation1 yet such instances have been rare4 ,many men combine to do constructive work of many kinds1 and millions combine to work and fight together in armies2 and it is an interesting fact that the working together of many men has been made possible by inventions1 such as writing and printing4 ,yet there is hardly any other kind of work that is so wholly a one man job as inventing4 ,the fact that only one man1 as a rule1 makes a certain invention1 or writes a certain book1 or composes a certain musical piece1 or does any other inventional work1 seems to spring naturally from the original fact that an invention begins with a picture made by imagination on a mind4 ,now a picture so made is an individual picture in an individual mind4 ,if the picture is allowed to fade1 or if from any cause the mind that received it does not form it into a definite entity1 no invention is made4 ,if1 on the contrary1 the mind develops the dim picture into a definite entity of some kind1 that mind alone has made that invention2 even if other minds improve it later by super-posing other inventions on it4 ,it is true that sometimes a man who receives from his imagination a mental picture of some possible invention will communicate it to another man1 and that other man will contribute some constructive work1 and make the dim picture into a reality2 so that the complete invention resulting will be the joint product of two men4 ,it seems to be a fact1 however1 that these dim pictures have rarely been disclosed while in the formless period1 and that almost every invention of which we know the history1 was made by one man only4 ,it need hardly be interjected here that we are discussing inventions only1 and not the acts of making inventions practicable in the sense of making them useful or commercially successful4 ,at the present day1 there are few inventions indeed1 which even after having been completed as inventions1 need no modification at the hands of the engineer and the manufacturer1 before they are suitable to be put to practical use4 99 99 99 99 99 ,that the ,babylonians realized the importance of their invention is proved by the fact that their baked tablets were carefully preserved1 and that in some cities large libraries were built in which they were kept1 as books are kept in our libraries at the present day4 ,when the expedition of the ,university of ,pennsylvania made its excavations near the site of the ancient city of ,nippur1 in the southern part of ,babylonia near the city of ,babylon1 a library was discovered that contained more than thirty thousand tablets4 ,illustration3 ,early ,babylonian ,signs1 ,showing ,their ,pictorial ,origin ,the writing of the ,babylonians1 while phonetic1 was a development of picture writing1 each character expressing a syllable1 and was made of wedge-shaped characters4 ,from the shape of the characters the adjective cuneiform has been applied to the writing1 the word coming from the ,latin word1 cuneus1 a wedge4 ,syllabic writing was in use for probably three thousand years among the peoples of western ,asia4 ,the ,babylonians utilized their ingenuity and inventiveness in divers ways1 and accomplished many things that help to form the basis of our civilization1 without which we cannot imagine it to exist4 ,their creations were of a highly practical and useful kind1 and illustrate the proverb that necessity is the mother of invention4 ,from the fact that their ships sailed the waters of the ,persian ,gulf1 and had need of means to locate their positions and determine their courses from port to port1 and from the fact easily noted by their navigators that the heavenly bodies held positions in the firmament depending on their direction from an observer1 and on the month and season and the time of day1 the study of the heavens was undertaken2 with the result that the science of astronomy was conceived and brought into existence4 ,it may here be asked if this achievement can properly be called an invention4 ,one must hesitate a little before answering this question either negatively or positively2 because such an achievement is not usually called an invention1 and yet it cannot truthfully be denied that there is nothing in ,nature like the science of astronomy1 and that therefore it must have been created by man4 ,it cannot reasonably be denied1 also1 that after the science had at last been formulated1 it was as clearly a distinct entity as a bow and arrow or a telephone4 ,furthermore1 it does not seem unreasonable to suppose that1 before any of the principles of astronomy were laid down1 before anyone even attempted to lay them down1 before anyone even attempted to ascertain the laws that seemed to govern the movements of the heavenly bodies1 the idea must have occurred to someone that those heavenly bodies were all moving in obedience to some law2 and a more or less confused and yet real image must have been made upon his mind of a great celestial machine4 ,he must actually have imagined such a machine4 ,this first act would be quite like that of the inventor of a mechanical device4 ,the next act would be to observe and record all the phenomena observable in connection with the movements of the celestial bodies1 then to analyze and classify them4 ,this series of acts would not1 of course1 be inventive or even constructive4 ,they would rather be like those studies of any art1 without which no man could be an inventor in that art4 ,the analysis having been completed1 the positions of the heavenly bodies at various times having been ascertained and tabulated1 the next step would seem to be to construct a supposititious machine of which each part would represent a heavenly body1 and in which those various parts would move according to laws induced tentatively from the actual motions of certain heavenly bodies4 ,if it were afterwards found that all positions of each part1 predicted in advance by applying the laws tentatively induced1 corresponded to the actual positions of the heavenly body that it represented1 then the supposititious machine could be truthfully declared to be a correct imitation of the great celestial machine4 ,that is1 the machine could be declared to be successful4 ,the science of astronomy is1 in effect1 such a machine4 ,its parts are representations of the sun1 moon and other heavenly bodies1 that move according to laws that are illustrated in the diagrams1 and expressed precisely in the formulas4 ,the first act of the originator of the science of astronomy being one of the imagination in conceiving a picture of a celestial machine1 and being like that of the inventor in conceiving a picture of an earthly machine2 and his second act being also like that of the inventor in developing the picture1 a justification for speaking of the invention of the science of astronomy may perhaps be reasonably claimed4 7,we must bear in mind1 of course1 that no invention is complete until the third act has been performed1 and the thing invented has been actually produced47 ,to speak of invention in connection with bringing forth novel creations is far from new1 for the phrases construct a theory1 invent a science1 invent a religion1 etc41 are in almost daily use2 and it may seem unnecessary to some persons1 therefore1 to discuss it at such length4 ,but most people seem to regard such phrases as merely figurative2 while the author wishes to make it plain that they are not figurative but exact4 ,as this modest treatise does not pretend to be a learned one1 and as the author is not a professional scholar1 no further attempt will be made to claim the production of the science of astronomy as an invention4 ,to pursue the subject further would be merely to enter a discussion as to the meaning1 both original and derived1 of the word invention4 ,the author1 however1 cannot escape the conclusion that1 no matter what may be the literally correct meaning of the word1 the mental acts performed by the originators of the science of astronomy were like the mental acts performed by the inventors of mechanical appliances1 and exerted a similar influence on history4 ,that is1 he believes that the men who brought into being the science of astronomy and the men who brought into being the bow and arrow1 first saw pictures on the mental retina of some things actual yet vague and formless1 and then constructed entities from them4 ,he believes also that the creation of the bow and arrow1 and the creation of the science of astronomy constituted actual and similar stepping-stones on which the race rose toward a higher civilization4 ,in default of any definition of the word invention1 which precludes its application to the origination of a science1 theory1 religion or formulated school of thought1 the author begs permission so to use it1 in indicating the influence on history of the novel creations which1 according to this meaning of the word1 have been inventions4 ,the influence on history of the invention of the science of astronomy has been so great that we cannot estimate its greatness4 ,on it the whole science of navigation rests4 ,without it1 the science and the art of navigation could not exist1 no ships could cross the ocean from one port to another1 except by accident1 and the lands that are separated by the ocean would still rest in complete ignorance of each other4 ,this world would not be a world1 but only a widely separated number of barbarian countries2 most of them as ignorant of even the existence of the others as in the days before ,columbus4 ,following the invention of astronomy1 or as it was first called1 ,astrology1 the imaginative and practically constructive intellects of the ,babylonians naturally led them to invent the sun-dial for indicating the time during the day1 and the water-clock for indicating it during the night4 ,another invention1 doubtless brought into being by the study of the movements of the heavenly bodies1 was the duodecimal system of notation1 of which the base was twelve4 ,in accordance with this system1 the ,babylonians divided the ,zodiac into twelve equal parts or signs2 divided the year into nearly equal months1 that corresponded approximately to the length of a lunar month2 divided a day and a night into twelve equal parts or hours2 divided an hour in sixty 7#ab x #e7 equal parts or minutes1 and divided a minute into sixty 7#ab x #e7 equal parts or seconds4 ,the duodecimal system of notation has been supplanted for many purposes by the more convenient decimal system1 the invention of which is attributed by some to the ,arabs2 but the duodecimal divisions of time are still with us1 and the duodecimal divisions of the circle are still used in most countries4 ,the duodecimal system of notation seems to have been the earliest system of notation invented2 and it was an invention so important that we cannot imagine civilization without it and the decimal system1 possibly its offspring4 ,the influence of these two inventions on history has been so great that the mind is incapable of realizing its greatness1 even approximately4 ,who were the inventors1 we do not know4 ,it is almost certain that none of our generation ever will know1 and it is far from probable that any one of any generation will ever know4 ,if any knowledge on this subject is ever given to the world1 it will be knowledge of names only--only names4 ,yet some human beings1 forgotten now and probably obscure even in their lifetimes1 invented those systems1 and contributed more to the real progress of the race than many of the great statesmen and warriors of history4 ,the ,babylonians invented measures of length1 capacity and weight1 also2 and it is from those measures that all the later measures have been directly or indirectly derived4 ,to have invented systems by which time1 angle1 distance1 space1 weight and volume were lifted out of the realm of the vague and formless into the realm of the definite and actual1 was an achievement that almost suggests that noted in the first chapter of ,genesis1 in the words1 ,and ,god said ',let there be light1' and there was light2 for what a clearing up of mental darkness followed1 when the science of measurement turned its rays on the mysteries that beset the path of early man6 ,the ,egyptians seem to have been inventors1 though hardly to the same degree as were the ,babylonians4 ,the ,egyptians studied the heavens and employed a science of astronomy2 and it is possible that they1 rather than the ,babylonians1 should be credited with its invention4 ,but it is not the intention of this book to decide points in dispute in history1 or even to discuss them4 ,its intention is merely to study the influence that inventions and inventors had4 ,whether the name of an inventor was ,john ,smith or ,archimedes1 whether he lived in the year #ajjj or #aajj1 or which one of two rival claimants should be credited with the honor of any invention1 is often an interesting question2 but it is not one that is especially important to us1 unless it casts light on the main suggestion of our inquiry4 ,the only reason for mentioning names and dates and countries in this book is to show the sequence of inventions as correctly as practicable4 ,in order to show the influence of invention on history it seems best to give the treatment of the subject an historical character4 ,possibly the most important invention of the ,egyptians was papyrus1 which was the precursor of the paper of today4 ,the clay tablets of the ,babylonians were clearly much less adapted to the making of many records than was papyrus4 ,one cannot readily imagine an edition of #cjj1jjj newspapers like the ,new ,york ,times1 made out of clay tablets an inch in thickness1 and sold on the streets by newsboys4 ,clearly the invention of papyrus was one so important that we cannot declare any invention as more important1 except on the basis that 7other factors being equal7 the earlier an invention was the more important it was4 ,to assume such a basis would1 of course1 be eminently reasonable2 because the earlier invention must have supplied the basis in part for the making of the later4 ,the invention of writing1 for instance1 was more important than the invention of papyrus4 ,illustration3 ,villa of an ,egyptian ,noble ,a curious invention of the ,egyptians was the art of embalming the bodies of the dead1 an art still practiced in civilized countries4 ,it was prompted by their belief that the preservation of the body was necessary1 in order to secure the welfare of the soul in the future life4 ,this belief resulted further in building sepulchres of elaborate design1 filling them with multitudes of objects of many kinds1 decorating the walls with paintings1 sculptures and inscriptions1 and placing important manuscripts in the coffins with the mummies or embalmed bodies4 ,the sepulchres of the kings were1 of course1 the largest and most elaborate of all2 and of these sepulchres the grandest were the pyramids4 ,by reason of the great care and labor lavished on tombs and sepulchres and pyramids1 and by reason also of the dryness of the air in ,egypt1 and the consequent durability of works of stone1 it has been from the tombs that many of the clearest items of information have come to us about old ,egyptian times4 ,the ,egyptians excelled in architecture1 and the greatest of their buildings were the pyramids4 ,as to whether or not there was much invention devoted to those works1 it is virtually impossible now to know4 ,the probability seems to be that they could not have been produced without the promptings of the inventor1 but that the progress was a slow and gradual march4 ,it seems that there was a long series of many small inventions that made short steps1 and not a few basic inventions that proceeded by great leaps4 ,the ,egyptians seem to have been the inventors of arithmetic and geometry4 ,what men in particular should most be credited with inventing them1 we do not know2 but that some men were the original inventors the probabilities seem to intimate4 ,for these sciences were creations just as actual as the steam engine1 and could hardly have been produced save by similar procedures4 ,illustration3 ,the ,pyramids of ,gizeh ,the suggestion may here be made that whatever we do is the result 7or ought to be7 of a decision to do it1 that follows a mental process not very different from that invented by the ,german ,general ,staff for solving military problems4 ,by this process one writes down-- #a4 ,the mission--the thing which it is desired to accomplish4 #b4 ,the difficulties in the way of accomplishing it4 #c4 ,the facilities available for accomplishing it4 #d4 ,the decision--that is1 how to employ the facilities to overcome the difficulties and accomplish the mission4 ,in solving a military problem 7or in solving many of the problems of daily life7 it is often a matter of great difficulty to arrive at a clear understanding of what the mission actually is1 what one really wishes to accomplish4 ,in the majority of ordinary cases1 however1 the mission stands out as a clear picture in the mind4 ,such a case would be one in which an enemy were making a direct attack2 for the mission would be simply to repel it4 ,another case would be one in which the mission was stated by the terms of a problem itself2 for instance1 to build a steam engine to develop #ajjj horse power4 ,in the case of the inventor1 the mission seems to be sent to him as a mental picture2 he suddenly sees a dim picture in his mind of something that he must make4 ,perhaps1 many centuries ago1 some man who had been laying out plots of ground in ,egypt1 of different shapes and sizes1 and making computations for each one1 suddenly saw a phantom picture in which all the lines and figures appeared grouped in a few classes1 and arranged in conformity to a few fixed rules4 ,the mission was given to him free1 but it devolved on him to formulate the rules4 ,as soon as he had formulated and proved the rules1 the science of ,geometry existed4 ,it is interesting to note that the conception of the idea required no labor on the part of the conceiver4 ,he was virtually a passive receiver4 ,his labor came afterwards1 when he had to do the constructive work of giving to airy nothing a local habitation and a name4 ,the ,egyptians seem to have learned the use of many drugs1 though they can hardly be said to have invented a system or a science of medicine4 ,they did1 however1 invent a system of characters for indicating the weights of drugs4 ,those characters are used by apothecaries still4 ,the first means of cure were incantations that evidently influenced the mind4 ,it is interesting to note that modern systems tend to decrease the use of drugs and increase that of mental suggestion4 ,both the ,babylonians and the ,egyptians held religious beliefs2 but it is doubtful if the religious beliefs of either were so definite and formulated that they could be correctly called religions1 according to our ideas of what constitutes a religion4 ,an interesting fact is the wide difference between the beliefs of the two peoples1 in view of the similarity of many of the other features of their civilizations4 ,the beliefs of neither can be called highly spiritual2 but of the two1 the ,egyptian seems to have been the more so4 ,the ,egyptians believed that the souls of those who had lived good lives would be rewarded2 while the ,babylonian belief did not include even a judgment of the dead4 ,one of the most important inventions made in ,babylonia was that of a code of laws4 ,it is usually ascribed to a king named ,hammurabi2 but whether he was the real inventor or not1 we have no means of knowing4 ,we do know1 however1 that the first code of laws of which there is any record was invented in his reign1 and that it was the prototype of all that have followed since4 ,the influence on history of the invention and carrying into effect of a formulated code of laws1 we cannot exactly gauge2 but we may assert with confidence that modern civilization would not have been possible without codes of laws1 and that the first code must have been more important than any code that followed1 because it led the way4 ,both the ,babylonians and the ,egyptians seem to have made most of their inventions in the period of their youth1 and to have become conservative as they grew older4 ,the ,babylonians were a great people until about the year #abej ,b4 ,c41 when a subject city1 ,assur1 in the north1 threw off its allegiance and formed an independent state1 ,assyria4 ,the decline of ,babylonia continued until the fall of ,assyria and the destruction of ,nineveh1 its capital1 about the year #fjf ,b4 ,c41 when the new ,babylonian1 or ,chaldean ,empire1 came into existence4 ,it enjoyed a period of splendid but brief prosperity until it was captured by ,cyrus1 king of ,persia1 in the year #ech ,b4 ,c4 ,egypt's career continued until a later day2 but it was never glorious in statesmanship1 war or invention1 after her youth had passed4 ,a nation possibly as old as the ,babylonian or ,egyptian was the ,chinese2 but of their history1 less is known4 ,it is well established1 however1 that they possessed a system of picture writing in which each word was represented by a symbol4 ,the system was much more cumbrous1 of course1 than the syllabic or alphabetical2 but its invention was a performance1 nevertheless1 of the utmost brilliancy and importance1 viewed from the light of what the world was then4 ,there is little doubt also that the ,chinese were the original inventors of the magnetic compass and of printing from blocks1 two of those essential inventions1 without which civilization could not have been brought about4 ,another of ,china's inventions was gunpowder2 though it is not clear that the ,chinese ever used it to propel projectiles out of guns4 ,achievements equally great1 and maybe greater1 were the creations of religions--,confucianism and ,taoism1 invented in ,china1 and ,buddhism1 invented in ,india4 ,these religions may seem to us very crude and commonplace and earthy2 but we should not shut our eyes to the fact that they have probably influenced a greater number of human beings toward right living than any other three religions that we know of4 ,like ,babylonia and ,egypt1 ,china became conservative as she grew older4 ,at the present day1 her name stands almost as the symbol of everything non-progressive and non-inventive4 ,assyria was able to capture ,babylon about the year #abej ,b4 ,c41 and to maintain the position of the dominant power in western ,asia for about #fjj years4 ,a progressive and ambitious people1 they accomplished an original and important step in the art of government by organizing conquered peoples into provinces under governors appointed by the king4 ,it does not seem to be a great straining of the word to declare that this achievement was so novel1 so concrete and so useful as to possess the essential features of an invention4 ,for if we realize that during all the times that had gone by1 conquered peoples had remained simply conquered peoples1 paying tribute but not forming parts of the conquering state1 we can see that the idea of actually incorporating them into the state1 thereby increasing the population of the state by the number of people incorporated1 and making the state stronger in that proportion1 we can hardly fail to realize that the conception of doing this was of the highest order of brilliancy4 ,to work out afterwards the details of developing the conception in such a way as to render possible the production of an actual and workable machine of government was a constructive act4 ,when the machine was actually produced a new thing had been created4 ,in other words1 the institution of this new scheme in government seems to have followed the same three stages as the invention of a mechanical device2 that is1 conception1 development and production4 ,the likeness between this process and that of conception1 gestation and birth is obvious4 ,the ,assyrians were evidently a very practical and constructive people1 somewhat such people as the ,romans later were4 ,they devoted themselves to the practical side of life1 and to this end they developed the governmental and the military arts4 ,they were great warriors4 ,the period of their greatest greatness was in the seventh and eighth centuries ,b4 ,c41 when the conquerors ,sargon ,,ii and ,sennacherib were kings4 ,the splendor of the empire afterwards was conspicuous but not long lived2 for after unifying the great nations of the ,orient under ,assyrian rule1 and carrying on wars marked with the utmost of cruelty and oppression1 they finally entered on a rapid decline in morals1 and consequently in national prosperity and strength4 ,the end came in #fjf ,b4 ,c41 when a combined force of ,medes and ,babylonians captured and sacked the hated ,nineveh1 the capital4 ,the intensity of the hatred against the ,assyrians may be gauged by the completion of the destruction visited on ,nineveh4 ,when ,xenophon saw its ruins only two centuries afterwards1 he could not even ascertain what city those ruins marked4 ,the ,assyrians have left us clearer records of their achievements in the invention of weapons than has any other ancient nation4 ,it is impossible to declare with certainty that all the seemingly novel weapons and armor which the ancient ,assyrians possessed and used were invented by themselves1 and not by the ,egyptians or the ,babylonians2 but the mere facts that the ,assyrians were the most military nation of the three1 and that the specimens of those weapons which have come down to us have been mostly ,assyrian1 give probability to that supposition4 ,the ,assyrian soldier was finely equipped and armed as far back as the thirteenth century ,b4 ,c42 and ,assyrian bas-reliefs show that they actually used war-chariots then1 drawn by horses and operated by armed warriors4 ,the infantry soldiers wore defensive armor consisting of helmets1 corslets made of skin or some woven stuff on which plates of metal were sewn1 and sometimes coats of steel mail2 with leggings to protect the legs4 ,they carried shields1 and were armed with lances1 swords1 slings and bows and arrows4 ,the ,assyrians employed cavalry1 the horsemen wearing mail armor1 and carrying shields and swords and lances4 ,they employed archers also2 the archers being sometimes mounted4 ,the use of war-chariots1 with all the mechanical equipment that was necessary1 in order to make them operate effectively1 shows a state of civilization much higher than many people realize4 ,it shows also that a great deal of inventiveness and constructiveness must have been employed1 and must have been skilfully directed2--for it is a very long road--a very long road indeed--from the bow and arrow to the war-chariot4 ,in order to produce the war-chariot1 several inventions must have previously been made4 ,the most important of these was one of the most important inventions ever made1--the wheel4 ,who invented the wheel1 and when and where did he invent it8 ,this is one of the unanswered questions of history4 ,the war-chariot suddenly appears on the stage1 without any preliminary announcement1 and without any knowledge on our part that even the wheel on which it moved had been invented4 ,it is true that the records of prehistoric man show us that in fashioning pottery he used a disc that he revolved on a spindle and applied to the surface of the urn or vase2 and it is also true that a revolving disc is a kind of wheel4 ,but a disc revolving on a stationary spindle is in its intent and use a very different implement from a wheel placed on a chariot1 and turned by the forward movement of the chariot itself1 for the important purpose of reducing its resistance to being drawn along the ground4 ,it is true also that invention was needed to produce the revolving disc1 the forerunner of all the polishing and turning machines on the earth today4 ,but the wheel was a different invention1 probably a later one1 and certainly a more important one4 ,there are things sometimes seen in nature that look a little like revolving discs2 for instance1 swirls of dust or water4 ,in fact1 almost anything put in rotation looks like one1 if the rotation is rapid enough2 for instance1 the sling that a primeval slinger revolved around his head4 ,but what do we know of in nature that looks like a wheel1 or that is used for a similar purpose8 ,nothing4 ,this being the case1 the mind may lose itself in speculation as to what could have led to the conception of such an appliance in the mind of the original inventor of the wheel4 ,the suggestion may be hazarded that the invention was preceded by an accidental recognition of the fact that it was easier to drag something along the ground1 if it rested on round logs1 than if it did not so rest2 and by noting also that the logs were passed over and left behind continually4 ,from this point to the mental conception of a roller that would not be left behind1 but would be secured to the thing dragged by a round shaft on which it revolved1 there was probably a single mental jump4 ,someone saw such a contrivance with his mental eye4 ,it looked dim and unreal--but he saw it4 ,to make the picture clear1 and then to develop the thing pictured1 constructiveness was used4 ,in other words1 conception and development accomplished their successive but cooperating tasks4 ,the invention was complete when a wheel was actually produced4 ,to realize the importance of the wheel1 we have but to ask ourselves 7or our neighbors7 how history could possibly have been even approximately what it has been if the wheel had not been invented4 ,another important invention probably made by the ,assyrians was the catapult2 another one1 somewhat similar1 was the balista4 ,the catapult was used for hurling stones1 balls1 etc42 the balista for shooting arrows with greater force than an archer could exert4 ,another was the battering ram for making breaches in the walls of fortresses4 ,illustration3 ,assyrians ,flaying ,prisoners ,alive4 7,from a bas-relief47 ,the ,assyrians used these inventions in their wars against the contiguous nations of the ,east1 and with their aid achieved the mastery1 and unified the ,orient4 ,that the ,assyrian rule was harsh and cruel should not be denied2 but1 on the principle that any kind of government is better than no government1 it cannot reasonably be supposed that the central and efficient administration of ,assyria was not better than the condition of continual petty wars and quarrels that had existed among the numerous tribes and nations1 with their enormous possibilities for suffering of all kinds4 ,it may be pointed out here that the cruelties and injustices committed by any powerful government against great numbers of persons attract immeasurably more notice and condemnation by historians and others than do the numberless atrocities of all kinds that lie hidden in the darkness of anarchy1 or the confusion of petty wars4 ,in the endeavor to preserve order over widely separated and barbarous peoples1 when means of transportation and communication were inadequate1 stern measures seem always to have been required4 ,that they have often been too stern1 and that great cruelty has often been exercised1 the wail of the ages testifies4 ,but human nature is very imperfect2 and no really good government1 no government free from the faults of man1 has ever been established4 ,yet every government has been better than anarchy4 ,the ,assyrians1 despite their cruel treatment of their conquered peoples1 did a direct service to mankind and gave a powerful stimulus to the march of progress4 ,for the great empire which they established1 and the great cities which grew up1 and the system of provinces which they instituted1 formed a pattern for similar work by later nations2 while the civilization which they spread throughout the more backward countries under their rule1 especially in ,greece1 started the later culture which ,greece developed1 and which is the basis of all that is most beautiful in the civilization of today4 ,the influence of the weapons which the ,assyrians invented was toward this end4 ,between ,egypt on the west and ,babylonia and ,assyria on the east lay ,syria2 a territory not very large1 of which the part that played the most prominent part in history bordered the eastern coast of the ,mediterranean ,sea4 ,two important peoples dwelt in ,syria1 the ,hebrews and the ,phoenicians4 ,both belonged to the ,semitic race1 and neither was distinctly warlike2 though the ,hebrews during a brief period achieved considerable military strength and skill1 under their great king ,david4 ,the main gift of the ,hebrews to the world was the ,jewish religion1 a more spiritual religion than any that had preceded it1 and based on a conception of one ,god1 a holy ,god4 ,the ideas held of immortality and of judgment after death for the deeds done in this life were not entirely new1 but the conception of a holy and beneficent ,deity was new2 and it was so inspiring and stimulating a conception that it lifted the ,jews at once to a moral and spiritual plane higher than any people had ever lived on before4 ,it constituted a step also directly toward the ,christian religion--which also was born in ,syria2 in ,palestine4 ,that the conception and establishment of the ,jewish religion was an invention may not be admitted by some2 but the author respectfully asks attention to the sense in which he uses the word invention in this book1 and points out that they constituted an invention in that sense4 ,that it was a beneficent invention1 and that it helped the human race spiritually in a way analogous to that in which the invention of many mechanical devices helped it materially1 does not seem hard to realize4 ,for in both cases the race was transported away from savagery and toward high civilization2 and in both cases there was first a conception of something desirable1 then a constructive effort to develop it1 and finally its production4 ,the ,phoenicians lived just north of the ,jews1 and possessed a territory smaller than that of any other people who ever exercised an equal influence on history2 for it embraced merely a little strip of land hardly longer than a hundred and twenty miles from north to south1 or wider on the average than twelve miles from east to west4 ,it bordered on the eastern edge of the ,mediterranean ,sea1 and was shut off by the mountains of ,lebanon from ,syria1 that lay due east4 ,the ,phoenicians were a people of extraordinary enterprise and initiative4 ,inventors are men of extraordinary enterprise and initiative4 ,how much the ,phoenicians are to be credited with the invention of sailing vessels1 we have no means of knowing2 but we do know that 7with the possible exception of the ,egyptians7 the ,phoenicians were more identified with early navigation by sailing vessels and by vessels pulled by oars than any other people4 ,it is even known that ,phoenician vessels were navigating the ,eastern ,mediterranean1 both under sails and under oars1 as long ago as #aejj ,b4 ,c4 ,so1 while we should not be justified in asserting positively that the ,phoenicians were the inventors and developers of sailing vessels and of vessels pulled by banks of oars and steered by rudders1 we may declare with ample reason that probably they were4 ,for the purposes of this book1 however1 the identity of the inventors is not important4 ,what is important is the fact that the invention of those vessels had immediate fruit in a commerce by which the products of eastern civilization were taken westward to ,greece and other countries1 while tin and other raw material were brought east from ,spain and even ,britain2 and that it had later fruit in gradually building up a western civilization4 ,it had other fruit as well1 in demonstrating the possibilities and the value of ocean commerce1 and forming the basis of the world-wide navigation of today4 ,few inventions have had a greater influence on history than that of the sailing ship4 ,to some of us it may seem that no invention was involved2 that to use sails was an obvious thing to think of and accomplish4 ,but if any one of us will close his eyes a moment and imagine an absence of most of the great scientific and mechanical knowledge of today1 and imagine also the absence of nearly all the present acquaintance with the laws of weather1 flotation1 resistance to propulsion1 metacentric height1 etc41 he may realize what a feat was the invention of the sailing ship and even of the ship pulled with oars and steered with a rudder4 ,it is true that we have no reason to assume that either vessel was conceived by one leap of the imagination and developed by one act1 while we have many reasons to think that each was the result of a series of short steps2 but this does not invalidate the invention of the ships1 or depreciate its influence4 ,by two other achievements1 also1 the ,phoenicians showed the kinship between the inventor and the man of enterprise and initiative2 the invention of the ,tyrian dyes and of an alphabetical system of writing that forms the basis of the systems of today4 ,here again it is necessary to remind ourselves that possibly the ,phoenicians were not the sole and original inventors of the alphabet1 and that they may have merely improved upon a system invented by1 say1 the ,cretans2 and again it may be helpful to point out that the important fact is not the personality of the inventors but the birth of the invention1 and the influence of the invention on history4 ,certain it is1 however1 that it was the ,phoenicians who brought alphabetical writing to the practical stage and who not only used it themselves1 but carried it in their ships all over the ,mediterranean1 where it bore abundant fruit4 ,it bore fruit especially in ,greece4 ,phoenicia is an instructive illustration of the fact that a country 7like a man7 may make inventions of lasting usefulness to mankind1 and yet not hold a position of power or splendor in the world4 ,phoenicia was nearly always a vassal1 paying tribute to one great monarchy or another4 ,in striking contrast with ,phoenicia was the empire of ,persia1 which1 though it gave to the world of that day the best government it had ever known1 contributed nothing in the nature of an actual new stepping-stone to civilization4 ,persia conquered ,lydia1 which is credited with the important invention of coinage4 ,the coins first issued by the ,lydians were of electrum1 an alloy of gold and silver4 ,king ,croesus later issued coins of pure gold and pure silver4 ,directly east of ,syria was ,phrygia4 ,it was in ,phrygia that the flute1 the first real musical instrument1 is supposed to have been invented1 in about the sixteenth century ,b4 ,c4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the brief rsum just given of the inventions made in prehistoric times1 and also in historic times in ,china1 ,egypt and western ,asia1 shows that before ,greece had attained any civilization whatever the most important inventions for the betterment of mankind had been already made4 ,these inventions were not only mechanical appliances and such arts as spinning1 weaving1 pottery making1 etc41 that were intended for safety and material benefit generally2 for they included systems of government and codes of laws and even religions that aimed to elevate man1 and that did elevate him mentally1 morally and spiritually4 ,at the present day1 when inventions follow each other with such rapidity that even students and experts cannot keep themselves informed about them1 except in certain specialties1 it is natural for us to feel that no inventing of any consequence was ever done before4 ,in fact1 the present age is called ,the ,age of ,invention4 ,yet all the inventions of the last century added together have not had so great influence on mankind as the invention of writing1 or of the bow and arrow1 or the wheel--or almost any of the inventions we have noted4 ,not only are they not so important1--they were not so novel1 they did not constitute steps so long1 they did not mark such epochs1 and probably resulted from less brilliant pictures on the mind4 ,can anyone think that the telephone was as novel or as important as the wheel8 ,can anyone suppose that the steam engine1 or the electric telegraph1 or the powder-gun took us as long a step upward to civilization as did papyrus8 ,will anyone declare that the railroad ushered in as great an epoch as the sailing ship8 ,is it probable that the first conception of the phonograph made quite so startling a picture on the accustomed brain of the habitual inventor as that of the art of making fire did on the virgin mentality of the savage8 ,the last contribution of western ,asia to the betterment of the world was ,christianity4 ,it was not made until after ,greece had reached the prime of her civilization and passed beyond it2 and some may consider it a sacrilege to call it an invention4 ,it was an inspiration from ,on ,high4 ,but dare anyone assert that the wonderful conceptions that have come unbidden to the minds of the great inventors were not1 in their degree1 also inspirations from ,on ,high8 ,whence did they come8 ,that they came there can be no doubt4 ,whence did they come8 ,our religion teaches us that ,god directs our paths1 that ,he puts good thoughts into our minds4 ,it also teaches us that ,he inspired the men who wrote the ,bible4 ,in the ordinary meaning of the word inspired1 ,some ,one inspired every noble and novel and beneficent achievement that was ever made4 ,who8 99 99 99 99 99 ,without insisting tediously on the meaning of the word invention1 one may point out that the word is used continually to mean a mental act by which something heretofore non-existent is created4 ,the expertest of all word users1 in any language1 cried3 ,oh1 for a muse that would ascend the highest heaven of invention2 expressing almost exactly what the present author is trying to express1 and indicating invention as the highest effort of the mind4 ,in this sense1 may ,i reverently claim the ,christian ,religion as an invention1 one of the greatest inventions ever made8 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,invention ,,in ,,greece ,our brief survey has thus far carried us over the lands of ,egypt1 ,china and western ,asia2 lands so far removed from us in distance1 and inhabited by people so far removed from us in time and character1 that they seem to belong almost to another world4 ,but we now are coming to a country which1 though its history goes back many centuries before the ,christian era1 was a country of ,europe and inhabited by a people who seem near4 ,the ,greeks who overran what we now call ,greece1 probably about #aejj ,b4 ,c41 took possession of a civilization exceedingly high1 which the inhabitants of the mainland and the gean ,islands had received from the ,east1 through the ,phoenicians1 who brought it in their ships4 ,this civilization the gean islanders1 especially the ,cretans1 had developed and improved1 particularly in creations of beauty and works of art4 ,the ,greeks created a still higher civilization1 and transmitted it to us4 ,the influence of ,greek civilization we see on every hand3--in our language1 in our daily life1 and especially in our ideas of art1 literature and philosophy4 ,that a civilization so high and beautiful should have been attained1 could hardly have been brought about without the presence of great imagination among the ,greeks1 and the exercise of considerable invention4 ,the presence of both imagination and invention are evidenced in every page of the early history of ,greece1 in the stirring stories of her heroes1 and in the conception and development of her government4 ,compared with the stories of ancient ,greece1 the stories of the childhood of every other country seem unimaginative and tame4 ,the stories of early ,greece still live and still have the power to charm4 ,the ,iliad and ,odyssey are in the first rank of the great poems even now2 and the story of ,helen and the siege of ,troy is as full of life and color as any that we know4 ,illustration3 ,two ,cretan ,vases ,an interesting legend characteristic of the inventiveness of the ancient ,greeks was that of the large wooden horse in which a hundred brave warriors concealed themselves1 and were drawn within the walls of ,troy by the ,trojans themselves1 who had been induced to do this by an ingenious story1 invented to deceive them4 ,whether the legend is true or not does not affect the fact that invention was needed and employed to create the legend in the one case1 or to cause the incident in the other case4 ,the prehistoric age of ,greece was filled with myths of so much beauty1 interest and originality1 that the ,greek mythology is more read1 even now1 than any other4 ,it formed also the basis of the later mythology of the ,romans4 ,it may be noted here that mere imagination is not a quality of very high importance1 unless it be associated with constructiveness4 ,in fact1 imagination is evidenced more by savage and barbarous peoples than by the civilized2 as it is also by children and women than by men4 ,imagination by itself1 untrained and undirected1 while it is unquestionably an attribute of the mind1 is not one of reason1 in the sense that it does not necessarily employ the reasoning faculties4 ,in fact1 the imagination1 unless trained and well-directed1 may lead us to the absurdest performances1 in defiance of the suggestions of reason4 ,using the word imagination in this sense1 ,shakespeare said-- ,the lunatic1 the lover and the poet ,are of imagination all compact4 ,it is only when imagination has been assisted by reason1 it is only when conception has been followed by construction1 that practical inventions have resulted4 ,the myths invented by the ,greeks in their prehistoric period were the products of not only imagination but construction4 ,each myth was a perfectly connected story1 complete in all necessary detail1 admirably put together1 and told in charming language4 ,the story of ,jason's ,argonautic ,expedition in search of the ,golden ,fleece cannot be surpassed in any of the elements that make a story good2 ,penelope is still the model of conjugal devotion1 and ,achilles the ideal warrior2 ,poseidon1 or his ,roman successor1 ,neptune1 still rules the waves2 ,aphrodite1 or ,venus1 calls up more vividly before our minds than any other name the vision of feminine beauty even to this day4 ,hercules exemplifies muscular strength1 and ,apollo still typifies that which is most beautiful in manliness4 ,the influence of the ,grecian myths1 pure inventions as they were1 in the sense that they were fictitious and not true1 has been explained and demonstrated at great length and with abundant enthusiasm by poets and scholars for many centuries4 ,they have been generally regarded as inventions1 but nevertheless as quite different from such inventions as the steam-engine or the printing press4 ,the present author wishes to point out that the mental processes by which both myths and engines were created were alike1 and that the inventions differed mainly in the uses to which they were put4 ,even the uses to which they were put were similar in the end2 for the use of the myths and of the steam engine was to improve the conditions of man's existence4 ,there is only one way in which to do this1 and that is by improving the impressions made on his mind4 ,the myths did this by making beautiful pictures for his mind to gaze at1 and by using them to induce him to follow a certain 7good7 line of conduct1 rather than the contrary4 ,the steam engine did it by making the conditions of living more comfortable1 by rendering transportation more safe and rapid1 and by rendering possible the procuring of many of the pleasant things of life from distant places4 ,the invention of a myth may be said to be the invention of an immaterial thing2 the invention of a steam engine to be of a material thing4 ,these two lines of effort1 invention has followed since long before the dawn of history4 ,of the two1 the invention of myths and stories probably succeeded the other4 ,probably also it has been the more important in affecting our actual degree of happiness2 affecting it beneficently in the main4 ,for1 while some myths and stories have filled men with dread and horror1 a very large majority have had the opposite effect2 and while many mechanical inventions have contributed to our material ease and comfort1 it is not clear that they have much increased our actual happiness4 ,men accommodate themselves easily to changes in their material surroundings2 what is a luxury today will be a necessity tomorrow2 and very many of the material inventions have tended to artificial and unhealthful modes of living1 with consequent physical deterioration and its accompanying loss of happiness4 ,as to influence on history1 however1 the influence of the material inventions has probably been the greater4 ,immaterial inventions might have been made in enormous numbers without of themselves affecting history greatly2 but the material inventions have brought about most of the events that history describes2 and without one material invention1 that of writing1 history could not exist at all4 ,history is rather a narrative of men's deeds than of their thoughts2 and their deeds have been directed largely by the implements which they had to do deeds with4 ,we must realize1 of course1 that the ,greeks were much indebted to the geans2 for discoveries about the shores and islands of the gean ,sea show that long before the advent of the ,greeks they used tools and weapons of rough and then of polished stone1 and later of copper and tin and bronze2 that they lived on farms and in villages and cities1 and were governed by monarchs who dwelt in palaces adorned with paintings and fine carvings1 and filled with court gentlemen and ladies who wore jewelry and fine clothing4 ,exquisite pottery was used1 decorated with taste and skill2 ivory was carved and gems were engraved1 and articles were made of silver and bronze and gold4 ,as early as the sixth century ,b4 ,c41 the ,greeks made things more beautiful than had ever been made before4 ,one almost feels like saying that the ,greeks invented beauty4 ,such a declaration would be absurd of course3 but it seems to be a fact that the ,greeks had a conception of beauty that was wholly original with them1 and that was not only finer than that which any other people had ever had before1 but finer than any other people have had since4 ,and not only did they have the conception1 they had the ability to embody the conception in material forms that possessed a beauty higher than had ever been produced before1 and higher 7at least on the average7 than have ever been produced in any other country since4 ,looked at in this way1 the production of a new and beautiful statue1 painting or temple1 seems to be an act of invention much like the formulation of a myth or the writing of a poem4 ,in this sense1 the ,greeks were inventors1 inventors of works of beauty that have existed as concrete material creations for centuries1 and have exercised an enduring influence on the minds of men4 ,the influence of paintings1 statues and temples is not so clear as that of material inventions1 but more clear than that of myths and poems4 ,they may be said to form a class midway between inventions of material appliances and inventions of immaterial thoughts and fancies4 ,a beautiful painting or statue is a material object in the same sense as that in which a steam engine is2 but its office is to stimulate the mind1 as a poem does4 ,the first inventor of mechanical appliances1 mentioned by name as such1 was ,ddalus of ,athens4 ,he was probably a mythical person4 ,he was reputed to be the son or the grandson of ,erectheus1 a probably mythical king4 ,he is credited with the invention of the saw1 the gimlet1 the plumb-line1 the axe1 the wedge1 the lever1 masts and sails and even of flying2--for he is said to have escaped from ,crete to ,sicily with artificial wings4 ,the story of ,ddalus1 like that of many other mythological personages1 is both interesting and irritating from the mixture of the very probable1 the highly improbable1 and the entirely impossible1 in a jumble4 ,but the story of ,ddalus seems to make it probable that all the things which he is reported to have invented 7except flying7 were in use in ,greece in prehistoric times4 ,as no records show to us that the inventions just enumerated 7except masts and sails7 had been invented elsewhere1 we may feel justified in inferring that they were invented in ,greece by ,ddalus1 or by some other man bearing a different name1--or by some other men4 ,the name borne by the man is not important to us now2 but it is important to realize that such brilliant and original inventions were made so long ago by a primeval people2 especially since they were of a character somewhat different from those invented in ,egypt and ,asia which we have already noted4 ,the invention of the gimlet seems the most brilliant and original of those just spoken of2 and one marvels that it should have been invented at such a time2 for the action of the gimlet was a little more complicated than that of even the balista or the catapult4 ,it is true that the number of parts was less1 that in fact there was only one part4 ,but that part turned around in one plane1 and advanced in another2 it was less like anything that existed before than the catapult was like the sling1 or the balista was like the cross-bow4 ,there was no immediate forerunner of the gimlet4 ,in other words1 the mental jump needed to invent the gimlet was from a base of nothing that we can exactly specify4 ,illustration3 ,insurgent ,captives ,brought ,before ,darius ,a possible suggestion for the gimlet was the succession of inclined planes by which one mounted to the top of an ,assyrian or ,chaldean palace2 these planes rising gradually on each of the four sides1 so as to form together what might be called a square spiral4 ,it is possible that a circular spiral may have been traced later around some cylindrical shaft or column1 and given the first suggestion for the screw or gimlet4 ,of course1 a gimlet is a kind of screw4 ,the ,greeks do not seem to have applied their inventiveness after the time of ,ddalus to mechanical appliances1 but to works of art and systems of religion and philosophy4 ,one of their most important inventions may be said to be mid-way between3 it consisted in adding vowels to the ,phoenician alphabet and producing the basis of the ,latin and succeeding alphabets4 ,the ,greeks were not naturally of a warlike disposition1 and their peculiarly jealous temperament prevented the various states and cities from combining and forming a great nation4 ,their energetic character and great intellectuality saved them1 however1 when ,darius1 ,king of ,persia1 invaded ,greece in #dij ,b4 ,c4 ,by that time the ,greeks had raised and trained an army of great excellence4 ,no especial inventiveness seems to have been exercised1 but the equipments of the men1 their organization1 their armor1 their weapons and their discipline had been brought to a standard exceedingly high4 ,all these advantages were needed2 for the ,persians were a warlike people1 their ,king ,darius was an ambitious and successful conqueror1 and the number of ,persians that invaded ,greece was far greater than the number that ,greece could raise to fight them4 ,had the ,greeks been destitute of invention they would have followed the most obvious course1 that of shutting themselves up inside the protection of the walls of ,athens4 ,had they done this1 the ,persians would have surrounded the city1 shut them off from supplies from outside1 and slowly but surely forced them to surrender4 ,but1 on the insistent advice of ,miltiades1 the ,greeks advanced to meet the ,persians1 leaving the shelter of their walls behind them4 ,it may not seem to some that ,miltiades made any invention in planning the campaign which he urged against much resistance1 and which the ,athenians finally carried out4 ,yet his mental action was one allied to that of making an invention2 for his mind conceived a plan as a purely mental picture1 then developed into a workable project1 and then presented it as a concrete proposition4 ,later1 when the hostile forces met on the low plain of ,marathon1 ,miltiades rejected the obvious plan that an uninventive mind would have adopted4 ,instead of it1 he invented the plan of weakening his center1 strengthening his flanks1 and departing from the usual custom of advancing slowly against the enemy1 in favor of advancing on the run4 ,the plan 7invention7 worked perfectly4 ,the unsuspecting ,persians broke through the center and pursued the fleeing ,athenians to a rough ground2--only to be caught between the two flanks1 like a nut in a nut-cracker1 and crushed to pieces4 ,it can hardly be seriously questioned that in this plan ,miltiades showed the abilities of the inventor1 and in a highly brilliant and highly important way4 ,had he fought the battle in the obvious way1 the great numerical superiority of the ,persians could hardly have failed to gain the victory1 despite a really considerable superiority of the ,athenians in training and equipment4 ,but the ,persians were the victims of a new and unexpected kind of attack4 ,a new weapon suddenly brought to bear on them would have had a similar effect4 ,this is the first illustration in recorded history of the influence of invention on the deciding of a war4 ,its influence was enormous in this case2 for the battle of ,marathon was one of the most decisive and one of the most important battles ever fought4 ,if it had been decided contrariwise1 ,grecian civilization would have been stamped out1 or so completely stifled that it would never have risen to the heights it afterwards attained2 freedom of thought and government would have been smothered1 and the world would be immeasurably different now from what it really is4 ,the defeat of the ,persians was so decisive that they withdrew to their own country1 but with the determination of returning1 and in overwhelming force4 ,by reason of a variety of circumstances1 including the death of the king1 the invasion did not take place until ten years later4 ,then1 in the year #dhj ,b4 ,c41 ,king ,xerxes set out on a punitive expedition against ,greece with an enormous military and naval force4 ,again ,greece was saved from ,persia by pure brain power1 that of ,themistocles4 ,like ,miltiades1 he rejected the obvious4 ,discerning1 as no one else discerned1 that the weakest point in the ,persian forces was the line of communication across the gean ,sea1 because the ships of those days were fragile1 and an invading army needed to get supplies continually from ,persia1 he pointed out that although it was the ,persian army that would do the actual damage in ,greece1 yet nevertheless1 the major effort of the ,athenians should not be spent on their army but on their navy4 ,the difficulties he met in making the ,athenians see the truth may easily be imagined1 from experiences in our own day4 ,he succeeded at last1 however2 so that by the time the ,persians reached ,greece1 ,greece had a fleet that was very good1 though not nearly so large as the ,persian4 ,the fleets came near to each other in the vicinity of ,athens4 ,the majority of the ,athenian leaders advised that the ,athenian fleet should retreat toward the south and west1 to the isthmus of ,corinth1 and await the ,persians there2 because1 if defeated1 a safe retreat could be effected4 ,but ,themistocles opposed this plan with all the force and eloquence he could bring to bear2 pointing out that the aim of the ,athenians should not be to find a safe line of retreat1 but to win a battle2 and that the ,bay of ,salamis was the best place1 for two reasons4 ,one reason was that the ,persians would have to enter the bay in column1 because the entrance was narrow1 and the ,persian ships1 as they successively passed into the bay1 would therefore be at a great disadvantage against the combined attack of the ,athenian ships1 waiting for them there2 the other reason was that the bay was so small that the great numbers and size of the ,persian ships would be a disadvantage1 instead of an advantage4 ,themistocles 7not without the use of considerable diplomacy and even subterfuge7 finally secured the assent of the other ,athenian leaders4 ,the result was exactly what he predicted that it would be4 ,the ,persian fleet was wholly defeated1 and ,greece again was saved4 ,the great victory of the ,greeks over the ,persians wrought a powerful stimulation among all the people1 especially in ,athens1 and was followed by the most extraordinary intellectual movement in the history of the world4 ,it lasted about a century and a half2 and in no other country1 and at no other period1 has so much intellectual achievement been accomplished by so few people in so short a time4 ,before the ,persian wars1 the ,greeks had already shown an extraordinary originality in art and literature2 especially in architecture1 sculpture and poetry4 ,naturally these peaceful arts languished during the wars2 but after the ,persian invaders had been finally ejected1 they rose with renewed vigor1 stimulated by the patriotic enthusiasm of the nation as a whole4 ,it was in ,athens1 and among the ,athenians that most of the movement was carried on4 ,the principal state in ,greece besides ,athens then was ,sparta4 ,the ,spartans devoted themselves mainly to warlike and allied arts1 while the ,athenians devoted themselves mainly to the beautification of ,athens2 though they were careful to guard it adequately by maintaining an excellent navy1 surrounding the city with high walls1 and building two long parallel walls from ,athens to ,pirus1 its seaport4 ,it would be out of place in a book like this to attempt any description or discussion of the various phases of the intellectual activities that rose with such startling quickness1 and developed into such important movements1 during the century and a half that followed the ,persian wars2 especially as this has already been done by many scholars1 in many languages1 and at many times4 ,a very brief and elementary statement may1 however1 be made1 for the purpose of illustrating the influence of invention on history4 ,the main characteristic of the movement as a whole and of every one of the various channels which it followed1 was originality4 ,no such perception of beauty had ever been evidenced before2 no such conceptions of logic1 philosophy or science4 ,accompanying these was a conception of free government equally original4 ,whether the government of ,athens was the cause of the intellectual rise1 or the intellectual rise was the cause of the government1 may safely be left to scholars to debate2 for the purposes of the present discussion1 it seems sufficient that they co-existed and had together a powerful influence on history4 ,the greatest genius that guided the intellectual forces of the ,athenians in the matter of government was that of ,pericles1 who ruled their minds by pure force of argument and persuasion1 from about #dde to #dca ,b4 ,c4 ,athens and her subject cities formed a virtual empire1 small in extent1 but powerful in influence2 though in form it was a democracy4 ,in some ways it was the most perfect democracy that ever has existed even to this day2 for not only was every citizen available for office1 but he was expected to take active part in deciding public measures1 and to be really qualified to hold office4 ,this idea was put into practical operation by a careful system of payment for every public service2 to the end that even the poorest citizen should be enabled to hold office1 and a wealthy office-holding caste prevented from existing4 ,to so great an extent was this carried out that1 by the time that the ,age of ,pericles ceased and the ,peloponnesian ,war began1 almost every citizen was in the pay of the state4 ,the perfect equality of all the citizens1 and their community of interests and privileges1 was recognized by supplying them at times with free tickets to places of amusement1 and by banqueting the people on great occasions at the expense of the state4 ,to distribute widely the powers and duties of citizenship1 exceedingly large juries were established for the trials of all cases4 ,there was no king or president or prime minister4 ,the source of authority was the ,assembly which included every citizen over eighteen years of age1 and held forty meetings a year4 ,cooperating1 as a sort of committee1 was a ,council of ,five ,hundred1 whose members were chosen by lot each year from citizens over thirty years of age4 ,the success of the ,athenian democracy has had a powerful influence ever since on history2 because it has supplied not only a precedent but an encouragement to every people to try to escape from the individual restrictions that monarchies and all strong governments tend to impose4 ,but it had another though less powerful influence also1 which continued for a long while1 but now has ceased1 in supplying a precedent for slavery4 ,for while the citizens of ,athens were free1 only the sons of ,athenian fathers and ,athenian mothers could be citizens2 many thousand workers and merchants of all kinds could take no part in the government1 and there were besides an enormous number of slaves4 ,it was to a great degree the fact of slavery that made possible the success of the so-called ,athenian democracy2 for it liberated the citizens in very great measure from the drudgery of life1 and gave them leisure to devote themselves to the study of government and the arts4 ,in addition1 ,athens acquired great wealth from the spoils of its wars and the tribute of its subject states4 ,this wealth was expended largely in the beautifying of ,athens1 and in the consequent encouragement and opportunity to artists of all kinds4 ,naturally1 the art most immediately encouraged was that of architecture2 and that the encouragement met with ready and great success the most beautiful ruins in the world superbly testify4 ,the directing genius in this work and in all the others was ,pericles1 who stimulated the ,athenians with his conception and description of a city worthy to symbolize the power and glory of the empire4 ,the twin arts of architecture and sculpture worked together and in harmony2 and a city more beautiful than ever known before1 or ever known since1 testified to the soundness and brilliancy of the conception and to the constructive ability of the ,athenians to embody it in material form4 ,the poets and scholars kept pace with the statesmen and the architects and the sculptors2 but the philosophers surpassed them all4 ,for1 while the successful democracy of ,athens is a model still1 and while the ,parthenon and the statue of ,apollo are models still1 yet an integral part of the system of government 7slavery7 has been abjured by the civilized world1 and the temples and the statues have been for the pleasure of but a few2 while the teachings of the philosophers have been the basis on which has rested ever since much of the intellectual progress of mankind4 ,it may be noted here that1 as men have progressed up the steep road to civilization1 the only guides they have had have been men who have not themselves passed over the road before1 and whose only qualification as guides has lain in some attribute of the mind that enabled them to survey the road a little farther ahead than the others could1 and to point out the paths to take1 and the obstructions to avoid4 ,man's physical instincts guide him considerably as to the methods to preserve his physical existence2 but they help him not at all to lift himself above his physical self1 and in many ways they hinder him4 ,it seems to be the office of the mind both to discern the upward paths and to stimulate the will to overcome the difficulties and dangers in the way4 ,of the great pointers of the way1 ,socrates1 ,plato1 ,aristotle and others1 it might be deemed presumptuous of the present author to do more than speak2 and of the great stimulators1 schuylus1 ,sophocles1 ,euripedes1 ,herodotus1 ,thucydides1 ,xenophon1 and1 above all1 ,demosthenes as well4 ,but because it is pertinent to our subject it is instructive for us to note that the main distinctive feature of the work of each was originality4 ,it is true that it is the completed work in the case of each that meets our gaze2 it is true that the superficial impression would be the same1 even if each work had been a copy of some work that had gone before2 in the same way that1 superficially1 many a copy of an oil painting is as good as the original4 ,but from the standpoint of influence on the future1 it is the originator rather than the copyist who wields the influence2 just as it is the basic inventor of a mechanical appliance rather than the man who improves upon it4 ,the ,athenians and ,spartans became involved in the ,peloponnesian ,war1 that lasted from #dca to #djd ,b4 ,c41 and ended with the capture of ,athens4 ,the ,spartans thereupon became dominant in ,greece1 but only to be mastered by the ,thebans in #cga ,b4 ,c4 ,the little jealous states of ,greece were never able to agree together long1 and no one state was ever able to unite them4 ,but the half-barbarian people of ,macedonia1 under ,philip their king1 after developing their army1 according to a novel system invented by him1 overcame and then united under their sway the highly cultured but now military weak states that had despised them4 ,possibly1 it would somewhat strain the meaning of the word invention1 to declare that ,philip made a radically new invention1 when he improved on the ,theban phalanx1 and devised his system of military training2 for kings and other leaders had trained armies long before ,philip lived1 and ,philip departed only in what some might call detail from the methods that had been used before4 ,but1 at the same time1 it was an act1 or a series of acts1 betokening great initiative and originality1 for a man ruling a weak collection of tribes such as dwelt in ,macedon1 to create out of such crude material as he began with1 such an extraordinary army as he ultimately was able to lead to battle4 ,to accomplish this it was necessary for him to conceive the idea of doing it1 then to embody his conception in a formulated plan1 and then bring forth the finished product4 ,the thought of doing it must have come to him3--how else could he get it8 ,an idea comes from outside through the mental eye to the mind2 as a ray of light comes from outside through the physical eye to the retina4 ,the picture made on ,philip's mind must have impressed him profoundly1 for he spent the rest of his life in giving it a local habitation and a name4 ,to accomplish it cost him years of continual effort of many kinds1 but he did accomplish it4 ,he did1 as a result1 produce a machine1 as truly a machine as ,stephenson ever produced1 but made up of many more parts2 each part independent of any other1 and yet dependent on every other1 and all working together1 for a common purpose4 ,let us remind ourselves again that a machine composed of inanimate parts only is only one kind of machine2 for a machine may be composed of animate parts1 or inanimate parts1 or of parts of which some are animate and some inanimate4 ,clearly1 it makes no difference1 so far as the act of invention goes1 whether a man uses animate or inanimate parts2 the essential of invention is the creation of a new thing4 ,if a man merely puts two pieces of wood and a piece of string into a pile1 or if he merely collects a number of men together1 no invention is made and nothing is created4 ,but if he so combines the two pieces of wood and the string as to make a bow and arrow2 or if he combines a modified ,theban phalanx with masses of cavalry and catapults in a novel and effective way as ,philip did1 invention is exercised and something is created4 ,before ,philip's time a phalanx was used to bear the brunt of the battle1 and to overwhelm the enemy by mere strength and force2 as the ,thebans did at ,leuctra and ,mantinea4 ,but ,philip conceived the idea of merely holding the enemy with his phalanx assisted by the catapults1 and hurling his cavalry against their flanks4 ,philip's army1 as ,philip used it1 was a machine and a very powerful one3--each part independent of every other1 yet dependent on every other--all the parts working together for a common purpose4 ,philip conceived the idea of making this machine1 and afterwards made it2 just as ,ericsson more than two thousand years later conceived the idea of making a ,monitor and afterwards made it4 ,by means of his machine ,philip defeated the ,greeks at ,cheronea in the year #cch ,b4 ,c41 just as ,ericsson by means of his machine defeated the ,merrimac at ,newport ,news in the year #ahfb ,a4 ,d41 exactly twenty-two centuries later4 ,the two machines differed1 it is true4 ,yet they did not differ so much as one might unthinkingly suppose2 for each machine was made up of parts1 of which some were animate and some were not2 and in each machine every part1 animate or inanimate1 cooperated with all the others2 and all cooperated together1 to carry out the inventor's purpose1 the destruction of the enemy4 ,the influence of ,philip's invention began before ,philip died1 and it continues to this day4 ,for after ,philip's death1 his son ,alexander put it to work at once on the task of subduing thoroughly all of ,greece1 and then subduing ,asia4 ,the influence of the machine in subduing even ,greece alone must not be regarded lightly2 not so much because ,greece was subdued1 as because the various little states were by that means brought together2 and because it illustrates the fact that without a machine1 no great number of people can work together4 ,it was because of the absence of any machine that the ,grecian states acted separately and antagonistically1 instead of in cooperation4 ,after subduing ,greece1 ,alexander took his machine across the ,hellespont1 in the year #ccd ,b4 ,c41 to try it on the ,persian troops in ,asia ,minor4 ,the machine worked so successfully at a battle on the ,granicus that ,alexander took it south1 and with its aid was able to conquer all of ,asia ,minor in about a year4 ,it may be objected that it is not correct to attribute all of ,alexander's success to the excellence of his machine2 and this objection would have great force and receive the approval of most people1 for the reason that1 in most histories1 the main credit is given to the energy of ,alexander and the courage of his troops2--though the excellence of the training and organization bequeathed by ,philip is admitted4 ,to this hypothetical objection the answer may be made that the ultimate result was due to both the machine and the excellence with which it was operated2 that is1 to the product of what the machine could do if it were used with perfect skill and the percentage of skill with which it was actually used4 ,this statement is1 of course1 true of all machines and instruments1 as the author has often pointed out1 in articles and addresses4 ,in the case of ,alexander and his army1 the percentage of skill1 of course1 was high2 but ,alexander and each one of his soldiers was only a part of the machine2 and even their skill was part of the machine in the sense that it was a characteristic included in the original design of ,philip4 ,in other words1 we should not fall into the error of dissociating the skill of ,alexander and his soldiers from the machine itself2 because it was part of ,philip's invention that the training should produce that skill4 ,the system of training was part of the invention4 ,it is true1 however1 and exceedingly important1 that the degree of skill which ,alexander brought to bear personally was far in excess of what any system of training could possibly produce4 ,when we read of the amazing victories that ,alexander made over superior forces of highly trained warriors1 we see that ,philip of ,macedon should not be given all the credit2 that the genius of ,philip of ,macedon was not the only genius contributing to the result4 ,we see that genius of some kind directed the decisions of ,alexander4 ,what were the characteristics of that genius8 ,courage8 ,yes2 history tells of no one possessing higher courage1 both physical and moral1 than ,alexander4 ,not only was he physically brave1 not only did he dare physical danger of many kinds1 and on many occasions1 but he was morally brave2 he did not shirk responsibility2 he did not fear to take enormous risks2 he did not hesitate to reject advice1 even the advice of his most experienced and able generals2 he was willing to stake everything1 sometimes1 on the success of some wholly untried expedient of his own devising4 ,but does mere courage1 even of so many kinds--and even if it be added to trained skill and the possession of an admirable machine--do they all together explain the amazing successes of ,alexander8 ,no4 ,what does explain them8 ,genius8 ,yes1 but the word genius is only a word1 and explains nothing2 for the reason that no one knows what the word genius means4 ,it is merely a label that we attach to a man who is able to do things that other men cannot do4 ,but granting that the possession of genius is an explanation of ,alexander's being able to accomplish what he did1 in what way did that genius operate8 in what way did it help him to win so many victories and extricate himself from so many perilous situations8 ,by inventing methods and devising schemes and improvising plans that an uninventive man would not have thought of4 ,the story of the ,gordian knot may or may not be true2 but it seems credible1 because it was exactly the kind of a thing that ,alexander might have been expected to do in such an emergency4 ,posing as a great conqueror1 he was 7according to the legend7 suddenly confronted with the untying of a knot1 the successful accomplishment of which would make him master of ,asia4 ,he realized that he could not untie it4 ,any man but a man like ,alexander would have tried it and acknowledged failure1 or have declined to try it3 placing himself in a defensive position in either case4 ,but ,alexander draws his sword and cuts the knot in two1 thereby accomplishing whatever the untying of the knot would have accomplished1 but in an unexpected way4 ,alexander's victories and escapes from perilous positions were largely accomplished by unexpected measures4 ,but ,alexander showed his inventive ability before he invaded ,persia2 in his very first campaign undertaken to subdue a revolt in ,thessaly immediately after he ascended to the throne4 ,the ,thessalians opposed him in a narrow defile4 ,an ordinary man would have thought1 as the ,thessalians did1 that he was checkmated4 ,but ,alexander conceived and executed the ingenious scheme of cutting a new road up the steep side of the mountain1 leading his army along that road1 and suddenly threatening the ,thessalians in their helpless rear4 ,shortly afterward in ,thrace he reached a defile in the mountains which it was necessary for him to pass1 but which he found defended by a force that had stationed a number of war-chariots at the top1 to be rolled down on the ,macedonians4 ,alexander immediately ordered his infantry to advance up the path and to open their ranks whenever possible to let the chariots rush through2 but when that could not be done to fall on their knees and hold their shields together as a sort of roof on which the chariots would slide1 and from which they would roll off4 ,this amazing story is supposed to be true2 and it is said to have succeeded perfectly4 ,not long afterward ,alexander had to cross the ,danube with his army and all their equipments and attack a force of barbarians on the farther bank4 ,this he saw he could not do by the use of any means available of an ordinary kind4 ,nothing daunted1 he conceived and executed the scheme of floating his equipments across at night in floats made of tent skins1 filled with hay4 ,the next clear example that we find of ,alexander's inventiveness was when he undertook the siege of ,tyre4 ,tyre stood on an island of ,phoenicia in the extreme eastern end of the ,mediterranean ,sea4 ,it was surrounded with a wall1 very thick and very high1 and was separated from the shore by half a mile of deep water4 ,to capture such a place was no small undertaking for a man who had no ships4 ,but ,alexander conceived and executed a scheme that worked successfully4 ,in accordance with that scheme1 he built a causeway that extended from the shore out toward the island on which ,tyre stood4 ,naturally1 the ,tyrians obstructed his efforts by sending fireships against him and firing projectiles2 and these tactics became more and more effective as the causeway approached the city4 ,then ,alexander visited some of the jealous neighbors of ,tyre that had submitted to him1 and secured a fleet of some eighty ships2 and these he led1 as the admiral commanding1 against the ,tyrian harbor4 ,by this time1 the causeway was well protected with catapults and war-engines of various kinds1 and had been carried close up to the island4 ,yet little actual damage could be done to ,tyre1 because of the height and thickness of the walls1 and because ,alexander's galleys that he had equipped with war-engines could not get close enough1 by reason of large boulders under water4 ,alexander then equipped certain galleys with windlasses to root up the boulders1 the galleys being fitted with chain cables to prevent divers from cutting them4 ,tyre was soon afterwards reduced to a purely passive defense and consequent surrender4 ,the story of the siege of ,tyre1 if read in the light of the conditions of the comparative barbarism of the world in those days1 is a record of inventiveness1 on the part of ,alexander1 so convincing and complete1 as to entitle ,alexander to a place in the first rank among the inventors of our race4 ,shortly afterward ,alexander reached the town of ,gaza1 the great stronghold of the ,philistines4 ,it stood on high ground1 and was more than two miles from the sea4 ,alexander's engineers reported to him that1 as the fleet could not assist them1 and as the walls were themselves very high and stood on a high hill1 the walls could never be stormed4 ,things looked serious4 ,they were serious2 and failure would then have come to any man1 except a man like ,alexander4 ,he cut the ,gordian knot by ordering that ramparts be thrown up as high as the top of the walls1 and war engines placed on the ramparts4 ,this was done1 and the city was taken4 ,alexander's campaigns in ,egypt1 and afterward in western ,asia1 were characterized by the same quickness and daring1 both in conception and in execution1 that had marked his opening campaigns in ,greece4 ,later1 when advancing toward ,persia1 he encountered a tribe of hillsmen in the ,uxian ,pass1 who1 like the ,thessalians and the ,thracians1 thought they had blocked his passage by opposing him in so narrow a defile4 ,alexander literally circumvented them by making a night march over a difficult mountain pass1 and astonishing them by an attack on their rear the following morning4 ,shortly afterward a like situation presented itself1 when an army opposed him in a narrow defile called the ,persian ,gates1 that was fortified with a wall4 ,alexander soon realized that the position of his enemy was impregnable4 ,he learned1 however1 that there was a path that led around the pass1 though it was exceedingly dangerous1 particularly to men in armor and to horses1 and especially at that time1 when snow and ice were on the ground4 ,he again utilized his former invention 7circumvention7 and with his former success2 though the conditions under which it was accomplished were much more difficult4 ,the four examples just given of literally circumventing an uninventive enemy illustrate in the simplest form the influence of invention on military history4 ,after it became clear to ,alexander that his invasion of ,asia would be successful from a military point of view1 his active imagination presented to his mind a picture of a grand and noble empire1 embracing the whole world1 but dominated and inspired by the spirit of the civilization of ,greece4 ,to develop this conception into an actual reality1 became at once the object of his efforts4 ,to develop it1 he decided to adopt in some measure the characteristics and dress of the people in whatever province he might be1 and to take such steps in organizing provinces1 founding cities and establishing systems1 as to weld all into one empire1 under himself1 as ruler4 ,one can hardly credit the authoritative account he reads of ,alexander's bewildering success4 ,he seems not only to have won battles1 and built cities1 and organized provinces1 but actually to have super-posed ,greek civilization on ,persian civilization6 ,in one of his most important later battles1 ,alexander again utilized his inventiveness4 ,if he had not done so1 he would assuredly have lost the battle4 ,it was against ,king ,porus in northwestern ,india4 ,alexander found the forces of ,porus encamped on the opposite side of the ,hydaspes ,river1 with the evident intention of preventing him from crossing4 ,as the army of ,porus in men alone was evidently equal to his own1 and as it was reinforced with a multitude of elephants1 ,alexander was apparently confronted with a problem impossible of solution4 ,it would have been impossible to anyone but a man like ,alexander4 ,he1 however1 by means of various feints and ingenious stratagems1 managed to get across at night about sixteen miles up the river1 using boats that he had constructed1 and floats of skin stuffed with straw4 ,porus took up a position on the opposite shore and made ready to receive attack1 his front preceded by war chariots and elephants4 ,alexander had neither2 but he did have brains and originality4 ,so he simply held the enemy with his infantry1 and then made a determined attack with cavalry and archers on the enemy's left flank1 and especially on the elephants4 ,the elephants soon got beyond control2 and the rest of the battle was a fight between a highly trained ,macedonian phalanx1 assisted by cavalry1 and an ,oriental mob4 ,alexander died in ,babylon when not quite thirty-three years old4 ,in actual and immediate achievement he surpassed perhaps every other man who has ever lived4 ,he founded an empire which he himself had conceived and developed1 which covered nearly all the then known world1 and which1 though it was composed mainly of barbarous and semi-barbarous people1 was dominated by ,greek thought4 ,it is true that the empire fell apart almost immediately after ,alexander died4 ,but it did not fall into anarchy1 or revert to its previous state3 it was divided into four parts1 each of which was distinct1 self-governing and well organized4 ,the two larger parts1 the kingdom of the ,seleucid1 which occupied approximately the territory of ,persia1 and the kingdom of the ,ptolomies1 or ,egypt1 continued as torch-bearers to civilization for many centuries thereafter4 ,of the two1 the former was the larger and was probably the better1 from an administrative point of view2 but ,egypt represented the finer civilization2 for ,alexandria1 with its library and its wonderful museum1 became the seat of learning and the resort of the scholars of the world1 and the centre of the ,hellenistic civilization that followed that of ,greece4 ,this ,hellenistic civilization1 it may here be pointed out1 was in some respects as fine as that of ,greece1 and in some respects was finer1 because it was more mature4 ,but 7perhaps for the reason that it was more mature7 it lacked much of the element that was the highest in the ,greek1 the element that gave ,greek civilization greater influence on history than any other civilization ever had--the creative element4 ,the creative period of ,greece ceased when her political liberty was lost4 ,furthermore1 the immense amount of wealth that poured into the ,grecian cities and the ,grco-,oriental world1 by reason of the putting into circulation of gold that had been stored away in ,oriental palaces1 as well as by the commercial exploitation of the riches of the ,east1 brought about a general effeminizing of all classes of society1 and the consequent dulling of their minds4 ,illustration3 ,the ,lighthouse of the ,harbor of ,alexandria in the ,hellenistic ,age ,nevertheless1 there was great intellectual activity in the ,grco-,oriental world1 and a certain measure of invention1 though little was of a basic kind4 ,euclid improved the science of geometry1 and put it in virtually the same shape as that in which it has been taught since1 even to this day4 ,aristarchus1 the astronomer1 announced the doctrine that the earth revolves around the sun and rotates on its own axis2 and ,hipparchus invented the plan of fixing the positions of places on the earth by their latitudes north and south of the ,equator and their longitude east or west of a designated meridian4 ,hippocrates and ,galen conceived and developed the foundations of the science of medicine of the present day4 ,eratosthenes estimated with extraordinary accuracy the circumference of the earth1 and founded the science of geography4 ,but the greatest of all of the original workers of that time was ,archimedes1 who lived at ,syracuse in ,sicily1 and was killed by mistake when ,syracuse was captured in the year #bab ,b4 ,c41 while engaged in drawing a geometrical figure on the sand4 ,his principal fame is as a mathematician2 but as a great inventor of mechanical appliances1 he is the first man recognized as such in history4 ,the invention with which his name is most frequently linked is that of the ,archimedean screw4 ,this consisted of a tube1 wound spirally around an inclined axle1 and so disposed that when the lower end of the tube was dipped into water and the axle was rotated water would rise in the tube--as shavings do when a screw is screwed down into wood4 ,it constituted a very convenient pump and was so used4 ,this was1 of course1 a mechanical invention of the utmost originality and value1 and forms one of the clearly defined stepping-stones to civilization4 ,there seems to be a belief in the minds of some that ,archimedes was the inventor of the lever4 ,the lever was1 of course1 invented long before he lived2 but the laws of its operation and the principle that the weight on each side of the fulcrum1 multiplied by its distance from the fulcrum1 is equal to the weight on the other side1 multiplied by its distance 7when the lever is in equilibrium71 seems to have been established by him4 ,many stories are told of his exploits when ,syracuse was besieged by the ,romans1 but they are rather vague4 ,the best known story is that he arranged a great many mirrors in such a way that he concentrated so many rays of sunlight on some ,roman ships that they took fire4 ,whether this is true or not is not definitely known2 but many centuries later ,buffon1 the ,french scientist1 made an arrangement of plane mirrors with which he set fire to wood #bjj feet away4 ,the greatest single exploit of ,archimedes was his discovery and demonstration of the hydrostatic principle that the weight of liquid displaced by a body floating in it is equal to that of the body4 ,the story is that the king gave him the apparently impossible task of determining the quantity of gold and the quantity of silver in a certain gold coin1 in making which the king suspected the workmen of stealing part of the gold and substituting silver4 ,pondering this subject later while lying in his bath1 ,archimedes suddenly realized that his body displaced a bulk of water equal to that part of his body that was immersed1 and conceived the consequent law2 and the conception was so startling and so vivid that he rushed unclad out into the street crying1 ,i have found it1 ,i have found it4 ,the story as a story may not be exactly true2 but if ,archimedes had realized the full purport and the never-ending result of his conception1 he would probably have done something even more eccentric than he did4 99 99 99 99 99 ,archimedes esteemed mechanical inventions as greatly inferior in value to those speculations and demonstrations that convince the mind1 and considered that his chief single work was discovering the mathematical relation between a sphere and a cylinder just containing it4 ,whether this discovery and the discovery of the hydrostatic principle just mentioned were inventions or not1 depends1 of course1 on the meaning of the word invention4 ,within the meaning of the word as employed heretofore in this book1 both seem to have been inventions4 ,each made a definite creation and each caused something to exist1 the like of which had never existed before4 ,furthermore1 the mental processes followed resemble very closely the conception and formulation of a religion or a theory1 the conception and composing of a new piece of music1 story or poem1 the conception and developing of any new plan or scheme2 the conception and embodying in material form of any mechanical device4 ,it is not asserted1 of course1 that all inventions are on a dead level of equality1 simply because they are inventions4 ,evidently there are degrees of excellence among inventions as among all other things4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,invention ,,in ,,rome3 ,,its ,,rise ,,and ,,fall ,we have noted1 up to a time approximately that of ,archimedes1 a continual succession of inventions of many kinds1 that formed stepping-stones to civilization so large and plain1 that we can see them even from this distance4 ,we now come to a period lasting more than a thousand years1 in the first half of which there was a gradually decreasing lack of inventiveness shown1 and in the latter half a cessation almost complete4 ,the nation that followed ,greece as the dominant nation of the world was ,rome4 ,she became more truly a dominant nation than ,greece ever was2 but her civilization was built on that of ,greece1 and her success even in war and government was due largely to following where ,greece had led4 ,that ,rome in her early days should have followed the methods of ,greece was natural of course2 for the two countries were close together1 and the methods of ,greece had brought success4 ,the early religion of ,rome was so like that of ,greece that even to this day the conceptions of most of us regarding ,zeus and ,jupiter1 ,poseidon and ,neptune1 ,aphrodite and ,venus are apt to become confused4 ,like the ,greeks1 the ,romans first were gathered in city-states that were governed by kings2 and as with the ,greeks1 more republican forms were adopted later4 ,in one important particular1 the ,roman practice diverged from the ,greek1 and that was in incorporating conquered states into the parent state1 and granting their inhabitants the privileges of citizenship2 instead of keeping them in the condition of mere subject states4 ,the ,roman system was somewhat like the system of provinces established by the ,assyrians4 ,it forms the basis of the municipal system of the free states of the present day1 in which local self-government is carried on1 under the paramount authority of the state4 ,it may be pointed out here that the conception of such an idea and its successful development into an effective machine of government by the ,romans constituted an invention2 though in view of what had been done before by ,assyria and ,greece1 it cannot be called a basic invention4 ,the early ,romans were very different in their mental characteristics from the ,greeks2 for they were stern1 warlike1 intensely practical1 and possessed of an extraordinary talent for what we now call team work4 ,as a nation they were not so inventive as the ,greeks2 but the ,roman1 ,csar1 was the greatest military inventor who ever lived4 ,as might be expected1 their early endeavors pertained to war1 and their first improvements were in warlike things4 ,one improvement that was marked by considerable inventiveness was in changing the phalanx into the legion4 ,the phalanx1 the historian ,botsford tells us1 was invented by the ,spartans1 probably in the eighth century ,b4 ,c41 and consisted of an unbroken line of warriors1 several ranks deep4 ,the ,thebans improved on this2 and from the ,theban1 ,philip developed the ,macedonian phalanx with which ,alexander fought his way through ,asia4 ,the ,romans under ,servius ,tullius developed this into the ,roman phalanx1 which was different only in detail4 ,the essential characteristic of the phalanx was strength4 ,this was gained by the close support given by each man to his neighbor1 the personal strength of each man and the trained co-operation of all4 ,a tremendous blow was given to an enemy's line when a phalanx struck it4 ,in the early wars among the hills of ,italy1 the ,romans found the phalanx too rigid for such uneven country2 and it was in endeavoring to invent a substitute that they finally developed the legion4 ,this machine was much more flexible1 the individual soldiers had more room for their movements1 and yet the machine seemed to possess the necessary rigidity when the shock of impact came4 ,the heavy infantry was in three lines1 and each line was divided into ten companies1 or maniples4 ,the burden of the first attack was borne by the first line4 ,if unsuccessful1 the first line withdrew through gaps in the second line1 and the second line took up the task2--and then the third1 composed of the most seasoned troops4 ,the attack usually began with the hurling of javelins1 and was followed at once by an assault with the ,roman strong short swords4 ,now the legion was just as truly an invented machine as a steam engine is2 and it had a greater influence on history than the steam engine has ever had thus far4 ,it was by means of their legions that the ,romans passed outside of the walls of ,rome1 and conquered all of ,italy4 ,it was by means of their legions that the ,romans conquered all the coast peoples that bordered the ,mediterranean ,sea1 subdued ,gaul1 ,europe and ,egypt and ,asia1 and became the greatest masters of the world that the world has ever seen4 ,the first war of the ,romans that history calls great was their war against the splendid and wealthy city of ,carthage1 situated on the opposite side of the ,mediterranean1 inhabited by descendants of the ,phoenicians4 ,they were an aggressive and energetic people1 but only commercially4 ,they were not of the warlike cast1 and delegated the work of national defense to hired soldiers and sailors4 ,they had one great advantage over the ,romans in the possession of an excellent navy4 ,the ,romans resolved to create a navy4 ,with characteristic energy and practical ability1 they devoted themselves at once to both the acquisition of the personnel and the material1 and the adequate training of the crews4 ,it is stated that within two months from the time of starting1 ,rome possessed a hundred quinqueremes1 the largest galleys of those days1 having five tiers of rowers2 though they had had none when the war broke out4 ,the first naval battle took place near the promontory of ,myl4 ,naturally1 the ,romans were at a great disadvantage as compared with the experienced officers and sailors in the ,carthaginian fleet2 for though the ,roman soldier was far better than the ,carthaginian1 the ,roman sailor was inexperienced and unskilful4 ,to remedy the difficulty1 the ,romans made a simple but brilliant invention4 ,they provided each quinquereme with a corvus1 that consisted essentially of a drawbridge that could be lowered quickly1 and that carried a sharp spike at its outer end2 and then arranged a plan whereby each quinquereme should get alongside of a ,carthaginian1 drop the drawbridge at such a time that the spike would hold the outer end of the drawbridge in place on the ,carthaginian deck1 and ,roman soldiers should then rush across the drawbridge and attack the inferior ,carthaginian soldiers4 ,few more brilliant inventions have ever been made2 few have been more successful and effective4 ,the battle ended in a perfect victory for the ,romans1 and constituted the initial step in the subjugation of ,carthage by ,rome4 ,there were three wars in all1 called ,punic ,wars4 ,the great ,carthaginian ,general1 ,hannibal1 invaded ,italy by land in the ,second ,war1 and after a campaign marked with a high order of daring and ability1 threatened ,rome herself after a brilliant victory near ,lake ,trasimene4 ,another victory followed at ,cann1 but a decisive disaster later on the ,metaurus ,river4 ,so the ,second ,war was won by ,rome4 ,but ,carthage still existed1 and menaced the commercial1 naval and military dominance of ,rome4 ,therefore war was brought about at last by ,rome1 and ,carthage destroyed completely4 ,the conduct of ,rome toward ,carthage cannot be justified on any grounds of any system of morality accepted at the present day2 and yet it cannot reasonably be denied that it was better for human progress that ,rome should prevail than ,carthage4 ,the ,romans1 harsh and ruthless as they were1 were less so than the ,carthaginians2 and they had an element of strong manliness and a comprehensive grasp of things beyond mere commerce and money-getting and ease and comfort that the ,semitic ,carthaginians wholly lacked4 ,the effect of the conquest of ,carthage by ,rome was a little like that of the conquest of ,persia by ,alexander4 ,during the same year 7#adf ,b4 ,c47 when ,rome destroyed ,carthage1 she also destroyed ,corinth in ,greece1 and brought ,greece and ,macedonia under her sway4 ,she had previously 7#aij ,b4 ,c47 defeated ,antiochus the ,great1 and taken from him nearly all his territory in ,asia ,minor4 ,by the year #eh ,b4 ,c41 ,rome had become the most powerful nation in the world and still preserved a republican form of government4 ,in that year1 #eh ,b4 ,c41 the man who probably is the most generally regarded as the greatest man who has ever lived1 appeared upon the stage of history4 ,his name was ,julius ,csar4 ,he appeared in that year1 because he went then from ,rome to ,gaul1 and started on those brilliant and in many respects unprecedented campaigns which have had so profound an effect on history1 and which for originality in conception and execution have had no rivals since4 ,at this time1 ,italy and the lands of ,africa and ,asia on which ,alexander had impressed the civilization of ,greece1 were prosperous and well-governed2 but beyond those countries only barbarous customs prevailed1 and only a primitive civilization reigned4 ,the lands that lay north and northwest of ,italy1 throughout all ,gaul1 were inhabited by savage tribes that were in a state of continual war with each other4 ,in the southern and middle parts the effects of ,roman civilization might be dimly seen2 but in the southwestern part1 and in the north1 especially among the ,german tribes on the ,rhine1 and the ,belg near the ,north ,sea1 a condition of virtually pure savagery prevailed4 ,into such a country ,csar marched1 at the head of a body of men wholly inferior in numbers to those they were to meet1 not superior to them in courage or physical strength1 but considerably superior to them in discipline1 and vastly superior in the weapons and methods that had gradually been invented1 with the progress of civilization4 ,thus1 while the ,roman machine was superior as a machine to any that the ,gauls could bring to bear1 it was smaller2 so that the question to be decided was whether the superior excellence of the ,roman machine was great enough to balance its inferiority in size4 ,looking back from our vantage ground on the history of the campaigns that followed1 we feel inclined to answer the question in the negative1 unless we consider ,csar himself a part of the machine4 ,it is true that the campaigns were decided in favor of the ,roman machine2 but there seems little ground for doubting that they would not have been so decided1 if the genius of ,csar had not managed the ,roman machine and made improvements from time to time4 ,csar had had little experience as a soldier1 but his habits of life and traits of character were of the military kind4 ,as the campaigns progressed1 his courage1 equanimity and rapidity of thought and action were continually displayed2--yet not to such a degree as to put him in a higher class than many other generals of history1 or to account wholly for his marvellous successes4 ,one peculiar ability1 however1 he possessed and exercised in a degree greater than any other general of history3 and it was by the exercise of that ability that his most extraordinary victories were achieved1 and his generalship especially distinguished from the generalship of others4 ,that ability was inventiveness4 ,his first contact was with the ,swiss 7,helvetii71 who were about to leave the barrenness of their mountain lands1 and march west to the fertile lands beyond4 ,as this would take them through ,roman territory and tend to drive the ,gauls into ,italy1 open ,switzerland to occupation by the ,germans1 and point a road thence for them also into ,italy1 ,csar hastened to the ,rhne ,river1 destroyed the bridge which they would naturally go over1 and forbade the ,swiss to attempt to cross the river4 ,the ,swiss pleaded with ,csar to permit them to cross4 ,as ,csar realized that the ,swiss were too greatly superior in force to be kept back1 unless he could strengthen himself in some way1 he asked time for reflection1 and told them to return in two weeks4 ,when the ,swiss returned at the end of that time1 their astonished eyes disclosed to them the fact that ,csar had constructed walls and trenches and forts at every point where a passage could reasonably be attempted4 ,it may be objected that walls and trenches and forts were not new1 and that therefore ,csar invented nothing4 ,this may be admitted as an academic proposition2 but nevertheless1 it was clearly the ingenious and wholly unexpected construction of certain appliances by ,csar that opposed the barbarous ,swiss with barriers which they could not pass4 ,it may even be argued with much reason that the conception and successful execution of ,csar's plan as a whole constituted an invention1 even though the material used was old4 ,certain it is that a situation was created which did not exist before1 and that it was the creation of this situation1 and not the exercise of strength or courage1 that was the determining factor in stopping the ,swiss4 ,froude says of ,csar1 ,he was never greater than in unlooked-for difficulties4 ,he never rested4 ,he was always inventing some new contrivance4 ,csar realized fully the value in war of mechanical appliances1 and took careful measures before he left ,italy to supply his army adequately with them1 and also with men trained to use them4 ,besides the fighting men strictly considered1 ,csar took a considerable number of engineers with him1 and expert men for building bridges1 and doing mechanical work of many kinds4 ,the ingenious and frequent use that ,csar made of these men and of mechanical appliances was the most powerful single factor that contributed to his success4 ,the ,swiss departing from ,switzerland by another route1 ,csar pursued them1 and defeated a fourth of them in a battle on the banks of a river which the other three-fourths had crossed4 ,he then built a bridge over the river and sent his army across4 ,this feat alarmed the ,swiss more than their defeat2 because ,csar had built the bridge and sent his army across in one day1 whereas they had consumed twenty days in merely crossing4 ,the ,swiss pleaded to be allowed to proceed2 but ,csar was obdurate4 ,a battle followed1 in which the ,swiss1 though greatly superior in numbers and reinforced by #ae1jjj allies1 were decisively beaten2 not because of inferior courage or warlike skill1 but by reason of inferior equipments1 mechanical appliances and weapons4 ,csar's next battle was with the ,germans4 ,it was won1 if not precisely with inventiveness1 at least with brains4 ,he learned that the ,german matrons had declared1 after certain occult proceedings1 that ,heaven forbade them to fight before the new moon4 ,apprehending his opportunity1 he advanced his forces right up to the ,german camp1 thereby forcing them as valiant soldiers to come out and fight4 ,fight they did1 but under an obvious psychological disadvantage1 and with the natural result4 ,in this battle1 as in others between the ,romans and the barbarians1 it was noticeable that although their first onslaught was fine1 the barbarians seemed to be at a loss afterwards1--if anything unexpected occurred1 or if any reverse was sustained2 whereas the ,romans--and especially ,csar himself--never behaved so well as when threatened with disaster4 ,this may be expressed by saying that the barbarians1 as compared with the ,romans1 were wholly inferior in the inventiveness needed to devise a new plan quickly4 ,not long afterward1 ,csar advanced against the town of ,noviodunum4 ,he soon saw that he could not take it by storm2 and so he brought forward his mechanical siege appliances4 ,the psychological effect of these on the barbarians was so tremendous that they at once pleaded for terms of surrender4 ,after a battle with the ,nervii1 in which ,csar defeated them disastrously1 largely because of his resourcefulness in emergency and their lack of it1 he advanced against a great barbarian stronghold that looked down on steep rocks on three sides1 and was protected by a thick1 high double wall on the fourth side4 ,csar made a fortified rampart around the town1 pushed his mantlets 7large shields on wheels protected on the sides and top7 close up to the wall1 and built a tower4 ,the barbarians laughed at this tower2 seeing it so far away that1 they thought1 no darts thrown from it could reach them4 ,but when they saw the tower actually moving toward them they were struck with terror and began at once to sue for peace4 ,during the following winter the ,veneti1 a large tribe on the northwestern coast1 the most skilful seamen and navigators of ,gaul1 stirred up a revolt that quickly and widely spread4 ,the situation at once became serious for ,csar1 for the reason that the ,veneti could not be subdued1 except on the sea2 and neither the ,roman sailors nor the ,roman vessels were as good as were those of the ,veneti4 ,nevertheless1 ,csar ordered war-vessels to be built on the ,loire ,river1 and seamen and rowers to be drafted from the ,roman ,province4 ,when the improvised fleet of the ,romans and the thoroughly prepared fleet of the ,veneti came together1 the latter was superior even in numbers4 ,furthermore1 the ,romans were at a great disadvantage in the matter of throwing projectiles1 from the fact that the ,veneti's decks were higher than theirs4 ,but ,csar had prepared a scheme that gave him victory4 ,in accordance with it1 the ,roman galleys rowed smartly against the ,veneti ships1 and ,roman sailors raised long poles on which were sharp hooks which they put over the halliards that held up the sails4 ,then each ,roman galley rowed rapidly away1 the halliards were cut1 and down came the sails4 ,the ,veneti ships became helpless at once and were immediately boarded2 with the result that1 of all the number1 only a few made their escape4 ,somewhat later1 ,csar decided to cross the ,rhine into the country of the ,sueves1 and to impress them with the power of ,rome by building a bridge and marching his army across4 ,this bridge and the quickness and thoroughness with which it was built are still models for engineers2 for in ten days after he had decided to build it1 at which time the material was still standing in the forest1 a bridge #dj feet wide had been constructed4 ,across this ,csar at once marched his legions4 ,the effect on the barbarous ,germans can be imagined4 ,it made them realize that the ,romans were a race superior to themselves in ways that they could not measure or even understand2 and it impressed them with that fear which is the most depressing of all fears1 the fear of the unknown4 ,did ,csar make an invention8 ,this depends on the meaning of the word invention4 ,csar did not invent the bridge2 but he did conceive and carry into execution a highly original1 concrete and successful scheme4 ,by it he accomplished as much as a victorious campaign would have accomplished1 and without shedding any blood4 ,he devised means which created a state of thought in the minds of his enemies that destroyed their will to fight4 ,therein lay his invention4 ,csar then conceived the idea of going across the water to the island of ,britain1 about which little was known4 ,after having a survey made of the coast1 he took his legions across in about eighty vessels4 ,he had to fight to make a landing1 of course2 but he succeeded1 and then formed his camp4 ,a ,roman camp1 we may now remind ourselves1 was so distinctly a ,roman conception1 and so distinctly a part of the ,roman system of conducting war1 that it almost constituted an invention4 ,whenever a ,roman army halted1 even for one night1 they intrenched themselves within a square enclosure1 surrounded with a ditch and a palisade of stakes1 and made a temporary little city1 laid with streets4 ,in such a camp they were reasonably safe against any attack that barbarians could make4 ,but a storm arose that drove some of ,csar's ships ashore and some out to sea4 ,in this emergency1 ,csar's resourcefulness and energy directed the work of recovery and repair1 and enabled the ,romans to collect and put into good condition nearly all their ships4 ,csar returned shortly afterward to ,gaul2 arrived there1 he gave directions for building and equipping another and larger fleet4 ,in the following ,july 7#ed ,b4 ,c471 he started again for ,britain4 ,this time he took five legions and some cavalry and had about #hjj vessels4 ,he landed and formed his camp1 and then advanced inland2--but another storm arose that scattered his ships4 ,he returned at once to the coast1 and instituted such prompt and resourceful measures that in ten days he was able to resume his march4 ,on this march1 which took him far inland1 he was able to overcome all opposition2 largely because1 after the first onset1 the barbarians seemed to be without any plan of action1 while ,csar was at his best4 ,csar had the ability to invent under circumstances of the utmost danger and excitement4 ,csar's remaining campaigns in ,gaul were marked with the same resourcefulness and originality on his part1 and the same lack of resourcefulness and originality on the part of the barbarians4 ,csar would continually do something that the barbarians had not expected him to do4 ,true1 they gradually learned some of his schemes and methods from him2 but only to find that he had then some newer schemes and methods4 ,csar at one time remarked that wise men anticipate possible difficulties1 and decide beforehand what they will do1 if certain possible occasions arise4 ,does not this process involve invention1 in cases where the possible occasions are not of the ordinary and expectable kind8 ,in such cases1 does it not require imagination to foresee the possible occasions1 and form a correct picture on the mind of the resulting situations8 ,this being done1 does it not require the exercise of the constructive faculty afterwards1 to make a concrete and effective plan to meet them8 ,if it be so1 then we may reasonably declare that1 of all the factors that contributed to the successes in ,gaul of ,csar1 the most powerful single factor was his inventiveness4 ,the final crisis came when ,csar besieged ,alesia1 and ,vercingetorix1 who had taken refuge in it1 sent out a call for succor1 that was eagerly and promptly responded to2 for it was plain to the barbarians that ,csar1 being held in position fronting a fortress that he could not successfully storm1 would be in a precarious condition if attacked vigorously in his rear4 ,attacked vigorously he was2 for the barbarians came in his rear with about #bej1jjj men2 ,csar having only #ej1jjj1 and the enemy in front having #hj1jjj4 ,but it required somewhat more than a month for the barbarians to unite and reach ,alesia4 ,with his wonted energy and resourcefulness1 ,csar had by this time cast up siege works all around the fortress1 placed camps at strategic points1 and constructed twenty-three block-houses4 ,he dug a trench twenty feet deep around the place1 and back of this began his other siege works4 ,these included two parallel trenches fifteen feet broad and fifteen feet deep4 ,behind these he built a palisade twelve feet high1 and to this he added a breastwork of pointed stakes2 while at intervals of eighty feet he constructed turrets4 ,in addition1 he had branches cut from trees and sharpened on the ends2 and these he fastened at the bottom of the trenches1 so that the points projected just above the ground4 ,in front of these he dug shallow pits1 into which tapering stakes hardened in the fire were driven1 projecting four inches above the ground4 ,these pits were hidden with twigs and brushwood4 ,eight rows of these pits were dug1 three feet apart2 and in front of all stakes with iron hooks were buried in the ground at irregular intervals4 ,when all this had been done on the side toward the fortress1 ,csar constructed parallel entrenchments of the same kind1 to protect his rear2 the two sets being so arranged with respect to each other that the same men could man both4 ,having constructed all these material appliances1 he instituted a comprehensive system of drills1 so that his men would know exactly how to utilize them under all probable contingencies4 ,in the battle that followed the barbarians showed their wonted courage and dash2 but an unexpected situation arose when ,csar attacked a separated part in their rear4 ,then they were seized with panic1 and the natural rout and disaster followed4 ,this battle decided the fate of ,gaul2 though its actual subduing1 especially in the southwestern part was not accomplished immediately4 ,the last major act was taking a strong fortress4 ,this was accomplished by cutting a tunnel1 by which the spring was tapped that supplied the garrison with water4 ,as ,vercingetorix said1 the ,romans won their victories1 not by superior courage1 but by superior science4 ,csar's later passage across the ,rubicon1 the flight of the ,senate1 and his later operations by land and sea against ,marseilles 7,massilia7 and hostile forces in northern ,spain1 are well known1 and were characterized by the same high order of inventiveness4 ,his later operations against ,pompey1 and later still against ,pharnaces and ,scipio1 were conducted under conditions that gave him less opportunity to utilize the quality of inventiveness in such clear ways2 but they were marked with the kindred qualities of foresight1 skilful adaptation of means to ends1 and presence of mind in emergencies4 ,in the minds of some1 ,csar's greatest influence on history has been due to his improvement of the ,calendar1 and especially his reforms of the public morals and the laws of ,rome1 after his campaign against ,pharnaces4 ,this subject has been the theme of jurists and scholars to such a degree that it might seem presumptuous in a navy officer to do more than mention it4 ,at the same time it may be pointed out that ,csar's work was not in any matters of detail1 or in contributing any legal or juridical skill or knowledge1 but in conceiving the idea of creating the ,leges ,juli1 and then creating them4 ,julius ,csar was murdered in the year #dd ,b4 ,c4 ,he was followed in power by his grandnephew ,octavius1 one of the most fortunate occurrences in history2 for ,octavius possessed the ability and the character to carry on the constructive work that ,julius ,csar had begun4 ,under ,octavius and his successors1 the ,roman ,empire became increasingly large and strong1 until the reign of ,trajan in the second century1 ,a4 ,d41 when it acquired its greatest territorial extent4 ,during the time when ,rome was increasing in extent and power1 the wealth of cities and of individuals increased also1 and enormous public works of all kinds were constructed1 many of which are still the admiration of the world4 ,material prosperity reached its highest point4 ,but the creative period had passed4 ,youth1 with its dreams and vigor of doing had gone1 and maturity1 with the luxury of prosperity and the consequent dulling of the imagination1 had assumed its place4 ,senescence followed in due course4 ,then the empire was divided into two parts1 the ,empire of the ,west and the ,empire of the ,east4 ,finally1 in #dgf ,a4 ,d41 ,rome died and with it the ,empire of the ,west4 ,illustration3 ,triumphal ,procession from the ,arch of ,titus ,but the ,eastern ,empire stood1 and ,constantinople was its capital4 ,and it stood1 alone and unassisted1 as the sole bulwark of ,christianity and civilization for nearly #ajjj years1 until it finally fell before the ,ottoman ,turks in #aedc4 ,it could not have done this1 if in the latter part of the seventh century when it was beleaguered by a ,turkish fleet1 much greater than its own1 it had not suddenly received unexpected aid in the shape of a new invention4 ,this was ,greek fire1 which seems to have been a pasty mixture of sulphur1 nitre1 pitch1 and other substances1 which when squirted against wood set it on fire with a flame that water could not quench4 ,in the very first attack1 the ,turks were so demoralized by the ,greek fire that they fled in panic4 ,they never learned the secret and were never able to stand up against it4 ,on one occasion1 fifteen ,christian ships1 using ,greek fire1 actually put to rout a ,turkish fleet numbering several hundred4 99 99 99 99 99 ,during all the countless centuries before the dawn of recorded history1 and during the approximately forty centuries that elapsed from the beginning of recorded history until the fall of ,rome1 we have observed the coming of many inventions of both material and immaterial kinds1 and noted the influence of those inventions in causing civilization1 and therefore in directing the line that history has followed4 ,it may be objected that a perfectly natural inference from what has been written would be that the only thing which had influenced the direction of movement of history was invention4 ,to this1 the answer may very reasonably be made that this book does not pretend to be a history1 or to point out what have been the greatest factors that have influenced its line of movement2 it attempts merely to emphasize the influence of one factor1 invention1 and to suggest that maybe its influence has not hitherto been estimated at its proper value4 ,another objection like that just indicated might be made to the effect that all the progress of the world up to the fall of ,rome is attributed in this book to inventors only2 that all the work of statesmen1 scientists1 generals1 admirals1 explorers1 jurists1 men of business1 etc41 etc41 is ignored4 ,such an objection would be natural and reasonable2 but to it an answer like the previous one may be made1 to the effect that the purpose of this book is not to compare the benefits conferred by any one class of men with those conferred by any other1 but merely to point out1 in a very general way1 what inventors have done4 ,nevertheless1 it does seem clear that inventors did more to map out the direction of the progress just traced than any other single class of men4 ,if we will fix our attention on any one invention about which we know enough--say1 the water-clock--we can see that the original inventor of the water-clock 7no matter who he was7 had more influence on the history of the clock than any other man has had2 and that the inventors of clocks who followed him had more influence on the clock than any other equal number of men had4 ,this does not mean that the men who risked their money in making novel clocks did not influence the history of the clock materially2 and it does not mean that the men who made good materials for them did not influence the history of the clock greatly2 and it does not mean that the engineers and mechanics who operated them successfully did not influence its history4 ,it would be absurd to pretend that each one of these men did not influence the history of the clock2 for without them there would have been no successful clock4 ,nevertheless1 in the nature of things1 the original inventors must be credited with influencing the history of the clock more than any other equal number of men did1 just as a father must be credited with influencing the history of his children more than any other man can1 from the mere fact of his having caused them to be born4 ,the inventors of clocks were the fathers of the clocks that they invented1 and also the forefathers of all the inventions that proceed directly or indirectly from them4 ,what has been said about the clock applies with equal force to every other invented thing4 ,therefore1 it can hardly be gainsaid that1 so far as invented things are concerned1 their inventors have had more influence on the history that has resulted from them than any other men have had4 ,if anyone will glance through any book of ancient history1 he will realize that it is mainly a record of wars2 the political changes caused by wars1 or rendered possible by their means2 the growth of nations and other organizations2 the invention of certain mechanisms1 arts and sciences2 and the construction of certain structures such as temples1 palaces and ships4 ,all these agencies influenced ancient history1 of course2 but it is clear that the agency that influenced it the most obviously and immediately was the wars4 ,yet let us remind ourselves that the real effect on history of any war was not exerted by the war itself1 so much as by the result of the war4 ,let us also remind ourselves that the result of any war was because of the material forces engaged and the skill with which they were handled4 ,now the material forces put onto the field of battle on each side in any of the wars were the product of the material resources of the country1 of its wealth1 its ability to manufacture weapons and transport troops2 that is1 of its utilization of invented mechanisms1 processes and methods4 ,the skill with which they were handled--7especially when supreme skill was exerted1 as in the cases of ,alexander and ,csar7--was the outcome not of mere laborious training1 not of mere knowledge1 or courage1 or carefully detailed arrangement1 but of plans so conceived1 developed and produced 7invented7 as to confront the enemy with unexpected situations that they were not prepared to meet4 ,so the influence of even the wars seems to have been due fundamentally to invention4 ,as to the other agencies that influenced the course of ancient history1 they seem to owe their influence even more obviously to invention than war does4 ,every department of ancient civilization seems traceable back to some invention or inventions4 ,the whole of ancient civilization seems to rest primarily on inventions4 ,as inventions were made by inventors1 we seem forced to the conclusion that inventors influenced ancient history more than any other one class did4 ,this does not mean that the inventor of a child's toy influenced history more than did any one of the millions of wise and good men in each generation who helped to keep the machine of civilization working smoothly2 for it refers to inventors as a class1 and not to inventors as individuals4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,invention ,,of ,,the ,,gun ,,and ,,of ,,printing ,the period from the fall of ,rome to the beginning of the fourteenth century was almost destitute in the matter of inventions that can be distinctly named3 though the conception and carrying into effect of ,mohammedanism in the seventh century1 the campaigns and governmental systems of ,charlemagne in the ninth century1 the invasion of ,england by ,william of ,normandy in the eleventh century1 and the ,crusades in the eleventh1 twelfth and thirteenth centuries1 as well as all the numerous wars and campaigns that succeeded each other so rapidly1 indicate a mental and nervous restlessness which sought relief in action1 and which received guidance in seeking that relief from the suggestions of invention4 ,during the interval1 paper is supposed by some to have been invented1 or at least the art of making it from rags4 ,paper itself1 however1 had been invented long before in ,china4 ,the early part of the twelfth century opened a new era in ,europe with the introduction of one of the most important inventions ever made1 the gun4 ,it is often said that gunpowder was invented then4 ,gunpowder1 of course1 had been invented or discovered many centuries before4 ,there is much obscurity about the invention of gunpowder4 ,it is usually supposed to have been invented in ,china1 and to have crept its way first to the western ,asian nations1 and afterwards to ,europe by way of the ,mediterranean4 ,there can be little doubt that gunpowder was known to the ,romans in the days of the empire2 and some accounts of ,alexander's campaigns declare that he used mines to destroy the walls of ,gaza4 ,it is supposed by many that the ,chinese had cannon1 from certain embrasures in some of their ancient walls2 but there seems to be no absolute proof of this4 ,it seems fairly well established that the ,moors used artillery in ,spain in the twelfth century2 though some writers hold that what were called firearms in ,europe before the fourteenth century were only engines which threw fire into besieged places4 ,it seems probable that the gun was invented as the result of an accident that occurred while some man was pounding the 7gunpowder7 mixture of charcoal1 saltpetre and sulphur in a receptacle of some kind4 ,according to one story1 the mixture exploded and threw the pestle violently out of the mortar4 ,from this incident1 the man who was handling the pestle1 or a bystander1 is supposed to have conceived the idea that the powder could be used intentionally to throw projectiles1 and he is supposed also to have actually proved that it could be done at will1 and to have produced a concrete appliance for doing it4 ,from the history of the case1 it would seem that the first gun was what we still call a mortar4 ,it may occur to some that 7conceding the story to be true1 which it possibly is1 in essentials7 the gun was not an invention so much as a discovery4 ,it may be pointed out1 however1 that while the fact that gunpowder would blow a pestle out of a mortar might be truly called a discovery1 yet the conception of utilizing the discovery by making a weapon1 and the subsequent making of the weapon constituted an invention of the most clean-cut kind4 ,let us realize the extreme improbability that the phenomenon of the expulsive force of gunpowder was then noted for the first time4 ,it seems probable that accidental ignition of the mixture had often occurred before1 and missiles hurled in all directions in consequence4 ,but1 as happens in the vast majority of all incidents1 no one imagined any possible utilization of the facts disclosed by the incident2 and if the man who invented the gun1 after witnessing the expulsion of the pestle from the mortar1 had not been endowed with both imagination and constructiveness1 he would have treated it as most of us treat an incident--merely as an incident4 ,but the imagination of this man must at once have conceived a picture of what we now call a mortar1 which should be designed and constructed so that projectiles could be expelled from it at will1 in whatever direction the mortar were pointing2 and then his constructive faculty must have taken up the task that imagination had suggested1 and developed the conception into a concrete thing4 ,into the long1 elaborate and exciting history of the development of the gun1 that has been carried on with enormous energy ever since1 it is not necessary at this point to enter4 ,since the sixteenth century1 its history is accurately known1 and many large books are filled with descriptions and diagrams and mathematical tables and formul that recount its progress in detail2 while the histories of all the nations blaze with stories of the battles in which guns have been employed4 ,of all the inventions ever made1 it is doubtful if the development and improvement of any other has enlisted the services of a greater number of men and of more important men1 than the gun4 ,it is more than doubtful if a greater amount of money has been expended on any other invention1 if a greater number of experiments have been made1 or if more mental and physical energy has been expended4 ,certain it is that no other invention has had so direct and powerful an effect on human beings2 for the number of men it has killed and wounded must be expressed in terms of millions4 ,this phase of the influence of the gun on history is clearly marked4 ,not so clearly marked1 but really more important1 has been its influence in deciding wars2 for the ways in which wars have been decided have been the turning points in the march of history4 ,the issue of ,alexander's wars1 for instance1 had decided that ,greek civilization should not perish1 but survive2 the issue of ,csar's wars in ,gaul had decided that ,roman civilization should extend north over ,europe1 and that the western incursion of the savage ,germans should be stopped2 the issue of the wars between the vigorous ,goths and degenerate ,rome had decided that ,rome must die2 and so forth1 and so forth4 ,so1 after the invention of the gun1 the issue of every succeeding war supplied a new turning point for history to follow4 ,naturally1 those nations that took the most skilful1 prompt and thorough advantage of the power1 range and accuracy of the new invention gained in almost every case the victory over their opponents4 ,so long as no weapons existed1 struggles between men had to be decided by physical strength and cunning and quickness only4 ,when the first flint fist-hammer was invented1 a man who was sagacious enough and industrious enough and skilful enough to make one1 could gain the victory over many another man of greater physical strength and quickness1 but who had not the sagacity1 industry and skill to provide himself with a flint fist-hammer4 ,supposing the flint fist-hammer to be the first invention ever made1 as many think it was1 we see here the first instance of the influence of invention on history2 because this first invention influenced the course of history in favor of men possessing sagacity1 industry and skill1 as against men not possessing those qualities4 ,by doing this1 it not only decided that such men 7and tribes composed of such men7 should prevail1 but did even more to influence history2 it induced men and tribes to make and develop and utilize inventions4 ,this resulted in what we call civilization4 ,as each improved weapon followed its predecessor1 a new demand was made2--not only for a new kind of skill on the part of the man making the weapon and on the part of the soldiers using it1 but also for foresight on the part of the tribe or nation that would supply the weapon to its troops4 ,it is easily realized that1 if there were two contiguous tribes about to go to war against each other1 one of which was ruled by a sagacious1 energetic and far-seeing chief1 while the other was ruled by a dull1 slothful and short-sighted chief1 the former chief would probably provide his warriors with the newest weapon 7say1 the bow and arrow7 and train them in its use2 whereas the other would ignore it and go to battle with clubs and javelins only4 ,as between two tribes otherwise equally matched1 the result would be obvious2 and doubtless it was exceedingly obvious in hundreds of tribal battles1 before the dawn of history4 ,it is a characteristic of evolution1 as has been pointed out by wise men1 that complexity eventually evolves from simplicity4 ,in no one department of man's endeavor does this truth stand out more clearly than in the evolution of weapons4 ,for the oldest weapon that we know of was probably a stone1 or a stick used as a club2 and each succeeding weapon has been more complicated than its predecessor1--needing additional parts with which to secure the additional results achieved4 ,this increased complexity has entailed increased liability to derangement1 because the failure of any one part has entailed the failure or the decreased effectiveness of the weapon as a whole4 ,this increased liability to derangement has entailed a demand for not only increased care and skill in fabricating the weapon1 but for increased knowledge1 diligence and skill in caring for it1 and using it4 ,the superiority of the gun over all previously existing weapons was quickly recognized1 and every civilized nation soon adopted it as its major implement of war4 ,as the gun was a piece of mechanism1 it possessed the attribute which seems to give to pieces of mechanism an element of superiority over every other thing in the universe1 the attribute of continual improvability4 ,human beings do not possess this attribute1 nor does any other thing in nature1 so far as we know4 ,every human being begins where his father did--and so does everything else on the earth2 though human invention has recently made it possible for certain plants to be improved4 ,no new invention ever dies as a man does1 even if the material parts or immaterial parts that compose it are destroyed4 ,on the contrary1 it lives1 in the sense that it exists as a definite usable entity1 and also in the sense that it continues to propagate4 ,and the things that it propagates do not begin as helpless and useless babies1 but as mature creations4 ,the first completed gun is still the model for the guns that men make now1 and will continue to be the model for all guns in the future4 ,the man who made the first gun has been succeeded by other men1 as the first gun has been succeeded by other guns2 but the human successors have been no improvement on the inventor of the first gun1 while the guns that have succeeded the first gun have been improvements on it to a degree that it is difficult--in fact1 impossible1 to realize4 ,the relations of the gun to civilization are reciprocal1 and are therefore in accord with most of the other phenomena of our lives2 for just as the gun furthered the improvement of civilization1 civilization furthered the improvement of the gun4 ,nearly every step taken in the physical sciences1 and afterward in engineering and general mechanics1 has had a direct effect in improving the gun4 ,the gun began as an exceedingly rough1 awkward and crude appliance2 the gun today is one of the most highly specialized and perfect appliances that the world possesses4 ,but it is not only the gun itself that has been improved2 the powder has also been improved1 and to a degree almost equal1 if not quite4 ,when we realize that modern gunnery is so exact that if a gun is fired in any direction and at any angle of elevation1 the projectiles will fall so close to a designated spot that all considerable variations in the points of fall from that spot are usually attributed to other causes than imperfection in the powder2 and if we realize also that a variation of one per cent4 in the initial velocity imparted to a projectile by its powder would result in a variation 7practically speaking7 of one per cent4 in the range attained1 we then may realize how perfectly understood the laws of the combustion of powder and the development of powder gas have become1 and how perfect are the methods of manufacturing1 storing and using it4 ,books upon books have been written on the subject of making and using gunpowder2 and as high a grade of experimental ability has been employed as on the development of any other art4 ,it is not quite clear whether stationary cannon or small guns carried by soldiers were the first to be used2 but the probability seems to be that cannon were the first4 ,it soon became desirable to devise and to make appliances for holding the cannon in position1 elevating them to predetermined angles1 and transporting them from place to place4 ,to accomplish these things1 gun-carriages were invented4 ,these appliances have kept pace with guns and gunpowder in the march of improvement2 countless minor inventions have been made2 countless experiments have been conducted2 countless books and articles have been written2 countless millions of money have been expended4 ,that the field has been large can readily be realized1 when we remind ourselves of the numberless situations that gun-carriages have had to be adapted to1 on the level plains of ,central ,europe1 in the mountains1 on the sands of the desert1--in cold and heat and wet2 and on the ocean also1 in small vessels and great battleships1 to handle cannon great and small1 on the uneasy surface of the sea4 ,but it will not be enough for us to realize that it has been necessary to construct gun-carriages so ingeniously that guns can be handled on them under all these circumstances2 for we will fall short of a realization of what must be attained1 unless we realize that the guns must be handled with safety1 and 7which is more difficult of attainment7 with precision and yet with quickness4 ,now to bring the gun and its accessories to the high standard they have now reached1 the resources of virtually all the physical sciences have been required and utilized2 so that1 while modern civilization was made possible by the gun1 and could not have been made possible without it1 the modern gun has been made possible by civilization1 and could not have been made possible without it4 ,this mutuality between civilization and the gun is evident in the relations between civilization and every other great invention4 ,it is very clearly evident in the case of material mechanism2 for it has been plainly impossible for any material invention to exist without directly and indirectly contributing to the improvement1 and even to the birth1 of others4 ,any improvement in the process of making any metal or any compound has always been of assistance to every mechanism using that metal or that compound2 and it seems impossible to name any mechanism or process whose invention has not helped some other mechanism or process4 ,in the matter of the invention of immaterial things1 the effect may not be quite so obvious2 and yet it is plain that most of those inventions have contributed to the safety1 intelligence and stabilization of peoples1 and therefore to a condition of mentality and of tranquillity that permitted and often encouraged the improvement of existing appliances1 and the invention of new ones4 ,of one class of immaterial invention1 such as new books on the physical and engineering sciences1 the influence on material inventions is1 of course1 as obvious as it is profound4 ,the boom of the gun may be said1 by a not forced figure of speech1 to have ushered in the new civilization that rose from the mental lethargy of the ,middle ,ages2 for it was the first great invention of all in the long line that have followed since4 ,as it was the first1 and because without it the others would have been impossible1 we can hardly avoid the conclusion that it was the most important4 ,the mutual reactions between the gun and civilization have resulted1 and are still resulting1 in widening the distance between the civilized and the uncivilized1 placing more and more power in the hands of the civilized1 and putting the uncivilized more and more into subjection by the civilized4 ,the process that began with the invention of the fist-hammer1 and was continued through the centuries by all the improvements in weapons that followed1 was brought to a halt when ,rome fell1 and not revived until the gun came into general use in the fourteenth century4 ,during the interval of nearly nine hundred years1 civilization indeed went backward with the advance of the barbarians into ,europe1 checked but not wholly stopped by ,charles ,martel at the ,battle of ,tours in #gcb1 and later by ,charlemagne1 his grandson1 in numerous campaigns4 ,but the gun1 being adopted and improved by peoples having the mentality needed to discern its usefulness1 stabilized the conditions of living afterward by keeping in check the barbarians1 especially east of ,europe4 ,its greatest single usefulness followed from this by making possible the development and utilization of the next great invention4 ,this invention was next to the gun in point of time4 ,it was next to the gun in influence on history also2 and some people think it has had even more influence than the gun4 ,this invention is usually called the invention of printing4 ,of course1 printing had been invented centuries before1 probably in ,china1 and had been practiced during all the intervening centuries1 in ,china1 ,egypt1 ,babylonia1 ,assyria1 ,greece1 ,rome1 the ,hellenistic countries and ,italy4 ,but the printing had been done from blocks on which were cut or carved many characters1 that expressed whole words or sentences4 ,naturally1 printing done from them was not adaptable to the recording of discussions1 the making of connected narratives1 or the publishing of books4 ,suddenly1 about the year #adcd1 ,john ,gutenberg1 who lives at ,mayence1 conceives the idea of cutting only one letter on each block1 putting the blocks in forms so arranged that the blocks can be put in such sequence as may be desired for spelling words1 and all the blocks secured firmly in position4 ,in other words1 he invented movable type4 ,objection may be made to this statement1 and the declaration urged that movable type were used in ,china before the ,christian era4 ,possibly they were2 some declarations have been made to that effect4 ,but even if they were1 we cannot see that their invention there had any considerable influence on history4 ,china was separated from western ,asia and from ,africa and ,europe by the long stretch of the dry lands of ,central ,asia1 across which little communication passed4 ,it is more nearly certain than most things are in ancient history1 that the civilized peoples of western ,asia1 ,africa and ,europe1 including ,gutenberg himself1 did not know of movable type until ,gutenberg invented them4 ,it is absolutely certain that virtually the whole of the influence that printing by movable type has exercised on history sprang from the invention of ,gutenberg4 ,it started almost immediately2 and it increased with a rapidity and a certainty that are amazing4 ,no invention made before1 not even the gun1 was seized upon with such avidity4 ,the world wanted it4 ,the world seemed to have been waiting for it1 though unconsciously4 ,it may be well at this point to impress upon our minds the fact that no invention has ever been recognized as an invention1 unless it has been put into a concrete form4 ,the ,u4 ,s4 ,patent ,office1 for instance1 will not award a patent for any invention unless it is described and illustrated so clearly that any one skilled in the art can make and use it4 ,it is an axiom that a man cannot patent an idea4 ,in many countries a patentee is required to work his invention1 to make apparatus embodying it1 and to put the apparatus to use4 ,the underlying idea of the patent laws of all countries is that the good of the public is the end in view1 and not the good of the inventor2 that rewards are held out to the inventor1 merely to induce him to put devices of practical value into the hands of the people4 ,from this point of view1 which seems to be the correct one1 the mere fact that a man conceives of a device1 even if he afterward develops his device to the degree that he illustrates it and describes it to someone in such a way that a person skilled in the art can make and use it1 does not entitle him to any reward4 ,he must use due diligence in communicating full knowledge of his invention to the public1 through the ,patent ,office1 ask for a patent1 and pay to the ,government the prescribed fee4 ,now1 ,gutenberg worked his invention so energetically that1 with the assistance of ,faust1 ,schaeffer and others1 an exceedingly efficient system of printing books was in practical operation as early as #adee4 ,the types were of metal1 and were cast from a matrix that had been stamped out by a steel punch1 and could therefore be so accurately fashioned that the type had a beautiful sharpness and finish4 ,in addition1 certain mechanical apparatus of a simple kind 7printing presses7 were invented1 whereby the type could be satisfactorily handled1 and impressions could be taken from them with accuracy and quickness4 ,news of the invention spread so rapidly that before the year #aejj printing presses were at work in every country of ,europe4 ,the first books printed were1 of course1 the works of the ancient authors1 beginning with three editions of ,donatus4 ,these were multiplied in great numbers1 and gave the first effective impulse to the spread of civilization from the ,grco-,oriental countries1 where it had been sleeping1 to the hungry intellects of ,europe4 ,the new birth of civilization 7usually called the ,renaissance7 began in ,italy1 where civilization had never quite died out1 at some time during the fourteenth century1 and took the form at first of the study of classical literature4 ,this led naturally to a search for old manuscripts2 and so ardent did this search become that the libraries of cathedrals and monasteries in all the civilized countries were ransacked4 ,many new libraries were founded1 especially in ,italy1 to hold the old manuscripts that were discovered4 ,a great impetus was given to the movement by the exodus of scholars from ,constantinople1 and their migration west to ,italy1 during the half century between the year #adjj and the fall of ,constantinople before the ,ottoman ,turks in #adec4 ,illustration3 ,the ,printing of ,books ,therefore1 when the news of the invention of ,gutenberg reached the scholars of ,italy and other lands1 they seized upon it as an undreamed-of blessing for bringing about that widespread study of the classical authors which they had been struggling under so many difficulties to accomplish4 ,to narrate and describe the progress made since then in the art of printing would be to rewrite what has been written from time to time in books and magazines and papers4 ,to describe and point out the other arts that have sprung directly from the art of printing1 such as the manufacture of printing presses and allied machinery1 would require an enormous book of a wholly technical nature2 to describe and point out the arts that have been made necessary1 and the arts that have been made possible1 by the invention of printing would entail a history of most of the industrial arts of the present day2 while to mention and adequately describe the measures that have resulted from the invention of printing1 and those made necessary and possible by it1 would entail a history of all the civilization that has come into being since printing was invented4 ,the effects of the invention of printing are most of them so obvious that it would be unnecessary to call attention to them4 ,no other one art seems to be so directly and clearly to be credited with the progress of civilization4 ,in the minds of many people1 perhaps of most people1 printing is considered the most important invention ever made4 ,maybe it is2 but let us remind ourselves that the gun came before the printing-press1 and that the civilization contributed to by the printing press would not have been possible without the gun4 ,it may be answered that1 nevertheless1 the printing press contributed more than the gun2 in the same way that a bank contributes more to the welfare of a city than does the policeman who guards the bank4 ,such an argument would have much to commend it1 and it may be based on the correct view of the situation4 ,but to the author1 the gun seems to constitute the foundation of modern civilization1 and the printing press to be part of the structure built upon it2 for the fundamental enemy to civilization has always been the barbarian1 be he a savage under ,attila or a ,bolshevik in ,new ,york4 ,it is true that civilization may be considered as more important than the means that makes it possible1 but even this seems to be discussible2 but that the gun constitutes more distinctly the preservative influence of modern civilization than any other one thing constitutes civilization itself seems hardly to be discussible4 ,the whole system of defense of all the nations against foes outside and anarchy inside has rested on the gun ever since it was invented2 whereas1 not even the printing press can be said to be the only element1 or even the main element1 in modern civilization4 ,this brief discussion is perhaps not very important2 but it does not wholly lack importance1 for the reason that it brings into clear relief the fact that we cannot reasonably discuss civilization without realizing the dangers that confront it1 and have always confronted it1 and will continue to confront it4 ,civilization is an artificial product1 that some people think has more evil in it than good for the majority of mankind1 and that certainly has been forced on mankind by a very small minority4 ,the foundation on which the force has rested for four hundred years has been the gun4 ,but whatever the comparative amount of influence of the gun and the printing press1 there can be no doubt that they have worked together hand in hand3 that one guarded1 and the other assisted1 the first tottering steps of the ,renaissance movement1 and that both have continued to guard and assist the grand march that soon began1 and that is still advancing4 ,as the circumstances surrounding the invention of both the gun and the art of printing are sufficiently well known to warrant the belief that each was made1 not by a king or any other man of high position1 but by a man relatively obscure1 and that the surroundings and early life of both were not those of courts or palaces1 but those of a humble kind1 it may be well to note how enormous are the results that have flowed from causes that seem to be very small4 ,we have been told that great oaks from little acorns grow2 but the consequences that have grown from the conception of the idea of printing are larger than any oak2 and an acorn is probably much larger than the part of the brain in which an idea is conceived4 ,as a matter of interest1 let us realize the strong resemblance between the impression we receive from a material object actually seen by the eye and the memory of that impression afterwards4 ,let us then realize the strong resemblance between it and another impression of that same object seen mentally but not physically2 for instance1 let us realize the strong resemblance between the impression made on us by actually seeing some friend and the impression received by imagining him receiving a letter which we are now writing to him4 ,the first picture was an image of the external object that was physically made on the retina1 as a picture or image is made by a camera on a screen2 but that picture on the retina must have been seen by the brain1 or we would not have known of it4 ,the other pictures were not made physically on the retina1 so far as we know4 ,yet we all realize that we can make pictures on our minds the more readily if we close our eyes4 ,the fact of our eyes being open seems to operate adversely to our receiving a clear mental picture4 ,now it is a matter of fact that an object 7for instance1 a pole7 can be seen by a person with normal eyesight1 if it subtends an angle as great as one minute2 that a pole a foot thick can be seen clearly from a distance of #cfjj feet1 at which distance it subtends that angle4 ,the rays of light pass through the crystalline lens of the eye and are focussed on the retina1 as they pass through the lens of the camera1 and are focussed on the sensitized paper4 ,assuming the distance from the crystalline lens to the retina to be about three-quarters of an inch1 the pole would be represented on the retina by an image #c_/7d x #cfjj7 or less than #a_/djjj of an inch wide4 ,during daylight our retinas are continually receiving images of which all lines as wide as #a_/djjj of an inch 7and much narrower7 are very clearly apprehended by the mind4 ,but very few of those images are noticed by us4 ,it is only when some incident calls them to our attention1 or when the mind voluntarily seizes on them1 that any conscious impression is made upon the brain4 ,similarly1 images of physical objects unseen by the physical eye are continually made on the mind3 we are continually thinking of our friends and of past incidents and possible future incidents2 and our thoughts of these things take the form of pictures4 ,we see the man with whom we had a conversation yesterday1 and we see him with a clearness that is proportional to the interest taken by the mind in the conversation and the circumstances surrounding it4 ,if our conversation was uninteresting and the circumstances tame1 we see him dimly4 ,but if our conversation was angry and the circumstances were exciting1 we see him and the surroundings very vividly--so vividly that our anger is again aroused2 perhaps to as high degree as on the day before1 or even higher4 ,this image-making is1 of course1 voluntary sometimes2 but most images come without volition on our part1 and require no effort that we are conscious of4 ,to call up an image voluntarily requires conscious effort2 and to keep it in position while we gaze upon it requires effort that is great in proportion to the time during which it is exerted4 ,psychologists speak of this act of keeping an image in position as one of giving attention1 or paying attention4 ,to perform this act requires the exercise of will1 unless the act gives pleasure1 or the image suggests danger2 in each of these cases1 of course1 the act is almost involuntary4 ,a man who is observant notes consciously the incidents that are passing around him3 he seizes on certain of the millions of pictures passing before him1 concentrates their images on his retina1 and gazes on each one for a while4 ,similarly1 a man who is contemplative1 seizes on certain of the vague mental pictures passing through his mind1 concentrates his attention on them1 and gazes at each one for a while4 ,we call the former an observant man and the other a thoughtful man4 ,sometimes an observant man learns a great deal from what he sees1 in the same way that sometimes a studious man learns a great deal from what he studies2 but the learning of course cannot be accomplished without the assistance of the memory4 ,one is often surprised to see how little some observant and studious men have remembered4 ,many impressions have been received1 but few retained4 ,the thoughtful man1 of course1 cannot in the nature of things receive so many conscious impressions as the merely observant or studious man2 for the reason that he continually seizes on one and then another1 and holds each for a time1 while he fixes his attention on it4 ,usually1 however1 the thoughtful man memorizes his observations or his studies for some specific purpose2 he moves the various images about in his mind2 and arranges them in classes3 for otherwise1 the various images would form merely an aggregation of apparently unrelated facts4 ,the value of such aggregations is1 of course1 enormous2 they compose what we call data1 and include such things as tables of dates1 etc4 ,but data1 even tables of dates1 have no value in themselves2 it is only from their relations to other things that they have value4 ,there would be no value1 for instance1 in knowing that ,william of ,normandy invaded ,england in #ajff1 unless we knew who ,william was1 and what ,england was1 and what the effect of his invading it was4 ,now the thoughtful man1 like the man who arranges a card-catalogue in such a way that it will be useful1 not only notes isolated facts1 but puts them into juxtaposition with each other1 and sees what their relations are4 ,the mental pictures that he finally fixes in his mind are of related things1 seen in their correct perspective4 ,they are like the pictures which are made on the mind of anyone by--say1 a landscape3 whereas the mental pictures made by an unthoughtful man are such as little children probably receive from nature2 pictures in which the trees and hills and valleys of a landscape do not appear as such1 but merely as a great aggregation of numberless separate images1 confused and meaningless like the colored pieces of a kaleidoscope4 ,to the thoughtful man1 therefore1 life seems not quite so meaningless as to his neighbor2 though even the most thoughtful can fix very few complete and extensive pictures in his mind4 ,if his thoughtfulness takes him no further than simply forming pictures that enable him to see things as they are1 and in their correct relations to each other1 he becomes a man of good judgment1 a man valuable in any community1 especially for filling positions in which the ability to make correct deductions is required4 ,such a man1 however1 no matter how correctly he may estimate any situation1 no matter how clearly he may see all the factors in it1 no matter how accurately he may gauge their relative values and positions1 may be unable to suggest any way for utilizing its possible benefits1 or warding off its possible dangers4 ,that is1 he may lack constructiveness4 ,he is like a man who possesses any desirable thing or dangerous thing1 and who understands all there is to understand about it1 but does not know what to do with it4 ,the various factors are in his 7mental7 hands1 but he can make nothing of them4 ,the constructive man can construct concrete entities out of what are apparently wholly individual factors having no relation to each other2 he can1 for instance1 take two pieces of wood and a piece of string1 and make a weapon with which he can kill living animals at a considerable distance4 ,with neither the pieces of wood nor the string could he do that2 and he could not do it with all three1 unless he were able to construct them into a bow and arrow4 ,that is1 he could make the weapon if he had ever seen it made before4 ,if he were only constructive and not inventive1 he could not make it unless he had seen it done before1 or knew it had been done4 ,men of purely constructive ability have not of themselves taken very conspicuous parts on the stage of history2 and yet the things that they have constructed comprise nearly all that we can see and hear and touch in the world of civilization4 ,thus history1 while it is a narrative of things that have been done1 is not a narrative of all the things that have been done1 but only of the new and striking things4 ,it is a narrative of wars1 of the rise and fall of nations1 of the founding of cities1 of the establishment of religions and theories1 of the writing of books1 of the invention of mechanisms1 of the painting of pictures1 of the carving of statues2 in general1 of the creative work that man has done4 ,the merely constructive man1 unless he has been inventive also1 has never constructed anything of a really novel kind4 ,it is a matter of everyday experience that nearly all the things that are constructed are according to former patterns and the lessons of experience4 ,all the constructive and engineering arts and sciences are studied and practiced for the purpose of enabling men to build bridges and houses and locomotives1 etc41 in such ways1 as experience has shown to be good4 ,nearly all our acts1 nearly all our utterances1 nearly all our thoughts1 are of stereotyped and conventional forms4 ,this condition of affairs possesses so many advantages that we cannot even imagine any other to exist4 ,it enables a man to act nearly automatically in most of the situations of life4 ,the main reason for drilling a soldier is that when confronted with the conditions of battle1 he shall fire his musket and do his other acts automatically1 undisturbed by the danger and excitement4 ,similarly1 all our experience in life tends to automaticity4 ,it is a very comfortable condition1 for it demands the minimum amount of mental and nervous energy4 ,the conductor demands your fare1 and you pay it almost automatically4 ,that a condition of automaticity prevails in nature1 as we see it1 one is tempted to suppose3 for the seasons succeed each other with a regularity suggestive of it4 ,but even if the machine of nature and the machine of civilization are automatic now1 we have no reason for believing that they always were so4 ,even the most perfect automatic engine had to be started at some time1 and it had to be invented before it could be started2 and it had also to go through a long process of development4 ,similarly1 a man reads a paper almost automatically2 but it required years of time to develop his ability to do so4 ,now it has happened from time to time in history that some invention has broken in on the smoothly running machine of civilization and introduced a change4 ,the gun did this1 and so did the printing press4 ,in every such case1 a few men have welcomed the invention1 but the majority have resented the change3 some of them because their interests were threatened by it2 others because of the instinctive but powerful influence of dislike of change4 ,the purely constructive man does not cause any such jolt4 ,his work proceeds smoothly1 uniformly1 and usually with approval4 ,but the inventive man1 his eye in a fine frenzy rolling1 is visited with some vision which he cannot or will not dismiss1 and which compels him to try to embody it in some form1 and to continue to try until he succeeds in doing so1 or gives up1 confessing failure4 ,the inventive man1 having seen the vision1 becomes a constructive man1 and 7in case he succeeds7 puts the vision which he sees into such form that other people can see it also4 ,it is obvious therefore that two kinds of ability are needed to produce a really good invention of any kind1 inventive ability and constructive ability2 and it is also obvious that they are separate1 though they cooperate4 ,many an invention of a quality that was mediocre or even inferior in originality1 novelty and scope1 has been quite acceptable by reason of the excellent constructive work that was done upon it3 many a book and many an essay has succeeded almost wholly because of the skilful construction of the sentences2 many a picture because of the accuracy of the perspective and the mixing of the colors2 many a new mechanical device because of the excellent workmanship bestowed upon it4 ,conversely1 many a grand and beautiful conception has failed of recognition because of the poor constructive work that was done on it4 ,but occasionally a ,shakespeare has given to the world an enduring masterpiece1 the joint work of the highest order of invention and the highest order of constructive skill2 occasionally a ,raphael has painted a picture similarly conceived and executed2 and occasionally an ,edison has given the world a mechanical invention1 comparably wonderful and perfect4 ,in all such cases1 the start of the work was a picture on the mental retina2 an image of something that was not1 but might be made to be4 ,a physical picture is actually made on the physical retina1 but it cannot be recognized by the owner of the retina1 unless a healthy optic nerve transmits it to his brain4 ,every mental picture must also be transmitted to the brain2 and some mental pictures are very bright and clear4 ,in some forms of insanity1 the mental pictures are so clear that the patient cannot be persuaded that they are not physical2 the patient sees a man approaching him1 when there is no man approaching him2 but the impression made on the patient's mind is the same as if there were4 ,the thought of the enormousness of the consequences that have followed the appearing of some visions to men 7the vision of the gun1 for instance7 is almost stunning1 if we try to realize the small area of the brain that the vision must have covered4 ,if a line #a_/djjj of an inch wide made on the physical retina and afterwards transmitted to the brain is seen with perfect clearness by the mind1 what a small area of the brain must have been covered by the original vision of the gun6 ,yet how vast have been its consequences6 ,the fact that the inventor sees a vision1 and then mentally arranges and rearranges the various material elements available in order to embody his vision in a painting1 a project1 a machine1 a poem or a sonata1 indicates that the essential processes of invention are wholly mental4 ,this truth is illustrated by the work of every inventor1 great or small4 ,possibly1 the most convincing illustration is that given by the deaf ,beethoven1 who conceived and composed some of his grandest works when he could not physically hear a note4 ,reference to the work of ,roger ,bacon has not been made1 because of the doubts surrounding it4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,columbus1 ,,copernicus1 ,,galileo ,,and ,,others ,long before the ,christian era the ,chinese used pivoted magnetic needles to indicate absolute direction to them2 but that they possessed or had invented the mariner's compass1 there is considerable doubt4 ,the history of the invention of the mariner's compass has not yet been written4 ,it is not known when1 or where1 or by whom it was invented4 ,it is well-known1 however1 that the mariner's compass was in use in the ,mediterranean ,sea in the early part of the fifteenth century ,a4 ,d4 ,guided by it1 the navigators of that day pushed far out from land4 ,the first great navigational feat that followed the invention of the compass was that performed by the ,portuguese1 ,bartholomew ,dias1 who conceived the idea of reaching ,india by going around ,africa1 and sailed down the west coast of ,africa as far as its southern end1 later called the ,cape of ,good ,hope4 ,it was a tremendous undertaking1 and it had tremendous results2 for it demonstrated the possibilities of great ocean voyages1 proved that the road to ,india was very long1 and led to the expedition of ,columbus1 six years later4 ,it was also a great invention1 both in brilliancy of conception and excellence of execution1 although ,dias did not reach ,india4 ,the second great navigational feat was performed by ,christopher ,columbus in #adib4 ,before that time it was conceded by most men of learning and reflection that the earth was spherical2 and it was realized that1 if it was spherical1 it might be possible by sailing to the westward to reach ,india1 the goal of all commercial expeditions in that day4 ,columbus is not to be credited with the first conception of that possibility4 ,illustration3 ,portuguese ,voyages and ,possessions ,but that conception rested undeveloped in the minds of only a few men4 ,had it not been for ,columbus1 or some man like him1 it would have remained undeveloped and borne no fruit4 ,the ,savior in his parable tells us of the sower who went forth to sow1 and tells us also that most of the grain fell on stony ground4 ,so it is with most of the opportunities that are offered to us every day2 and so it is even with most of the visions that are placed before our minds4 ,but the ,savior tells us also of other grains that fell on good ground and bore abundant fruit4 ,such are the conceptions that the great inventors have embodied2 such was the conception that fell on the good ground of the mind of ,christopher ,columbus4 ,the conception that came to him was not of the possibility that someone could sail west and eventually reach ,india1 but of preparing a suitable expedition himself and actually sailing west and reaching ,india4 ,the conception must have been wonderfully powerful and clear1 for it dominated all his life thereafter4 ,but he could not make others see the vision that he saw4 ,for many years he went from place to place1 trying to get the means wherewith to prepare his expedition4 ,he made only a few converts1 but he did make a few4 ,some of these exerted their influence on ,queen ,isabella of ,spain4 ,she1 together with her husband ,ferdinand1 then supplied the money and other necessaries for the expedition4 ,the invention of the gun was followed by the invention of printing in #adcd1 and this by the discovery of ,america in #adib4 ,these three epochal occurrences started the new civilization with a tremendous impetus4 ,this impetus was immediately reinforced by the voyage of the ,portuguese ,admiral1 ,vasco da ,gama1 around the ,cape of ,good ,hope to ,india in #adig-adih1 and the circumnavigation of the globe by ,ferdinand ,magellan in #aeai-aebb4 ,the immediate practical influence of da ,gama's feat was almost to kill the commerce of the cities of ,italy and ,alexandria with ,india by way of the ,red ,sea and the ,indian ,ocean1 and to transfer the center of the sea-commerce of the world to the west coast of ,europe1 especially ,portugal4 ,near the west coast it has rested ever since2 though but little of it stayed long with ,portugal4 ,while ,magellan's voyage was not quite so important as the discovery of ,america1 it was not immeasurably less so2 for it set at rest forever the most important question in geography1--was the earth round or not8 ,the voyage of ,columbus had not answered it1 because he returned by the same route as that by which he went4 ,but ,magellan started in a southwesterly course1 and one of his ships again reached home1 coming from the east4 ,the ,victoria had circumnavigated the globe6 ,only eighteen men and one ship returned4 ,the other ships and the other men had perished4 ,magellan himself had been buried in the ,philippines4 ,the news of ,magellan's great exploit and the stories that came to ,europe of the riches beyond the sea1 resulted soon in an idea coming to the mind of ,hernando ,cortez1 the development of that idea into a concrete plan1 and the making of a complete invention4 ,this was a plan by which he should head an expedition to a certain part of the ,new ,world1 and convert the heathen dwelling there2 doing whatever killing and impoverishing and general maltreatment might be found to be convenient or desirable4 ,the invention worked perfectly2 some half-savage ,indians of what we now call ,mexico were converted1 many were killed1 and untold treasure was forcibly obtained4 ,the success of this invention was so great that ,francisco ,pizarro was inspired to copy it1 and to try it on some ,indians in a country that now we call ,peru4 ,whether ,pizarro improved on ,cortez's scheme1 or whether the conditions of success were better need not concern us now3 the main fact seems to be that ,pizarro was able to convert and kill and impoverish and generally ruin more effectively than ,cortez4 ,following ,cortez and ,pizarro1 many expeditions sailed from ,spain to the ,west ,indies1 ,central ,america and ,south ,america1 and carried out similar programs4 ,the two principal results were that those parts of the world were soon dominated by ,spain1 and that the people of ,spain received large amounts of gold and treasure4 ,the main result to them was that they succumbed under the enervating influence of the artificial prosperity produced1 and rapidly deteriorated4 ,by the end of the hundred years' period after ,columbus discovered ,america1 ,spain was clearly following the downward path1 and at high speed4 ,one of the early results of the invention of printing was an increased ability of people separated by considerable distances to interchange their views2 and a still greater though allied result was an increased ability of men of thought and courage to impress their thoughts upon great numbers of people4 ,at the time when printing was invented1 the ,church of ,rome had ceased to dominate ,european nations as wholly as it had done before2 but it exercised a vast power in each country4 ,this was because of its prestige1 its hold on the clergy and the ,church property1 and its authority in many questions connected with marriage1 wills1 appointments1 etc4 ,this was resented1 but impotently1 by the various sovereigns4 ,it was realized also 7and it came to be realized with increasing clearness toward the end of the fifteenth century7 that there were many grave evils and scandals in the ,church1 even in the highest quarters4 ,the printing-press lent itself admirably to the dissemination of views on this matter3 so that there gradually grew up a strong and widespread feeling of discontent4 ,but despite considerable friction as to the limits of their respective functions1 the ,church and the ,state were so intimately allied in every country1 and each realized so clearly its dependence on the other1 that no movement of any magnitude against even the acknowledged evils had been able to gain ground4 ,no man appeared who was able to conceive and execute a plan that could successfully effect reform4 ,but such a man appeared in the year #aeag1 whose name was ,martin ,luther4 ,he was a poor monk2 but a knowledge of virtually all there was to know lived in his mind1 coupled with imagination to conceive1 constructiveness to plan1 and courage to perform4 ,in that fateful year1 #aeag1 the ,pope sent agents through the world to sell indulgences1 which remitted certain temporal punishments for sin1 in return for gifts of money4 ,the agent who was commissioned for ,germany carried out his work with so little tact and moderation1 that he made the granting of indulgences seem even a more scandalous procedure than it really was4 ,luther had been preaching the doctrine of a simple following of the teachings of the ,savior1 and deprecating a too close adherence to mere forms and ritual4 ,he now seems to have conceived a clean-cut plan of effective action2 for on the evening before the indulgences were to be offered on ,all ,saints ,day1 in the ,church of ,wittemberg1 ,luther nails on the door his celebrated ninety-five theses against the sale4 ,the printing-press reproduced copies of these in great numbers throughout ,germany4 ,a definite sentiment antagonistic to the indulgences developed rapidly1 and a general movement toward the reform of the abuses in the ,church took shape4 ,luther was threatened with excommunication by the ,pope in #aebj1 but he burned a copy of the papal bull in a public place on ,december #aj of that year4 ,the emperor of ,germany convened a meeting of the ,diet at ,worms in #aeba1 at which he exerted all his powers to make ,luther retract3 but in vain4 ,so great a following did ,luther now have that1 though the emperor put him under ban1 and all persons were forbidden to feed or give him shelter1 he was cared for secretly by men in high position1 until he voluntarily came out of hiding1 and appeared in ,wittemberg4 ,the emperor called a meeting of the ,diet at ,spires in #aebf1 and another meeting in #aebi4 ,both meetings had for their object the suppression of the movement begun by ,luther4 ,it was against a decree made by the second ,diet that certain high officials and others made the famous protest1 that caused the name to be affixed to them of ,protestants4 ,this name has been perpetuated to this day4 ,as is well known1 the movement resulted1 after nearly a hundred years of disturbed conditions1 in a series of wars1 called ,the ,thirty ,years' ,war that began in #afah1 and ended with the ,peace of ,westphalia in #afdh4 ,this ,peace marked the end of the ,reformation period1 and resulted in establishing ,protestantism in ,north ,germany1 ,denmark1 ,norway1 ,sweden1 ,england and ,scotland4 ,the influence of ,luther's conception with its subsequent development was thus definite1 widespread and profound1 even if regarded from a merely religious point of view3 but the influence it had on religion was only a part of its total influence4 ,in words1 the protest was against certain abuses in the ,roman ,church2 but in fact it was against a domination exercised over the minds and souls of men4 ,luther's influence was in reforming not only the ,roman ,catholic ,church and the practice of the ,christian religion throughout ,europe1 but also the conditions under which men were allowed to use their minds4 ,while the inventions in mechanism1 religion1 etc41 which we have just noted were going on during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries1 others were going on in the realm of science4 ,the movement was begun about #aejg by a young man named ,nicolas ,copernicus1 who was executing the dissimilar functions of canon1 physician and mathematician in the little town of ,frauenberg in ,poland4 ,copernicus at this time was thirty-four years old1 but he had even then devoted the major activities of his mind to astronomy for several years4 ,naturally1 his efforts had been devoted to mastering whatever of the science then existed4 ,the efforts of most people in dealing with any subject end when they have gone thus far--and very few go even thus far4 ,but ,copernicus noted that1 while the ,ptolemaic ,system 7suggested1 though probably not invented by the ,egyptian king7 was the one generally accepted1 it did not account for many of the phenomena observed2 that none of the other systems that had been suggested afterward explained matters more satisfactorily1 and that no one of the systems was in harmony with any other4 ,thereupon this daring young man conceives the idea of inventing a system of astronomy himself1 in which all the movements of the heavenly bodies should be shown to be in accordance with a simple and harmonious law4 ,seizing on this idea1 he proceeds at once to develop it2 and he works on it until death takes him from his labors in #aedc at the age of seventy4 ,the whole civilized world had virtually accepted the ,ptolemaic ,theory1--at least1 the part of it which assumed that the earth was the center of the universe1 the sun and stars and planets revolving around it4 ,copernicus invented the theory that the sun was the center1 that the earth and the other planets revolved around it1 and that the earth revolved on its own axis once in twenty-four hours4 ,so great was the insistence of the religious bodies in adhering to the ,ptolemaic ,theory1 so set were the minds of all men of high position on it1 that though ,copernicus wrote a book expounding his own theory1 he did not think it wise to publish it4 ,he seems to have completed the book in about #aecj4 ,he did not publish it till #aedc4 ,just before its printing was finished1 ,copernicus was taken ill4 ,the first volume was held before him4 ,he touched it and seemed to realize dimly what it was4 ,then he relapsed into torpor almost immediately1 and soon died4 ,it is interesting to note that ,copernicus was not the first to conceive the idea that the earth turns on its own axis1 or that the earth revolves around the sun1 any more than ,bell was the first to conceive the idea that speech could be transmitted by a suitable arrangement of magnet1 diaphragm and electric circuit4 ,but ,copernicus was the first to invent a system of astronomy that was like a machine4 ,it was a usable thing4 ,it could be made to explain astronomical phenomena and predict astronomical events correctly4 ,it may be well to remind ourselves again that no application for patent will be granted by our ,patent ,office unless the invention is described and illustrated so clearly and correctly that a person skilled in the art can make and use it2 and to realize that this admirable phraseology may be utilized to distinguish any other novel endeavor of man entitled to be called an invention from any other not so entitled2 for no system1 no theory1 no religion1 no scheme of government1 regardless of how attractive it may be1 is entitled to be called an invention1 unless1 like the ,copernican ,system1 a person skilled in the art can make and use it4 ,shortly after ,copernicus1 came ,johann ,kepler1 who was born in ,wrttemburg in #aega1 and died in #afcj4 ,he had been a pupil of ,tycho ,brahe1 who did not succeed in making any great invention or discovery1 but who did collect a great amount of data4 ,utilizing these1 ,kepler devoted many years to the study of ,copernicus1 and tried to invent a system which would explain some facts of astronomy that the system of ,copernicus did not explain1 notably the non-uniform speed of the planets4 ,the main result of his labors was the famous ,kepler's ,laws1 which were #a4 ,the orbits of the planets are ellipses having the sun at one focus4 #b4 ,the area swept over per hour by the radius joining sun and planet is the same in all parts of the planet's orbit4 #c4 ,the squares of the periodic times of the planets are proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the sun4 ,these three discoveries1 enunciated in three interdependent1 concrete laws1 constituted an invention which1 while it was merely an improvement on ,copernicus's1 was so great an improvement as almost to make the difference between impracticability and practicability4 ,without this improvement1 astronomy would not be what it is1 navigation would not be what it is1 the regulation of time throughout the world would not be what it is1 and the present highly intricate but smoothly running machine of civilization could not exist at all1 except in a vastly inferior form4 ,the machine of civilization is dependent for its successful operation on the good quality and correct design of every other part4 ,so is every other machine2 for instance1 a steam-engine4 ,the ,copernican ,system was not recognized for more than a century4 ,it was1 in fact1 definitely rejected1 and people were subjected to punishment and even torture for declaring their belief in it4 ,one of the amazing facts surrounding ,copernicus's invention was that he carried on his observations with exceedingly crude appliances4 ,the telescope had not yet been invented4 ,who invented the telescope is not definitely known2 but it is probable that both the telescope and the microscope 7compound microscope7 were invented by ,jansen1 a humble spectacle-maker in ,holland4 ,both inventions were made about the year #aeij1 and were of the highest order of merit from the three main points of view1--originality1 completeness and usefulness4 ,few inventions more perfectly possessing the attributes of a great invention can be specified4 ,the originality of the conception of each seems unquestionable2 the beautiful completeness of the embodied form of each was such that only improvements in detail were needed afterward2 and1 as to their usefulness1 can we even imagine modern civilization without them both8 ,the interesting fact may now be called to mind that1 although many men who lived in ,jansen's time were loaded with honors and fame and wealth and glory1 the inventor of the telescope and the microscope received no reward of any kind that we know of2 and his fame has come to us so imperfectly that we are not even sure that ,jansen was his name4 ,the man usually credited with the invention of the telescope is ,galileo1 though ,galileo himself never pretended that he invented it1 and though historical statements are clear that he heard that such an instrument had been invented1 and then designed and constructed one himself in a day4 ,it would be interesting to know just how much information ,galileo received4 ,it seems that his information was very vague4 ,if so1 a considerable amount of inventiveness may have been required1 besides a high order of constructiveness4 ,but the mere fact that ,galileo knew that such an instrument had been invented caused his mental processes to start from an image put into his mind by an outside agency and not from his own imagination4 ,galileo's work did not begin with conception1 and therefore it was not an invention4 ,galileo was one of the foremost and most ardent supporters of the ,copernican ,theory2 and it was on his skilful and industrious use of the telescope in making observations confirming the theory that his fame mainly rests4 ,as late as #afcb1 nearly a century after ,copernicus's doctrine had become known1 ,galileo was compelled by threat of torture to recant1 and was condemned to imprisonment for life4 ,the influence of inventions on history has been greater and more beneficial than that of any other single endeavor of man4 ,yet most inventions have been resisted4 ,the invention of ,copernicus was resisted for more than a century by the organization commanding the greatest talent and character and learning that the world contained4 ,the extraordinary access of mental energy in ,europe about the beginning of the seventeenth century is illustrated by another invention virtually contemporaneous with those of ,copernicus and ,jansen1 and also in the line of mathematical research4 ,this was the invention by ,baron ,john ,napier of logarithms4 ,it was a curious invention--an invention the like of which one cannot easily specify2 for the thing invented was not a material mechanism1 or a theory1 or anything exactly like anything else4 ,it is difficult to classify a logarithm except as a logarithm3--yet ,napier did create something2 he did make something exist that had not existed before2 he did conceive an idea and embody that idea in a concrete machine4 ,that machine1 in the hands of a man who understood it1 could supply extraordinary assistance in making mathematical calculations1 especially calculations involving many operations and many figures1 as in astronomy4 ,it has been in continual use since ,napier invented it1 and is used still4 ,in order to indicate the simplicity and the value of ,napier's invention1 it may assist those who have forgotten what a logarithm is1 or who have been so fortunate as never to have been compelled to study about them1 to state that logarithms are numbers so adapted to numbers to be multiplied1 divided1 or raised to any power1 that one simply adds their logarithm1 subtracts one logarithm from the other or multiplies or divides a logarithm by the number representing the power1 and then notes in a table the number resulting1 instead of going through the long process of multiplying1 dividing1 squaring1 etc4 ,of course1 in the case of small numbers1 the use of logarithms is not only unnecessary but undesirable2 but in the case of the long numbers used in astronomy1 and even in navigation1 logarithms are inexpressibly helpful and time-saving4 ,the mental feat of ,napier consisted in conceiving the idea of accomplishing what he subsequently did accomplish1 and then constructing and producing the logarithmic tables that made it possible4 ,another indication of the new intellectual movement in ,europe was the experiments1 deductions and inventions of ,william ,gilbert1 an ,english physician1 who lived from #aedj till #afjc4 ,according to the use of the word invention followed in this book1 only two actual inventions can be credited to ,gilbert1 that of the electroscope and that of magnetization4 ,gilbert's work was valuable in the highest degree1 more valuable than that of most inventors2 and yet it was more inductive and deductive than inventional4 ,it is not the purpose of this book to suggest that invention has been the only kind of work that men have done which has had an influence on history2 and the work of ,gilbert gives the author an opportunity to emphasize the value of certain work which is not inventional4 ,at the same time1 the author cannot resist the temptation of pointing out that ,gilbert's work was original and constructive1 that it hovered around the borders of invention1 and that it did more to assist the inventors of the electric and electro-magnetic appliances that were soon to follow1 than the work of almost any other one man4 ,the full influence of ,gilbert's work was not apparent for many years2 not1 in fact1 until the discoveries and inventions of ,volta1 ,galvani and ,faraday showed the possibilities of utilizing electricity for practical purposes4 ,then the facts which ,gilbert had established1 and the discoveries built upon them afterward1 were the basis of much of the work of those great men1 and of the vast science of electrical engineering that resulted4 ,the inventions made before the opening of the seventeenth century ,a4 ,d41 wonderful as they were1 were quite widely separated in time1 and seem to have been wholly the outcome of individual genius1 and not the result or the indication of any widespread intellectual movement4 ,but soon after it opened1 the influence of printing in spreading knowledge became increasingly felt1 and inventions began to succeed each other with rapidity1 and to appear in places far apart4 ,in the beginning of the seventeenth century1 certain writings appeared in ,england that took great hold on the minds of thinking men1 not only in ,england1 but throughout ,europe4 ,the name of the author was ,francis ,bacon4 ,it would not be within the scope of this book even to attempt to analyze the philosophy of ,bacon1 to differentiate between it and the philosophy of ,aristotle or any other of the great thinkers of the world1 or to try to trace directly the influence of ,bacon's philosophy on his own time and on future times4 ,it is obvious1 however1 that ,bacon invented a system of inductive reasoning that assisted enormously to give precision to the thoughts of men in his own day1 by convincing them of the necessity of first ascertaining exact facts1 and then inferring correct conclusions from those facts4 ,this seems to us an easy thing to do1 looking at the matter in the light of our civilization4 ,but it was not easy1 though ,bacon's high position gave him a prestige exceptional for a philosopher to possess2 and this smoothed his way considerably4 ,men had not yet learned to think exactly4 ,the efforts of even the great minds were of a groping character2 and fanciful pictures made by the imagination seem to have intertwined themselves with facts1 in such a way that correct inferences 7except in mathematical operations7 were hardly to be expected4 ,bacon insisted that every start on an intellectual expedition should be made from absolutely indisputable facts4 ,the first effect of such teaching was to make men seek for facts4 ,not long afterward1 we find that many men were making it the main business of their lives to seek for facts from ,nature herself4 ,this does not mean that men had not sought for facts before from ,nature1 or that ,bacon alone is to be credited with the wonderful increase in the work of research and investigation that soon began4 ,bacon's principal book was published in #afbj1 and called the ,novum ,organum1 or the new instrument4 ,it was obviously an invention1 for it was a definite creation of a wholly new thing1 that originated in a definite conception1 and was developed into a concrete instrument4 ,that ,bacon so regarded it is evident from the title that he gave it4 ,furthermore1 he described it as the science of a better and more perfect use of reason in the investigation of things and of the true aids of the understanding4 ,bacon was a patient of ,dr4 ,harvey1 who discovered the circulation of the blood2 and it would be strange indeed if ,bacon's philosophy did not give to ,harvey a great deal of guidance and suggestion that furthered his experiments4 ,william ,harvey discovered the fact that the blood circulates in the bodies of living animals4 ,this declaration stated by itself would convey to the minds of some the idea that ,harvey discovered it1 somewhat as a boy might discover a penny lying on the ground4 ,the first definition of the word discover in the ,standard ,dictionary is to get first sight or knowledge of2 so that the mere announcement that an investigator has discovered something gives to many people an incorrect idea of his achievement4 ,harvey discovered the fact of the circulation of the blood after years of experimentation and research on living animals1 and by work of a most laborious kind4 ,his conclusions were not accepted by many for a very considerable period2 but he was fortunate1 like ,bacon1 in holding a position of such influence and prestige1 that he escaped most of the violent opposition that inventors usually meet4 ,harvey's discovery did not of itself constitute an invention2 but the embodiment of that discovery in a concrete theory1 so explained that persons skilled in the art could make and use it1 did constitute an invention of the most definite kind4 ,the whole influence of that invention on history1 only a highly equipped physician could describe2 but1 nevertheless1 one may feel amply justified in stating that its influence on the science and practice of surgery and medicine1 and on the resulting health of all the civilized nations of the world1 has been so great as to be incalculable4 ,a contemporary and acquaintance of ,harvey was ,robert ,boyle1 one of the most important of the early scientific investigators1 who was an avowed disciple of ,bacon1 and followed his methods with conscientious care4 ,his work covered a large field1 but it was concerned mostly with the action of gases4 ,he is best known by ,boyle's ,law1 which is usually expressed as follows3 ,when the volume of a mass of gas is changed1 keeping the temperature constant1 the pressure varies inversely as the volume2 or the product of the pressure by the volume remains constant4 ,while it has been found that this law is not absolutely true with all gases at all temperatures and pressures1 its departure from accuracy are very small1 and these are now definitely known4 ,with certain tabulated corrections1 this law is the basis on which most of the calculations for steam engines1 air engines and gas engines are made4 ,it is usually expressed by the formula p v p v constant4 ,boyle is said to have discovered this law1 and ,harvey is said to have discovered the circulation of the blood4 ,doubtless they did3 but if they had done no more than discover these things1 no one else would have been the wiser1 and the world would have been no richer4 ,what these two men did that made us wiser and the world richer1 was to make inventions of definite character1 and give them to the world in such manageable forms1 that persons skilled in the art can make and use them4 ,in #afbj1 the spirit thermometer1 as we know it now1 was invented by ,drebel4 ,it is by some ascribed to ,galileo4 ,an interesting controversy has been waged as to which was actually the inventor4 ,the facts seem to be that ,galileo did invent a thermometer in which the height of water in a glass tube indicated approximately the temperature4 ,the tube was long and ended in a bulb at the top4 ,the bulb being warmed with the hand of ,galileo1 and the open lower end of the tube being immersed in water1 and then the warmth of the hand removed1 water rose in the tube to a height depending on the warmth of the air in the bulb4 ,the height of the water therefore varied inversely as the temperature4 ,the defect of the instrument was that it was a barometer as much as it was a thermometer2 because the varying pressure of the atmosphere caused the water to rise and fall accordingly1 and thus falsify the thermal indications4 ,drebel realized this1 and closed both ends of the tube4 ,thus ,galileo came very near to inventing both the thermometer and the barometer1 but yet invented neither6 ,it seems incredible that he should have failed to invent the barometer1 having come so near it2 for he had been engaged for a long period in investigating the weight of air1 and finally had succeeded in ascertaining it4 ,the barometer was invented or rather discovered by ,galileo's successor1 ,torricelli1 in #afde4 ,torricelli1 in investigating the action of suction pumps1 constructed what now we call a barometer2 but it was not until after he had constructed it that he realized that the height of mercury in his tube indicated the pressure of the air outside4 ,seventy-five years later1 ,fahrenheit made a great improvement in the thermometer by substituting mercury for spirits4 ,meanwhile1 ,otto von ,guericke1 following in the footsteps of ,galileo and ,torricelli1 had invented the air-pump1 by means of which he succeeded in getting a fairly perfect vacuum in a glass receiver4 ,this seems to have been an invention of the most clear-cut kind1 resulting from an idea that occurred to ,guericke that he seized upon promptly and put to work to serve mankind4 ,its influence in giving impetus to the science and art of pneumatics1 and the influence of pneumatics on the progress of civilization1 are too obvious to need more than to be pointed out4 ,the invention of ,guericke is a simple and clear illustration of the power of an idea2 an illustration of seed falling on good ground and bringing forth fruit an hundred fold4 ,one of the greatest inventors that ever lived was ,isaac ,newton1 who lived from #afdb till #agbh4 ,even as a child he busied himself with contriving and constructing mechanical appliances1 mostly toys4 ,as a young man he occupied himself mostly with studies in mathematics and experiments in physics1 especially optics4 ,in #afga he invented a special form of the reflecting telescope1 called after him the ,newtonian telescope4 ,he made many experiments in optics1 in consequence of which he discovered and announced that white light consists of seven colors1 having different degrees of refrangibility4 ,the influence of this discovery on the advancement of learning since that time1 it is unnecessary to point out2 but we cannot realize too clearly that without it much of the most important progress in optics since that time would have been impossible4 ,the invention by reason of which ,newton is most generally known is his theory or law of gravitation1 which he announced in his ,principia1 published in #afhf4 ,in #afji1 ,kepler had announced his famous laws1 that reads3 #a4 ,the orbits of planets are ellipses having the sun at one focus4 #b4 ,the area swept over per hour by the radius joining sun and planet is the same in all parts of the planet's orbit4 #c4 ,the squares of the periodic times of the planets are proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the sun4 ,newton showed from the laws of mechanics which he had discovered that1 assuming the first two laws of ,kepler to be true1 each planet must always be subject to a force directing it toward the sun1 that varies inversely as the square of its distance from the sun3 otherwise1 it would fly away from the sun or toward it4 ,from this1 ,newton inferred that all masses1 great and small1 attract each other with a force proportional to their masses1 and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them1 and invented what is now called the law of universal gravitation4 ,another invention of possibly equal value1 also published in his ,principia1 but not so generally known1 is his three laws of motion4 ,these are #a4 ,every body continues in its state of rest1 or of moving with constant velocity in a straight line1 unless acted upon by some external force4 #b4 ,change of momentum is proportional to the force and to the time during which it acts1 and is in the same direction as the force4 #c4 ,to every action there is an equal and contrary re-action4 ,it is probably impossible for any human mind to conceive any invention of a higher order of originality than either of these two1 or to construct any invention more concrete and useful4 ,certainly no more brilliant inventions have ever yet been made4 ,these two wonderful products of ,newton's genius underlie the whole structure of modern astronomy and modern mechanics4 ,the sciences of modern astronomy and modern mechanics could not exist without them1 and would not now exist unless ,newton 7or someone else7 had invented them4 ,it may be pointed out that ,newton's conception of our solar system is that of a machine in rapid motion1 of which the sun and the planets are the principal parts4 ,another important invention ascribed to ,newton is that of the sextant1 a small and easily handled instrument1 used ever since in ships for purposes of navigation2 but whether he should receive the entire credit for this invention seems quite doubtful2 for another astronomer1 ,robert ,hooke1 is credited by some with the original suggestion1 and ,john ,hadley1 still another astronomer1 with having adapted it to practical sea use4 ,numerous other scientific inventions1 however1 that have formed the basis of much of the scientific work of later experimenters and inventors are clearly to be credited to ,newton4 ,among these1 his formula for the velocity of a wave of compression1 his color-wheel1 and his simple apparatus known as ,newton's rings1 by which can be measured the wave lengths of light of different colors1 are possibly the most important4 ,in approximate coincidence with the ,renaissance movement and the accompanying awakening of the intellect of ,europe1 there began a conflict between the sovereigns and the ,pope4 ,the ,popes had gradually acquired great power1 because of their prestige as the successors of ,st4 ,peter1 to whom it was declared our ,savior had given the keys of heaven4 ,coincidentally1 the multitudinous barons had gradually built up the ,feudal ,system4 ,this was a loose-jointed contrivance1 under which ,europe was virtually divided into little geographical sections1 ruled over by hereditary feudal lords1 who in each country owed allegiance to a sovereign4 ,by reason of the slowness and uncertainty of transportation and communication1 the various feudal lords were extremely independent1 and each one did substantially as he willed in his little domain4 ,the situation was a miserable one for every person1 except the ,pope1 the sovereigns1 the feudal lords and their hangers-on2 not only because of the various petty tyrannies1 but because of the continual little wars and the general absence of good government4 ,gradually1 the sovereigns got more and more power 7except in ,england7 and the conditions improved so much that the people realized that it was better to be ruled by one king1 or emperor1 than by a multitude of barons4 ,the sovereigns finally acquired so much power that they dared to oppose the ,pope in many of his aggressions2 but no very important situations were developed until the ,reformation caused the existence of protestant or heretic sovereigns1 and the occasional excommunication of one of them by the ,pope1 with its attendant exhortation to his subjects to take up arms against him4 ,to meet this situation1 the theory of the ,divine ,right of ,kings was invented4 ,this was a very important invention2 for it offset the ,divine authority of the ,pope as ,pope1 and gave a theme for the bishops and priests in their discourses to the people1 and a slogan for the soldiers4 ,it was extremely successful for three centuries1 and its influence was in the main beneficent4 ,it worked for the establishment of stable governments and great nations1 tended to prevent the excessive domination of a religious organization1 and1 by recognizing the fact that every sovereign's power comes from the ,almighty1 it suggested the sovereign's responsibility to ,him4 ,at first this suggestion evidently bore little fruit2 for the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were characterized by general oppression of the people1 and filled with dynastic wars1 waged merely in behalf of monarchical ambitions4 ,but gradually the kings and the peoples came to realize the duties of sovereigns1 as well as their privileges and powers4 ,gradually then1 the view came to be held that kings were bound to exercise their power for the benefit of their people4 ,even the doctrine of the ,divine ,right of ,kings1 now condemned and obsolete1 had a great influence and a good influence during the time it was in vogue2 and it supplies a clear illustration of the power of a good idea1 skillfully developed1 to fulfill a given purpose1 so long as its existence is necessary4 ,most men have a considerable amount of energy1 but do not know what to do with it4 ,children are in the same category1 except that toys have been invented for them1 and parents give these toys to their children4 ,without toys1 children find the days very long1 and parents find their children very trying4 ,the usefulness of toys seems to be mainly1 not so much in giving children pleasure directly1 as in supplying an outlet for their energies1 both physical and mental4 ,for what greater pleasure is there than in expending one's natural energies under pleasant conditions8 ,possibly1 all the work that men have done in building up civilization is like the work that children have done with building blocks4 ,certainly there are many points of similarity4 ,the mental efforts are similar2 and1 so far as we can see1 the results are similar also4 ,toy temples have been built of building blocks1 and then have been destroyed4 ,civilizations also have been built and then destroyed4 ,and in the case of both the building blocks and the civilizations1 the pleasure seems to come1 not from the result achieved1 but from an enjoyable expenditure of energy in achieving it4 ,in both cases it has been the inventors who have pointed out the ways in which to expend the energy1 and achieve the results4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,rise ,,of ,,electricity1 ,,steam ,,and ,,chemistry ,the invention of the first electrical machine was made by ,otto ,von ,guericke1 of ,magdeburg1 about #afgj4 ,it consisted of a sulphur ball1 a stick with a point1 and a linen thread an ell or more long1 hanging from the stick4 ,the lower end of the thread being made to hang a thumb breadth distance from some other body1 and the sulphur ball rubbed and brought near the point of the stick1 the lower end of the thread moved up to the body4 ,the ball being removed1 the lower end of the thread would drop away from the body2 so that by moving the ball back and forth1 the lower end of the thread would be made to move back and forth simultaneously4 ,it may be objected that ,guericke made no invention1 because he did not conceive the idea of making a machine or instrument and did not1 in fact1 produce one3 that he merely made a discovery4 ,the author admits that such an objection would have great reasonableness1 and that ,guericke's feat is a little hard to class4 ,it is classed by many as an invention1 however1 and the present author is inclined to class it so2 because there seems no reason to doubt that ,guericke first conceived the idea of doing what he did do1 and that he did produce a device whereby an actual motion of a rubbed ball at one place caused actual motion at another place1 through the medium of a current of electricity that traversed a conductor joining the two places4 ,the device is sometimes spoken of as the first telegraph instrument4 ,guericke 7like ,gilbert7 was more distinctly an experimenter than an inventor1--and 7like ,gilbert7 his work was not only in electricity1 but in most of the other branches of science4 ,of the two1 ,guericke seems to have covered a wider field1 and to have been more distinctly an inventor4 ,his celebrated experiment of holding two hollow hemispheres together1 then exhausting the air from the hollow sphere thus formed1 and then demonstrating the force of the atmosphere by showing that sixteen horses could not pull the hemispheres apart1 indicates just the kind of clear apprehension of the laws of ,nature that characterizes the inventor4 ,by some1 ,guericke is esteemed the inventor of the first electric light1 because by rubbing a sulphur ball in a dark room he produced a feeble electric illumination4 ,of ,guericke's discoveries and inventions1 the only one that has survived as a concrete apparatus is the air pump2 but it is doubtful if the direct influence on history of the air pump1 great as it has been1 has actually been any greater than the indirect influence of his less widely known discoveries and experiments4 ,illustration3 ,hero's ,engines ,one of the early influences of the art of printing was to bring to the notice of some restless minds the writings of ,hero and ,archimedes4 ,in ,hero's ,pneumatics1 published more than #abj years before ,christ1 he gives such a clear account of an invention of his own1 in which the expansive force of steam was used to give and maintain motion1 as to establish thoroughly his right to the basic invention of the steam engine4 ,he described three apparatus that he devised4 ,in one1 the currents of air and aqueous vapor rising through a tube from a hollow sphere1 containing water1 under which a fire is burning1 support a ball placed immediately above the tube1 and make it seem to dance4 ,in another apparatus1 a hollow sphere into which steam has arisen from what we now call a boiler1 is supported on a horizontal or vertical axis1 and provided with tubes that protrude from the sphere1 and are bent at right angles to the radius and also to the pivot4 ,the inner ends of these tubes lie within the sphere1 so that the steam passes from the sphere through the tubes4 ,as soon as this happens1 the sphere takes up a rapid rotation1 that continue so long as the steam continues to escape from the nozzles of the tubes1 which point rearwardly4 ,a third apparatus was merely an elaboration of the second1 in that the sphere was connected with an altar which supported a large drum on which were figures representing human beings4 ,the fire being lighted1 the sphere would soon begin to revolve1 and with it the drum2 and the figures on it would seem to dance around1 above the altar4 ,the invention was probably to impress the people with the idea that the priests were exerting supernatural power4 ,illustration3 ,hero's ,altar ,engine ,hero's wonderful invention remained unused and unappreciated for nearly #b1jjj years4 ,about #afja1 an ,italian named ,della ,porta1 published a book that seems to show acquaintance with it1 also with the fact that if water be heated it is converted into a gas that can raise water to a height4 ,in #afae1 a ,frenchman named de ,caus published a book in which he showed a hollow sphere into which water could be introduced through an orifice that could then be closed2 the sphere carrying a vertical tube that dipped into the water at its lower end1 and ending in a small nozzle at its upper end4 ,when a fire was started under the sphere1 the air in the upper part expanded1 and forced down the water that occupied the lower part1 so that a jet of water would soon issue from the upper end of the tube4 ,of course1 this was really less than ,hero had done1 because the appliance described did not constitute a machine1 in any real sense of the word4 ,in #afbi1 an ,italian named ,branca carried ,hero's invention a step further1 by inventing a simple apparatus whereby the revolution of ,hero's hollow sphere was communicated to a series of pestles in mortars1 and put to the useful work of compounding drugs4 ,branca seems entitled to the basic invention of the steam engine as an industrial machine4 ,about #affc1 the ,marquis of ,worcester invented a steam engine that exerted about two horse-power1 and was employed to raise water from the ,thames ,river1 and supply it to the town of ,vauxhall4 ,six years later 7#affi7 ,captain ,thomas ,savery erected a steam engine about twenty-five feet above the water in a mine1 and successfully drew water out4 ,this was a very important feat1 because the difficulties surrounding the problem of freeing the mines from water were extremely great1 and the desirability of overcoming them was equally so4 ,in ,savery's engine1 there were two boilers in which steam was raised1 and two receivers communicating with them4 ,steam being admitted to one receiver1 the connection with the boiler was shut off by a valve1 and a cold jet was then suddenly thrown on the receiver1 condensing the steam and forming a partial vacuum4 ,this vacuum the water below immediately rushed up to overcome4 ,connection with the pipe leading down was then shut off1 and steam introduced to the receiver4 ,this steam forced out the water from the receiver into a pipe1 which discharged it above4 ,this operation was then performed by the other boiler and receiver2 so that1 by their continued and alternate action1 a fairly continuous stream of discharged water was maintained4 ,this invention was quickly followed by ,captain ,savery with another1 by means of which the discharge stream was made to fall on a mill-wheel1 as though from a natural waterfall4 ,several of these machines were erected for actuating the machinery of mills and factories in the district4 ,in #afij1 ,dr4 ,papin invented a steam engine1 in which he used a cylinder containing water1 with a piston so arranged that1 when the water was heated1 the steam would raise the piston4 ,the fire being then removed the pressure of the atmosphere would force down the piston4 ,this was followed shortly by an invention of ,newcomer and ,cawley1 which was a very considerable advance on previous engines4 ,it comprised a separate boiler and furnace1 a separate cylinder and piston1 means for condensing the steam in the cylinder by injecting water into it1 and a system of self-acting valves that were opened and closed by a long beam that was moved by the piston4 ,furthermore1 this beam communicated motion to a pump that pumped the water up directly4 ,this engine was so efficient and so practically useful1 that it was very generally introduced into service for draining mines throughout ,england4 ,about #agge1 ,smeaton built an engine carefully designed on these lines1 of which the cylinder was #gb inches in diameter1 and the length of stroke was #aj feet and #f inches4 ,in #agbe1 ,jacob ,leupold invented an engine1 in which the work was done by steam alone1 instead of by the atmosphere1 as in the engines that immediately preceded it4 ,leupold used two cylinders4 ,they were open at the top to the atmosphere as in the others1 but he used higher pressures of steam1 and arranged a four-way cock between the bottoms of the two cylinders in such a way that the bottom of each cylinder1 in its turn1 was connected to the boiler or to the open air4 ,each cylinder actuated directly a separate vibrating beam1 which in turn actuated the piston of a pump2 the two pistons acting reciprocally1 each drawing up water in its turn4 ,illustration3 ,leupold's ,engine ,in #agfe1 ,james ,watt made the very great improvement of providing a condenser separate from the cylinder of the engine1 so that the great loss of heat caused by cooling the cylinder and then heating it at each stroke was wholly avoided4 ,he covered the cylinder entirely1 and surrounded it with an external cylinder kept always full of steam1 that maintained the cylinder at a high temperature4 ,the steam1 instead of being condensed within the cylinder1 after it had done its work1 was allowed to escape into the condenser4 ,to facilitate this action1 the condenser was fitted with an air-pump that maintained a good vacuum in it4 ,in #agfi1 ,watt invented an improvement that consisted mainly of means whereby the supply of steam to the cylinder could be shut off at any desired part of the stroke1 and the steam allowed to complete the rest of the stroke by virtue of its expansive force4 ,this invention increased tremendously the efficiency of the engine3 that is1 the amount of work done with a given amount of steam4 ,during all this time1 ,watt had realized that virtually all the work was done on the down stroke1 and none on the up stroke1 and also realized that it would be highly desirable to devise an apparatus whereby the reciprocating motion of the piston could be converted into a rotary motion4 ,watt was able to accomplish both feats1 and to connect the bottom and top of the cylinder alternately with the condenser and boiler by a simple mechanism driven by a wheel rotated by the engine4 ,the result was the reciprocating steam engine in its main features1 as it exists today4 ,the influence of ,hero's invention on history is not direct1 because his engine has never been employed for any industrial purpose4 ,but ,hero's engine has had an enormous influence on history1 nevertheless1 because it supplied the basis on which the steam engine of the last two centuries has rested4 ,the influence of ,hero's invention was not realized until two thousand years after he had died1 and until after all those men had died whose names have just been mentioned4 ,it is inconceivable that any of those men could really have expected that their work was to have even a small fraction of the influence on mankind that it actually has had4 ,the influence of ,watt's work became visible to some degree before he died1 and became clearly visible not very long after he had died2 so clearly visible that by many men ,watt is credited with the invention of the steam engine4 ,but his good work was built on the good work of his predecessors1 whose main work was in making ,watt's work possible4 ,the successive feats of all1 like the successive layers in the foundations of any building1 were to support1 in time1 the whole superstructure of the great and beneficent science of steam engineering4 ,but the work done by these men was not all the work that had to be done1 to make ,watt's steam engine the efficient machine it was4 ,these men were the men who are directly to be credited1 but they were not the only men engaged4 ,neither did they belong to the only class of men engaged4 ,there was another class of men whose labors were equally arduous1 and equally important1 though not so clearly in evidence--the physicists1 as we now call them4 ,it was by the knowledge which they gleaned regarding the properties of steam and air and water and iron1 regarding the laws of motion and heat and work and force and weight and mass1 that the inventors' experiments were guided4 ,it is true that the science of physics was then in its infancy1 as we realize with the knowledge of the science today2 but ,aristotle in the days of ,greece1 and ,archimedes and ,hero later1 and ,galileo and many others in ,italy--as well as ,guericke in ,germany1 ,newton and ,gilbert in ,england1 and others of less note1 had evolved a good deal of order out of what had been chaos1 and had given inventors a great deal of firm ground on which to stand themselves and raise their structures4 ,and reciprocally1 the inventors found themselves confronted with problems of a kind that gave opportunities for the physicists to show their skill and knowledge4 ,thus were opened up promising avenues of investigation1 and not only of investigation1 but of invention also4 ,for it is obvious that1 while investigation and experimentation can hardly fail to secure data1 they may secure nothing else1 and usually do4 ,but mere data are mere facts2 and1 valuable as they are if suitably classified1 they are not valuable unless they are classified2 and even after data are classified1 they are not useful until some use is found for them4 ,the data in card-indexes are mere unrelated facts1 and are almost useless1 until they have been classified and arranged in boxes alphabetically labeled4 ,then they are useful whenever any use is found2 when1 for instance1 some one is seeking information on a certain subject4 ,in this condition1 data are like material substances1 in that they are available for use1--in fact1 data are often spoken of by writers as material2 a certain series of incidents1 for instance1 supply material for a story4 ,now1 just as pieces of iron and brass supply material with which an inventor can create a new machine1 so classified facts1 or data1 supply material with which an inventive investigator can create a new theory1 or formulate a new law4 ,our books on physics are full of accounts of experiments and investigations conducted by such men as ,hero1 ,archimedes1 ,gilbert1 ,galileo and many others1 the consequent discoveries that they made1 and the consequent laws that they enunciated2 but those books could not possibly describe all the investigations that have ever been made4 ,those which they describe are those that ended in some definite creations1 such as the hydrostatic law enunciated by ,archimedes4 ,most investigations1 experiments and researches have ended in nothing definite3--most of them1 in all probability1 have not even established facts4 ,the investigations that we studied about when boys were such as those of ,archimedes1 that presented us with inventions1 in the form of useful and usable laws4 ,no appreciable difference is apparent between the mental operations of ,archimedes in inventing these laws and his mental operations in inventing his screw3 for in both cases the mental operations consisted mainly in conceiving an idea and then embodying it4 ,the ,archimedean screw was a machine of an entirely new kind that1 in the hands of a man understanding its use1 would enable the man to do something he could not do before--or enable him to do a thing he could do before1 but do it better4 ,so were his laws4 ,the laws have been utilized ever since1 as definite and concrete devices2 and to a much greater extent than the special form of screw that he invented4 ,in a like way1 all the laws that investigators have put into concrete and usable form1 have been used by other investigators as bases for further investigations1 and by inventors as bases for future inventions4 ,even the inventor of the fist-hammer had to know something about the material which he employed2 he had to know that it was hard and heavy1 for instance1 and that it could be hammered so as to have a point and a sharp edge4 ,he had to know also something about the flesh of a man3 he had to know that if his flesh was struck with a sharp hard instrument1 it would be bruised1 and the man injured1 and maybe killed4 ,similarly1 the inventor of the gun1 and the inventor of printing1 and the inventors of steam engines1 had to know a good deal about the materials which they employed1 and about the uses to which their appliances could be put4 ,naturally1 they had to know much more than did the inventor of the fist-hammer4 ,but the inventor of today has to know still more1 because there is still more to know4 ,an inventor of the present day who knew no more about physical science than ,galileo did would not be able to go far4 ,a like remark may be made about any man in any vocation1 as compared with his predecessor in ,galileo's time4 ,the machine of civilization is so vast and so complex1 that the amount of knowledge which anyone of us needs in mere daily life is almost incredible4 ,let anyone try to enumerate all the facts he knows6 ,the attempt will convince him quickly4 ,it may be pointed out here that1 while modern civilization differs from ancient civilization in many ways1 it differs more in complexity than in any other one way4 ,some of the factors of ancient civilization were as good as those of today2 such things1 for instance as temples and pyramids and stationary objects in general4 ,but the ancients did not understand motion clearly1 especially irregular motion2 and they had no fast vehicles of any kind4 ,their knowledge of statics must have been fairly complete1 or they could not have built their temples and pyramids2 but their records show little understanding of dynamics4 ,now the basis of dynamics is mathematics4 ,dynamics is the result of the application of mathematics to the observed effects of force on bodies1 in producing motion4 ,dynamics is a branch of the science of mechanics1 and a most difficult branch4 ,it is built on the observations1 calculations and conclusions of ,newton and a host of experimenters and mathematicians of lesser mentality1 and it could not have come into being without them4 ,but dynamics has not been the only physical science involved in making the machine of civilization4 ,all the physical sciences have taken part2 and each one has taken a part which was essential to the final result1 and without which the final result could not have been attained4 ,the science of light made possible the solution of our problems of illumination and the development of inventions for producing it2 the science of acoustics made possible the solution of our problems of sound1 including music1 and the invention of acoustic and musical instruments2 the science of heat made possible the invention of all the complex and powerful steam and gas engines that have revolutionized society2 the science of electricity 7including magnetism7 has made possible the invention of those electric and electro-magnetic machines that have supplemented the work of the steam engine2 and the science of pneumatics has made possible the invention of those flying machines of many kinds1 that promise to complicate civilization further still4 ,but let us realize clearly that no one of these sciences by itself has been able to perform any of the feats just mentioned4 ,each one was virtually dependent on every other one2 and all were dependent on mathematics4 ,in order to make the steam engine work efficiently1 it was not enough that heat should expand water into steam3 the mathematical laws which showed how much water was needed to secure a certain amount of steam1 for instance1 and how a certain desired pressure of steam could be secured1 had first to be comprehended and then to be followed4 ,in order to have boilers and engines so designed as to prevent disastrous explosions1 the laws governing the strength of materials had to be known and followed4 ,in order that a projectile could be so fired from a gun as to reach a certain predetermined spot1 the laws of heat1 pneumatics1 chemistry and dynamics had all to be understood and followed with exactness4 ,but it was not only the machines and instruments that needed the assistance of those sciences1 it was the sciences themselves2 because it was only after eliminating phenomena caused by one agency from those caused by another1 that accuracy in any conclusions whatever could be secured2 and in order that the phenomena caused by one agency could be kept separate from the phenomena caused by another agency1 the laws underlying both had to be understood4 ,the science of light could not be developed until the action of heat was fairly well understood2 dynamics had to wait on statics2 ,newton could not have contributed what he did to astronomy1 unless the science of light 7including optics7 was sufficiently understood2 and the laws of pneumatics could not have been developed1 unless the laws of heat had been developed1 etc4 ,and not one of the physical sciences could have gone beyond the state of infancy1 if the science of mathematics had not been invented and made into a workable machine4 ,the paragraph above may be put into a different form1 and made to state that all the physical sciences have been brought up to their present stage1 by subjecting the phenomena studied by each science to quantitative investigation4 ,it was by making these quantitative investigations that ,newton and the others were able to ascertain the exact facts from which to start in their endeavor to discover the laws of nature2 and it was from the laws of nature thus induced that later investigators were able to start on still further expeditions of discovery into the unknown4 ,as the common basis of all quantitative work is mathematics1 the common basis of all the physical sciences is mathematics4 ,this makes all the physical sciences interdependent1 despite the fact that each is independent of the others4 ,each one of the physical sciences has contributed its part to building the machine of civilization2 the part that each has specially contributed can be clearly specified2 and yet1 since the machine is the result of the combination of what all have contributed1 their contributions are interdependent4 ,this remark applies to the various parts of all machines4 ,the piston of a steam engine1 for instance1 and the valve that admits steam to the cylinder are entirely separate from each other2 but from the mere fact that they both work together1 each one must be designed and operated with reference to the other2 so that both in their construction and their operation1 they are interdependent4 ,francis ,bacon1 in the sixteenth century1 may be said to have inaugurated the system on which the whole of modern progress has been based1 and ,newton in the seventeenth century to have taken up ,bacon's work and carried it further on4 ,following ,newton1 only a few great investigators can be seen in the seventeenth century2 but in the eighteenth1 began that intense and brilliant movement of investigation1 discovery and invention1 that has been adding more and more to the machine of civilization--and still is adding more4 ,one of the earliest and most important contributions was an apparatus for measuring time accurately4 ,who was the inventor is not precisely known4 ,it seems fairly well established1 however1 that ,galileo was the first to call attention to the fact that the vibrations of a pendulum were nearly isochronous1 and could be used to measure the lapse of time2 and that ,galileo's son 7as well as ,dr4 ,hooke1 ,huygens and a ,london mechanic named ,harris1 in the early part of the seventeenth century7 made clocks based on that principle4 ,it is fairly well established also that ,huygens was the first one to make a mathematical investigation of the properties of the pendulum1 and to enumerate the laws since utilized for making accurate clocks and watches4 ,most of the investigators of the eighteenth century occupied themselves with studies indirectly or directly caused by the invention of the steam engine1 that is with studies relating to heat and light2 but1 by reason of the interdependence of all the physical sciences1 their investigations led them automatically into the allied fields of acoustics and electricity4 ,their investigations led even further2 they led to the establishment1 on the ruins of the illusions of alchemy1 of a wholly new and supremely important science1 chemistry4 ,one of the most important inventions of a purely scientific character made during the period was one that has never been known by any other name than ,atwood's machine4 ,it is an interesting illustration of the addition of invention to investigation1 in that its end was--merely investigation2 and it reminds us of a fact that many people are prone to forget1 that invention may be applied to almost any purpose whatever1 and that even a machine may be devoted to a purpose not utilitarian4 ,atwood's machine was the outcome of studies into the relations between force and a body to which force may be applied4 ,galileo had shown that a body subjected to a constant force1 like that of gravity1 will gradually acquire a velocity and at a constant rate2 and also that this rate1 or acceleration1 is proportional to the force 7leaving out the effect of air resistance74 ,atwood's machine consisted merely of an upright with a pulley at its upper end over which passed a cord1 to both ends of which weights could be attached4 ,in any given experiment1 a weight was attached to one end and allowed to fall free2 but another weight could automatically be attached to the other end by a simple device1 when the first weight had fallen through any predetermined distance4 ,if the added weight were equal to the first weight1 the velocity of movement became uniform at once2 while if it were less1 the velocity approached uniformity to a degree depending on the approach to equality of the two weights4 ,while this machine did not establish any new law1 or prove anything that ,newton had not proved before1 it supplied a very valuable device for conducting quantitative experiments with actual weights1 and for instructing students4 ,the first important improvement in the art of printing was made by a ,scotch goldsmith named ,william ,ged1 about the year #agbe4 ,it is now called stereotyping1 and it seems to have been successful from the first1 from a technical point of view4 ,it was far from successful from a financial point of view1 however1 mainly because of the opposition from the type-founders2 so that ,ged died without realizing that he had accomplished anything4 ,ged's invention was not put to practical use for nearly fifty years after his death2 but after that1 its employment extended rapidly over the civilized world4 ,ged's experience was bitter1 but no more so than that of many other discoverers1 inventors and benefactors4 ,he did not profit in the least by his invention2 in fact1 it must have brought him little but exasperation and discouragement4 ,but can we even imagine civilization to exist as it exists today1 if stereotyping had not been invented8 ,an invention of a highly original kind was made some time in the middle of this century which is attributed by some to ,daniel ,bernoulli1 one of the eight extraordinary investigators and scholars of that family4 ,according to this theory1 the pressure of any gas is due to the impact of its molecules against the walls of the vessel containing it4 ,naturally1 the greater the density of the gas1 and the greater the velocity of the molecules1 the greater is the pressure4 ,this theory has greatly assisted the study of gases1 and contributed to the investigation of electric discharges in gases and partial vacua1 and therefore to the modern science of radio-activity4 ,in the year #afdj there came to the little throne of the ,margravate of ,brandenburg a coarse and violent man1 who conceived a principle of government that seems to have been wholly novel at that time1 the principle of efficiency4 ,having conceived this idea clearly in his mind1 he proceeded to develop it into a system of administration1 in spite of opposition of all kinds1 especially inertia4 ,he ruled till #afhh4 ,he found ,brandenburg unimportant1 disordered and poor2 he left ,brandenburg comparatively rich1 with a good army1 an excellent corps of administrators1 a very efficient government1 and a recognized standing before the world4 ,for his contribution to the cause of good government1 he is known in history as ,the ,great ,elector4 ,he might be called1 with much reasonableness1 the inventor of governmental efficiency1 if ,julius ,csar had not in some degree forestalled him4 ,he was followed by his son1 who contributed nothing to this cause or to any other1 but who was able to take advantage of his father's work and be crowned as ,king of ,prussia4 ,he was followed by his son1 ,king ,frederick ,william ,i1 who was a man like the ,great ,elector1 his grandfather1 in the essential points of character1 both good and bad4 ,he was somewhat like ,philip of ,macedon also2 for he conceived the idea of making his army according to a certain pattern1 novel at that time1 though considerably like the pattern that ,philip had employed4 ,the likeness was in so organizing and training the soldiers that a regiment or division could be handled like a coherent and even rigid thing1 directed accurately and quickly at a pre-determined point1 and made to hit an enemy at that point with a force somewhat like the blow of an enormous club4 ,he succeeded during his reign of twenty-seven years in developing his conception into such a perfect and concrete reality1 that he was able on his death in #agdj to bequeath to his son a veritable military machine--the first since the days of ,rome4 ,these two ,frederick ,williams were inventors in the broad sense of the word1 and made inventions that have had an influence on history since they died1 as great as that of almost any other contemporary inventions that can be specified4 ,their immediate influence was to make it possible for the son of ,king ,frederick ,william1 ,frederick the ,great1 to put ,prussia in the first rank among the nations1 and to lay the foundations of the ,german ,empire4 ,it may be objected that the ultimate result was not extremely great1 after all1 because the ,german ,empire fell in #aiah4 ,to this possible objection1 it may be answered that1 nevertheless1 the doings of ,prussia and the ,german ,empire have had an enormous influence up to the present time2 and that1 though the empire itself has ceased1 the influence of its policies and doctrines1 of its military system1 and1 above all1 of its doctrine of efficiency in government has not ceased1 and shows no signs of ceasing4 ,besides1 history still is young4 ,frederick the ,great made no inventions in improving the military machine bequeathed him2 but he did operate it with inventiveness1 daring and success4 ,he showed these qualities in his actual operations in the field2 but he showed inventiveness in an equal degree before those operations took place1 in the plans which he prepared4 ,as a tactician1 ,frederick could hardly help being good1 in view of the training he had received and the military atmosphere in which he had been born and bred4 ,but no amount of training could have given ,frederick the brilliant and yet correct imagination that enabled him to see entire situations clearly and accurately with his mental eye2 that enabled him to form a correct picture of the mission in each case1 the difficulties in the way of accomplishing it1 and the facilities available for his use4 ,and1 equally1 no amount of training or knowledge or experience could of themselves have given him the constructive ability necessary to build up such plans as he built up1 for accomplishing the mission with the facilities available and in spite of the difficulties4 ,frederick's first invention was his successful invasion of ,silesia4 ,this may be called by some an invention of the devil1 and perhaps it was inspired by him4 ,but even if ,frederick's conception came straight from the devil1 it was a brilliant conception1 nevertheless1 as the conceptions of the devil himself are popularly supposed to be4 ,so original in conception and so perfect in development was ,frederick's invented plan1 that he had seized the capital of ,silesia before ,austria had taken any real defensive measures of any kind4 ,during the first half of ,frederick's reign1 or twenty-three years 7from #agdj to #agfc71 he was engaged continually in war or preparation for war2 and in both activities he had to plan to fight against odds that often seemed overwhelming4 ,they would have overwhelmed any man1 except a man like ,frederick4 ,it is true that ,frederick had two advantages1 the best trained army1 and the fact that all his forces1 military and political1 were united under one head--his own4 ,but it is the verdict of history that even these advantages were far from sufficient to explain his victories2 that his victories cannot be explained except on the ground that ,frederick showed a generalship superior to that of his foes4 ,in what did its superiority consist8 ,a careful study of his campaigns1 even if it be not in detail1 shows that ,frederick was able to invent better plans than his adversaries1 to invent them more quickly1 and to carry them into effect more promptly4 ,if he had been born under other stars1 he might have exercised his inventiveness in such ways as men like ,guericke1 for instance1 did2 as is shown by his gathering around him1 in the peaceful period of the latter half of his reign1 a company selected from the most eminent philosophers and scientists of the age2 and as is shown with equal clearness by his admirably conceived and executed measures for the better government of his country4 ,the middle of the eighteenth century is especially distinguished by the success of some extraordinary and brilliant experiments with electrical apparatus4 ,one of the most important in results occurred about #agdf1 in the town of ,leyden1 where ,muschenbroek invented a device that made possible the accumulating and preserving of charges of electricity4 ,this appliance consisted of merely a glass jar1 coated on the outside and the inside with tin foil4 ,it was a most important invention1 and it is still in general use1 and called the ,leyden jar4 ,the ,leyden jar was soon put to practical work in electrical investigations1 notably by the ,royal ,society in ,london2 and many valuable demonstrations were made with it4 ,among these were the firing of gunpowder by the electric spark that passed when both surfaces of tin foil were connected by an external conductor2 and the transfer of the spark over a distance of two miles1 by using one discharging conductor or wire two miles long1 the earth acting as the return conductor4 ,but the greatest results came from the investigations of ,benjamin ,franklin1 who proved that there was only one kind of electricity1 that the two coatings of tin foil were both charged with it1 that one had more than its ordinary quantity1 while the other had less1 and that the spark was caused by the transfer of electricity from one coating to the other4 ,these discoveries were as much as any one discoverer might reasonably be expected to contribute2 but ,franklin soon followed them by his discovery of the power of points to collect and discharge electricity4 ,he then pointed out with extraordinary clearness the fact that all the phenomena which had been produced by electricity were like those produced by lightning2 and made the suggestion that lightning and electricity were identical4 ,this was an interesting suggestion1 but a suggestion only4 ,to make it into a theory1 or prove it as a law1 an invention was required4 ,franklin made the invention4 ,he conceived the idea of bringing down the electricity1 with which he imagined that a storm-cloud was charged1 by means of a long conductor1 and of drawing off a spark from the lower end of the conductor as from an electrical machine4 ,the long conductor he had in mind was a high spire that was about to be erected in ,philadelphia4 ,the erection of the spire being delayed1 his imagination presented to his mind the picture of a kite flying near the cloud1 and the charge flowing down the cord1 made into a conductor by the accompanying rain4 ,forthwith1 he embodied his conception in definite form by preparing a kite to which was connected a long cord1 that ended with a piece of non-conducting silk1 that was to be held in the hand1 and kept dry if possible1 and a key that was secured to the junction of the conducting cord and the non-conducting silk4 ,the expectation was that the key would receive the charge from the cloud and give it out as a spark1 if ,franklin applied to it the knuckle of his disengaged hand4 ,the invention was a perfect success in every way2 sparks were given off1 a ,leyden jar was charged1 and subsequent discharges of the ,leyden jar were made to perform the same electrical feats as jars charged from ordinary electrical machines4 7,june1 #ageb47 ,the courage shown by ,franklin in performing this experiment may here be pointed out4 ,to the eye of a casual observer1 he must have been trying to get struck by lightning4 ,this brilliant invention caused ,franklin to conceive another brilliant invention1 the utilization of the discovery he had just made in combination with his previous discovery of the power of points to collect electricity4 ,he embodied his conception in what we now call lightning rods1 by erecting on the highest points of houses thin metal rods or conductors1 the lower ends of which were buried in the earth1 while their upper ends were sharpened to points1 and made to project upward1 above the houses4 ,franklin's theory was that the points would collect the electricity from the clouds and allow it to pass harmlessly through the conductors into the ground4 ,the invention worked perfectly1 and has been utilized everywhere ever since4 ,naturally1 ,franklin's epochal discoveries stirred the scientific world in ,europe1 and gave a great impetus to the study of electricity and the other physical sciences4 ,one of the earliest important discoveries that followed 7made by ,mr4 ,cavendish7 was that the electrical spark could decompose water and atmospheric air1 and make water by exploding mixtures of oxygen and hydrogen4 ,an epochal discovery was made by ,mr4 ,cavendish about #aghg1 when he exploded a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen and obtained nitric acid4 ,in #agij ,galvani discovered that1 if two dissimilar metals were placed in contact at one end of each1 and if the free ends are put into contact with the main nerve of a frog's hind leg and the thigh muscle respectively1 spasmodic muscular movements would ensue4 ,in investigating the cause of this phenomenon1 ,volta discovered that if the lower ends of two dissimilar metals were immersed in a liquid they would assume opposite electrical states2 so that if their outer ends were joined by a conducting wire1 electricity would pass along it4 ,this led him at once to the invention of the ,voltaic cell4 ,the enormous value of the ,voltaic cell in building up the science of electricity need hardly be pointed out4 ,it is still used in electric telegraphy as a source of current4 ,during the eighteenth century1 the relations between chemistry and heat were very ill defined2 but they were cleared up gradually by the researches of such men as ,black in ,scotland1 ,priestley and ,cavendish in ,england1 and ,lavoisier in ,france4 ,black's work was mainly in making investigations of the phenomena of heat4 ,in the course of them he discovered the important fact that different substances require different amounts of heat to be applied to a given mass to raise its temperature #a4 ,from this discovery arose the science of calorimetry1 which deals with the specific heats of all substances1 solid1 liquid and gaseous1 and which is necessary to the present science of heat and the arts that depend upon it4 ,about #aggd ,dr4 ,priestley discovered oxygen4 ,lavoisier prosecuted rigorous researches in heat and chemistry1 and finally made a discovery that cleared up a great fog of doubt as to the nature of oxidation1 by proving that it consisted in an actual attack on a metal by oxygen1 and that the increased weight resulting from oxidation was that of the oxygen that became associated with the metal in the form of rust4 ,he therefore disproved the theory formerly loosely held that the increase in weight was due to the escape of a spirituous substance which the chemists of that day imagined to depart from the metal1 and called by the name phlogiston4 ,an analogous and equally valuable contribution by ,lavoisier was that of introducing the use of exact measurements into the study of chemistry4 ,the result of his labors was to put the science of chemistry on a new basis and to separate it from physics entirely4 ,it might be supposed that ,lavoisier would live and die in great honor4 ,he lived in comparative obscurity1 and was publicly guillotined on a false accusation4 ,he requested a brief respite1 in order to complete an important experiment1 and was told in answer that the ,republic has no need of philosophers4 ,this was ,france's reward for one of the most useful lives that has ever been lived4 ,one of the most important industrial inventions ever produced and one of the first of the long list of inventions for making things by machinery that had formerly been made by hand1 was the spinning machine1 that was invented by ,dr4 ,paul in ,england about #agch4 ,spinning is an exceedingly ancient art1 and consists in forming continuous lengths of thread by drawing out and twisting together filaments of such material as wool1 cotton1 flax1 etc4 ,this art was practiced in many of the ancient countries2 and it seems to have been practiced in essentially the same way in ,england in the eighteenth century ,a4 ,d41 as in ,egypt and ,assyria long before the eighteenth century ,b4 ,c4 ,about #agch ,dr4 ,lewis ,paul invented and patented a simple mechanism that anyone with imagination could have invented at any time during the two or three thousand years before1 in which the filaments were drawn between rollers4 ,the invention seems to have been moderately successful from the start2 for it is stated that in #agdb a spinning mill was in operation in ,birmingham in which ten girls were employed1 and in which the motive power was supplied by two asses4 ,paul's invention was improved by a weaver named ,hargreaves1 who invented the spinning ,jenny2 and it was later brought to a high state of efficiency and value by an invention of a poor and wholly uneducated barber1 named ,richard ,arkwright4 ,the spinning machines of the present day are of the highest order of intricacy1 efficiency and usefulness2 but they are all based directly on the invention of ,arkwright1 and his was based on the previous inventions of ,paul and ,hargreaves4 ,few persons have contributed so much as these three men of humble station to the comfort and well-being of the race4 ,on ,july #c1 #agge1 ,george ,washington arrived at ,cambridge1 near ,boston1 and took command of an army of about #ag1jjj men that faced a ,british army occupying ,boston4 ,washington devoted his energies to organizing and training his motley force during the ensuing fall and winter1 the enemy making no decided move to drive him off4 ,finally1 on ,march #d1 #aggf1 having conceived a plan that promised success to him1 he suddenly seized and fortified ,dorchester ,heights1 about two miles south of ,boston1 from which he could command the whole of ,boston and the channel south of it1 by means of guns which he had ordered1 to be dragged through the snow from ,ticonderoga4 ,his plan worked perfectly2 for the ,british ,general ,howe1 after a vain attempt to drive ,washington away1 evacuated ,boston himself1 and took his army to ,halifax4 ,this was ,washington's opening move in our ,war of the ,revolution4 ,it was the execution of a plan admirably conceived4 ,there may seem little of originality or brilliancy in it to us now1 looking at a map of ,boston in the quiet and safety of a library1 but there must have been a great deal of merit and originality in it2 for it took a ,british major-general completely by surprise1 and compelled him to evacuate an important stronghold with a precipitancy that must have been distinctly galling to ,british pride4 ,few neater feats of strategy can be found in military history4 ,washington's next feat was in extricating his force from a distinctly perilous position in ,brooklyn in front of a superior ,british force1 retreating across the ,east ,river to ,new ,york1 and landing near what is now called ,fulton ,street4 ,this was on ,august #cj1 #aggf4 ,the next three months were spent in maneuvers that showed great clearness in conception and great energy in execution on ,washington's part1 and ended with his occupying ,trenton1 and ,howe occupying ,new ,york with the bulk of his forces4 ,washington had only a little more than #d1jjj men1 while ,howe had #cj1jjj4 ,washington's troops were discouraged1 half-ragged1 underfed and untrained2 ,howe's were elated1 well clad1 well fed and thoroughly trained4 ,washington was in as dangerous a plight as can easily be imagined4 ,he extricated himself by conceiving and carrying into execution the brilliant plan of crossing the ,delaware ,river on ,christmas night1 forcing his way through floating ice1 and falling on the amazed camp of the ,hessians on the other side4 ,his invention worked perfectly1 and effected almost a complete reversal in the relative conditions of the opposing forces2 for it put the ,british on the defensive1 and made them withdraw all their forces from ,new ,jersey4 ,thenceforward1 ,washington1 by the exercise of imagination1 constructiveness and sheet force of will1 fought a continual fight against forces that were superior in material and training1 but inferior in mentality4 ,finally1 in ,august1 #agha1 the crisis came4 ,the ,british were occupying ,new ,york1 and ,washington was in front of it1 threatening to attack it1 but knowing that he could not do so with success4 ,about ,august #ad he received a letter written in ,july by ,admiral ,comte de ,grasse1 then in the ,west ,indies1 saying that he would start with his fleet and a force of troops for ,chesapeake ,bay on ,august #ac4 ,washington knew that the ,british ,general ,cornwallis was entrenched at ,yorktown1 near the mouth of the ,chesapeake1 with a force considerably inferior to his own4 ,he instantly proceeded to embody in action an idea that he had already conceived--that of leaving the vicinity of ,new ,york secretly1 and marching with the utmost possible despatch to ,yorktown1 and calling on de ,grasse to assist him to capture ,yorktown1 and if possible ,cornwallis4 ,no invention ever succeeded better4 ,its influence on history was to precipitate the collapse of the entire ,british program of hostilities1 and cause the establishment of the ,united ,states4 ,the balloon was invented about #aghc4 ,mr4 ,cavendish had found that hydrogen was about seven times lighter than air1 and ,dr4 ,black had forthwith delivered a lecture in which he pointed out that a thin light vessel inflated with hydrogen should be able to rise and float in the air4 ,he conceived the idea of the balloon1 but made no invention4 ,the ,italian philosopher1 ,cavallo1 about #aghb1 inflated soap-bubbles with hydrogen gas1 but went no further4 ,the subject of making balloons filled with hydrogen was widely discussed2 but the first balloon really to rise was the hot-air balloon invented by ,joseph and ,stephen ,montgolfier4 ,this balloon made a successful ascent on ,june #e1 #aghc1 carrying the two brothers1 flew about ten minutes1 and alighted safe1 after a trip of about a mile and a half4 ,this was followed on ,august #bg by a flight of a balloon filled with hydrogen gas1 the design of which was made by the physicist ,charles1 and the cost of which was met by a popular subscription4 ,the flight was followed shortly by many others4 ,the first employment of balloons in practical work was in making observations of the enemy by the ,french army in #agid4 ,an important invention for utilizing mechanical power in place of hand-power was the power-loom invented in #aghe by ,edmund ,cartwright4 ,this was an invention of the most clean-cut kind1 originating in the conception by the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,cartwright of the possibility of doing much more weaving by mechanical power than by hand1 then constructing the machine to accomplish it1 and then accomplishing it4 ,an interesting fact in the early development of looms for weaving was the determined and angry opposition of weavers to each improvement in succession4 ,another invention also utilizing external power1 made near the end of the eighteenth century1 was the hydrostatic press4 ,it consisted of a vertical cylinder1 fitted with a piston prevented by suitable means from rising1 except against great pressures2 the piston resting on a liquid in the bottom of the cylinder1 which was connected by a small pipe with a small pump1 by which more liquid could be forced in4 ,when the pump was operated the pressure per square inch on the piston of the pump was communicated to each square inch of the large piston in the press1 and a force exerted equal to that pressure multiplied by the difference in area of the two pistons4 ,this is the model on which hydraulic jacks and many other hydraulic mechanisms are constructed2 and it has taken a prominent part in the development of the science of hydraulics ever since it was invented4 ,because of the gradual recognition of the value of sea-commerce in the ,british ,isles1 and the fact that the stormy seas adjacent necessitated the construction of ships at once sturdy and yet capable of speed1 much study and experimentation were carried on during the eighteenth century1 especially in ,england4 ,in these experiments1 the invention by ,archimedes of the hydrostatic principle of buoyancy supplied the starting-point1 and gave an excellent illustration of the influence of invention on history3 for from experiments and investigations on floating bodies carried on in ,england1 based on the invention of ,archimedes1 and followed by others of ,english origin1 sprang ,england's merchant marine and ,england's navy and ,england's domination over a quarter of the land on the surface of the earth4 ,the eighteenth century closed with the invention of two very important mechanisms that reinforced the power of the human hand with power drawn from external sources3 these were the threshing machine and the cotton gin2 the former invented by ,andrew ,meikle in #aghh1 and the latter by ,eli ,whitney in #agic4 ,it would be hard to decide with knowledge as to which has had the greater influence in constructing the machine of civilization2 but it is not at all hard to realize that the machine of civilization could not have attained its present stage without the assistance of both4 ,one of the last important inventions of the century was that of an art entirely new1 as distinguished from inventions like the cotton gin1 that merely increased the value of an art already in existence4 ,this was the invention of lithography1 or printing from stone1 made by ,alois ,senefelder in #agif4 ,the first thing printed by him was a piece of music4 ,while this invention was more brilliant than those of ,meikle and ,whitney1 it was hardly so important4 ,nevertheless1 it was important in a high degree and made a valuable addition to civilization4 ,an invention of a kind different from either ,whitney's or ,senefelder's was made on ,october #ae1 #agic1 by ,napoleon ,bonaparte4 ,he was at that time a young and ill-clad captain of artillery1 attending a ,council of ,war in ,toulon4 ,an idea for driving out the ,english had been conceived and embodied in a complete plan by a celebrated engineer1 and it had been approved by the ,committee on ,fortifications4 ,the youthful and prestigeless captain opposed this plan with a vehemence and convincingness that came to be familiarly known a few years later1 and proposed in place of it a plan that he had himself conceived and embodied in a concrete form4 ,his plan consisted in the main merely in mounting some guns on a point of land that he designated1 from which they could command the ,british war-ships in the harbor2 and it was so much simpler and in every way better1 that1 despite his obscurity and youth1 it was adopted1 and he himself was charged with carrying it into operation4 ,this he did2 and with such constructive skill and energy1 that the ,british ships were driven from the harbor and the entire vicinity1 and without doing any damage to the town4 ,the ,british soldiers1 then unsupported1 immediately withdrew4 ,what was the determining difference between ,napoleon's plan and that of the great engineer8 ,the idea conceived4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,age ,,of ,,steam1 ,,napoleon ,,and ,,nelson ,in the early part of the nineteenth century began what has been called the ,age of ,steam2 but before it ended1 it was supplanted by the ,age of ,electricity4 ,when the century opened1 the steam engine of ,watt existed in a practical and useful form1 and the numberless experiments of the physicists in the preceding century had laid bare the main laws governing the force and the expansion of steam and air1 and of gases and vapors in general4 ,the laws of the expansion of solids and liquids were also understood in their main features1 and the various inventions mentioned in the last chapter were in operation4 ,seizing on the facilities thus supplied1 and noting the worldly success that certain discoverers and inventors had achieved1 the inventors of the nineteenth century got speedily to work4 ,the result was that the civilized world at the end of the nineteenth century was vastly different from the civilized world at the end of the eighteenth century4 ,in general terms1 it may be declared that during the first half of the nineteenth century1 the principal inventions were in the utilization of heat1 especially in the form of steam engines2 while during the latter half1 the principal inventions were electrical3--though some very important electrical inventions were made before #ahej4 ,in this brief rsum1 no attempt will be made to describe or even mention all the inventions made1 or even all the important ones2 for such an attempt would be impossible to carry out4 ,only a few super-important ones will be mentioned4 ,the first important successful application of the steam engine was embodied in the steamboat ,charlotte ,dundas that was produced in ,scotland in #ahja4 ,other steamboats had appeared before1 but they had not been successful4 ,the first was tried on the ,soane ,river in ,france in #agha4 ,later1 ,fitch and ,ramsay made some unsuccessful attempts in the ,united ,states4 ,then1 in #aghh1 ,patrick ,miller1 with the assistance of an engineer named ,william ,symington1 had constructed a steam vessel that attained a speed of five knots on a lake in ,scotland4 ,in the next year1 ,mr4 ,miller and ,mr4 ,symington had put another steamboat on the water that developed a speed of nearly seven knots4 ,none of these experiments could be called successful of itself2 but the experience gained by them induced ,lord ,dundas to build the ,charlotte ,dundas and name it after his daughter4 ,the ,charlotte ,dundas was a practical success from the start2 for1 in ,march1 #ahjb1 it towed two vessels of #gj tons each a distance of #ai-a_/b miles in six hours1 while such a strong wind was blowing from ahead that no other vessel on the canal tried to move to windward4 ,whether or not this constituted an actual invention the present author will not attempt to determine1 even in his own mind4 ,it is clear1 however1 that it was the direct issue of several inventions1 and that it was the first embodiment in a concrete form of the successful and practical application of steam power to transportation on the water4 ,the next successful application was made by ,robert ,fulton1 who built the ,clermont in #ahjg4 ,this vessel went into regular service in #ahjh1 plying between ,new ,york and ,albany1 on the ,hudson ,river4 ,the first steamboat to venture on the ocean was the ,phoenix1 that made the trip from ,new ,york to ,delaware ,bay by sea in #ahjh4 ,it was built by ,mr4 ,r4 ,l4 ,stevens1 an engineer of ,hoboken4 ,if it accomplished nothing else1 it supplied a precedent and gave encouragement to inventors everywhere4 ,it made le premier pas qui coute4 ,meanwhile1 in ,june1 #ahjb1 ,mr4 ,thomas ,wedgwood had published ,an ,account of a ,method of ,copying ,paintings upon ,glass1 and of making ,profiles by the ,agency of ,light upon ,nitrate of ,silver1 with observations by ,sir ,humphry ,davy4 ,in the course of his paper1 he declared that he had secured profiles of paintings made on glass by throwing the shadows of those paintings on paper covered with a solution of the nitrate2 the paper showing the objects delineated in tones that were dark or light inversely as they were in the painting4 ,he also took profiles of natural objects by throwing their shadows on the prepared paper3 the parts of the paper covered by the shadows being white1 while the parts outside the shadows became dark4 ,this seems to have been an actual invention1 in that it followed a discovery made by ,wedgwood that sunlight acted on nitrate of silver1 and was the embodiment of an idea1 then conceived by him1 to utilize his discovery in making profile pictures4 ,his invention was far from perfect1 however2 the greatest imperfection being the fact that the pictures could not be fixed2 because1 unless the paper was ever afterward kept away from the light1 its whole surface would become dark1 and the picture therefore cease to exist4 ,in consequence1 it aroused almost no interest whatever at the time4 ,in #ahad1 ,m4 ,niepce invented a process that he called heliography1 by which he made pictures on silvered copper covered with a thin solution of asphaltum4 ,in #ahbi1 ,daguerre and ,niepce entered into a copartnership for developing heliography1 and instituted experiments that led ,daguerre to inventing the daguerreotype1 made by a process quite new in detail1 but based on the earlier inventions of both ,wedgwood and ,niepce4 ,the daguerreotype was followed in #ahej by the present photograph4 ,the invention of electroplating was made by ,brugnatelli in ,italy in #ahjc4 ,the fact that electric currents could decompose certain liquids had been known since #ahjj1 and also the further fact that oxygen and hydrogen1 acids and alkalies1 appeared at the positive and negative poles respectively of the wires in contact with the liquid4 ,but ,brugnatelli seems to have been the first to conceive the idea of utilizing these facts in a device whereby he could deposit metals at will at the negative end of a solution4 ,in the embodiment of his conception1 pieces 7say of silver7 were hung on rods in connection with the positive pole of the battery supplying the electric current1 while the articles to be plated with silver were hung on rods connected with the negative pole4 ,the value of this invention and its extensive use in the electrodeposition of metals at the present day are well known4 ,in the following year1 ,sir ,humphry ,davy1 working along the general line of electrical decomposition of liquids1 made a number of super-brilliant investigations4 ,possibly the most important result was his discovery of a new metal1 to which he gave the name ,potassium1 formed at the negative pole by the electrical decomposition of moistened caustic potash4 ,he followed this by decomposing caustic soda and discovering another new metal1 that he named ,sodium4 ,during the course of his experiments1 ,davy noted that when the two terminal wires from a large ,voltaic battery were touched together and then drawn apart1 not only did a spark pass1 but a continuous discharge of great brilliancy1 that did not cease until the wires were separated by a considerable distance4 ,the extent of this distance was found later to be dependent on the number of cells in the battery4 ,he noted also that the discharge did not follow a straight line1 but was bent into an arc2 and for this reason he gave it the name1 ,voltaic arc4 ,this light is still known by the name arc light4 ,its importance does not seem to have been realized until after the dynamo-machine had been invented1 and means thereby supplied for providing a greater amount of electric current1 and at less expense than ,voltaic cells were capable of delivering4 ,davy's last great invention was his miner's safety lamp1 made in #ahaf4 ,there had been frequent explosions in the collieries1 attended with great loss of life1 and ,davy was requested to try to ascertain how they could be prevented4 ,after visiting the mines1 he had samples of the gas that was found in them sent to him for investigation4 ,he went about the work with scientific thoroughness and system1 and ascertained that the gas would not explode if it were mixed with less than six times or more than fourteen times its volume of air2 that air rendered impure by the combustion of a candle would not explode the gas2 that1 if a candle were burnt in a closed vessel1 with small openings near the flame1 no explosion would take place1 even if the vessel were introduced into an explosive mixture2 and that the gas from the mines would not explode inside a tube less than #a_/h inch in diameter4 ,these data being secured1 ,davy conceived the idea of making a lamp in which a small oil light should be fixed and surrounded with a cylinder of wire gauze4 ,he then embodied his conception in a concrete form1 and the ,miners' ,safety ,lamp resulted4 ,this was an invention of the first order2 original1 concrete and highly useful4 ,after meeting the customary chorus of prejudice and opposition1 it justified its existence by a quickly established record of effectiveness1 and took its place among the useful adjuncts of the machine of civilization4 ,meanwhile1 several other adjuncts had appeared4 ,among these was the steel pen1 a process of making malleable iron castings1 the planing machine1 a fireproof safe1 the knitting machine and the band wood-saw4 ,in #agbf ,dr4 ,hales had announced that a gas capable of burning1 and giving light while burning1 could be distilled from coal4 ,this announcement created great interest1 and led to a long series of scientific investigations as to the possibility of utilizing it for house and street illumination1 especially by a ,mr4 ,murdock in the latter decade of the century4 ,in #ahjb ,mr4 ,murdock made a public display of the result of his labors1 by illuminating a factory with gas4 ,in the year #ahjc-ahjd the ,lyceum ,theatre in ,london was so lighted1 and a year later some extensive cotton mills in ,manchester4 ,public interest was so roused that investigations on a larger scale ensued1 which resulted in lighting ,westminster ,bridge with gas in #ahac1 and the town of ,westminster the following year4 ,in #ahaf street lighting by gas was common in ,london4 ,the lighting of houses by gas followed later1 but very slowly4 ,it is a little difficult to see that there was much invention of an original or brilliant kind involved in the gradual development of the art of illuminating by gas2 but it cannot reasonably be denied that a considerable amount of invention must have been done in the aggregate1 for the reason that a wholly novel art was created4 ,if it was not invented1 how was it brought into being8 ,the best answer probably is that the art was not the result of one brilliant invention followed by others that improved upon it1 but was rather the aggregate work of a number of minor inventions1 each one of which carried the art forward1 but by only one short step4 ,other minor inventions produced the locomotive and the railroad4 ,the first steam engines were stationary2 but portable engines1 now called locomotives1 gradually came into being4 ,they were engines mounted on platforms resting on wheels that1 in turn1 rested on the ground2 the revolutions of the engines turning the wheels1 and causing the advancement of the whole4 ,in #ahjg a wagon-way was laid down on which cars were run to and from a colliery1 and this wagon-way passed close in front of a house in which lived a poor family named ,stephenson1 a member of which was a boy whose ,christian name was ,george4 ,in the following year1 the wooden parts were taken up and replaced by a single line of iron rails with sidings4 ,in #ahaa a portable engine was constructed for running on these rails1 and this was followed by another in the following year4 ,george ,stephenson made a locomotive for running on rails in #ahad1 and followed it by another in #ahaf1 both for hauling coal4 ,it was now so obvious that locomotives could haul other things than coal1 that a railroad was laid down between ,manchester and ,liverpool1 and a prize of #ejj was offered for the best engine4 ,on ,october #f1 #ahbi1 the competition was held1 though only three engines appeared4 ,the prize was won by ,stephenson's locomotive1 the ,rocket1 which attained a speed of #bi miles per hour4 ,with the locomotive1 as with illuminating gas1 it is impossible to see any one original or brilliant invention4 ,we do see1 however1 the result of the superposition on one brilliant invention 7that of ,hero's steam engine7 of a number of minor inventions1 and much constructive ingenuity and initiative4 ,an invention of a higher order had signalized the latter part of the eighteenth century1 in the form of a printing press in which the speed of printing was greatly increased by the use of revolving cylinders2 one holding the type on its outer surface1 and the other covered with leather1 the paper passing between1 and receiving the printed impression by the pressure exerted between the two cylinders4 ,in order that the type should fit on the curved surface of the cylinder1 they were made narrower toward the bottom4 ,the machine was invented by an ,englishman named ,nicholson4 ,it was never put into practical use2 but a machine embodying the revolving cylinder for receiving the force of the impression communicated to the paper1 was invented and put into successful use later by a ,german named ,knig4 ,the type1 however1 was not put on a cylinder in this machine1 but on a flat plate that passed back and forth under the revolving impression cylinder4 ,two of ,knig's presses were bought for the ,london ,times2 and on ,november #bh1 #ahad1 one made #a1ajj impressions per hour1 a marvelous advance over speeds previously attained4 ,from the standpoint of pure invention1 it was not so admirable as ,nicholson's2 but being a later product1 and being based on ,nicholson's principle1 it was naturally an improvement in construction and mode of operation4 ,in #ahad ,sir ,david ,brewster1 while experimenting on the polarization of light1 made an invention of the most original and concrete type1 which required a high grade of scientific knowledge for its conception and development1 but which was not intended for any utilitarian purpose1 and yet was of too serious a character to be called a scientific toy4 ,this was his famous kaleidoscope2 an instrument described accurately by its name1 for it enabled one to see beautiful things4 ,it was very simple in construction and principle1 and seems to have fallen short of greatness in only one element1 that of usefulness4 ,by a careful adjustment of two prisms at a definite angle to each other1 ,sir ,david showed that geometrical images of the utmost beauty and variety could be made of objects placed between the mirrors1 especially if those objects were small objects1 and if they were of different colors1 like bits of colored glass4 ,knowledge of this escaping1 thousands of kaleidoscopes were soon put on the market1 and sold in all the principal cities1 before ,sir ,david had had time to get a patent4 ,though the instruments were unscientifically made1 they gave beautiful pictures nevertheless2 but the result was that the kaleidoscope was not appreciated at its full value4 ,the inventor improved the instrument greatly1 and developed it into one of the most beauty-producing appliances known1 and one of the most extraordinary and unique4 ,the most remarkable fact connected with it is that no real usefulness for it has ever yet been found4 ,the present author ventures to predict that a clear field of usefulness will some day be found by some fortunate inventor4 ,meanwhile1 the ill-clad captain of artillery who had invented the plan by which the ,british were pushed out of ,toulon with so much neatness and despatch1 had nearly turned the civilized world upside down4 ,no man save ,alexander ever accomplished so much of that kind of work in so short a time4 ,his work consisted of a number of acts performed by him1 each of which was like his act at ,toulon1 in that it began with the conception of a brilliant idea1 proceeded with the embodiment of the idea in a concrete plan1 and ended with the carrying into operation of that plan4 ,napoleon was great in each of these lines of work4 ,he had a brilliant and yet correct imagination1 that enabled him to conceive ideas of extraordinary brilliancy1 and also to select from them the ideas that were the most susceptible of being made into concrete plans of the kind that could be carried out successfully4 ,he possessed great constructiveness1 that enabled him to construct mentally a plan in which all the means available for his use were seized upon and put to their special tasks4 ,he possessed finally great ardor1 industry and courage1 that enabled him to start his plan to going very quickly1 and keep it going very rapidly1 until it had performed its task4 ,it would be idle to discuss at which of these three stages of the work he was the greatest1 or to try to decide which stage of the three was the most important2 because the three were links in a continual chain1 and the chain depended on each equally for its strength3--as any chain does on its links4 ,it may be interesting1 however1 to realize that mere imagination is possibly the most elementary activity of the mind2 mere imagination is evidenced by savages1 for instance1 and by children1 more than by highly educated men4 ,constructiveness1 on the other hand1 is little to be found in savages or children1 and is a product of education1 and a result of the training of the reasoning faculties4 ,courage and impulsive energy again are elemental faculties1 and are observable more in savages than in the civilized4 ,it seems to be the effect of civilization1 therefore1 to develop the reasoning faculties1 at the expense of both imagination and courage4 ,in fact1 it is clearly the effect of civilization to develop a cold and calculating materialism4 ,men are rare therefore1 and have been rare in every age1 who combine the three qualities of imagination1 constructiveness and courage4 ,napoleon combined all three in harmonious proportions2 and he possessed each one in its most perfect form4 ,his performance at ,toulon was so spectacular that it attracted attention at once1 and caused his promotion to the command of the artillery in ,italy4 ,here he was able to suggest projects that received approval and brought successes4 ,one plan conceived and developed by him1 however1 was disapproved4 ,it consisted essentially of dividing the ,piedmontese and ,austrians1 crushing the ,piedmontese1 and then driving the ,austrians out of ,italy into ,austria and following them thither4 ,later1 this plan was approved1 and he himself was put in command in ,italy4 ,it was this plan1 executed by the ,bonaparte of those days1 that began the career of the ,napoleon of history4 ,so original and brilliant had been the conception1 so mathematically correct and practically feasible had been the plan which ,bonaparte developed from it1 and so furiously energetic were his operations in carrying out the plan1 that the sluggish ,piedmontese were defeated before they quite realized that war had been begun4 ,a like catastrophe happened to the equally mentally and physically sluggish ,austrians2 then another catastrophe1 and then another1 and then still others2 and in such rapid and bewildering succession1 that in a year and a month after his arrival in ,italy he had driven the ,austrians out completely1 formed the ,cisalpine and ,ligurian republics in the north of ,italy1 and signed the armistice of ,leoben with the ,austrians1 within fifty miles of ,vienna4 ,napoleon's next invention was a project for ruining ,england by attacking her ,east ,indian possessions by a campaign beginning with an invasion of ,egypt4 ,everything proceeded in substantial accordance with the plan developed1 until ,august #a1 #agih4 ,in the evening of that day the whole project was destroyed by ,horatio ,nelson4 ,it was destroyed in a battle near the mouth of the river ,nile1 that was decided in fifteen minutes1 though it was not wholly concluded until it had been raging for nearly four hours4 ,in fifteen minutes1 the ,french fleet on which depended ,bonaparte's communications with ,europe1 had been so severely damaged that the failure of ,bonaparte's project was decided4 ,nelson was a man like ,bonaparte in certain qualities2 in the qualities that are essential to great leadership1 imagination1 constructiveness and executiveness4 ,the first clear evidence of these qualities he had displayed startlingly at the battle of ,cape ,st4 ,vincent on ,february #ad1 #agig2--when1 swiftly realizing that two separated parts of the hostile ,spanish fleet were about to join1 he suddenly conceived the idea of preventing the junction by committing an act that--unless it brought success--would probably cost him his commission and perhaps his life4 ,now1 the mere conception of an idea so revolting to professional ethics would not occur to an unimaginative man3 and still less would it be retained4 ,but it did occur to ,nelson2 and ,nelson retained it and looked it squarely in the face4 ,to embody his idea in a practicable plan was a simple matter to his active and trained intelligence1 while to execute the plan was an act so natural as to be almost automatic4 ,much to the amazement of the ,commander of the fleet and all the officers and men in both the fleets1 the little division commanded by ,commodore ,nelson was seen actually to leave the line of battle6 ,nelson had taken his life1 his fortune and his sacred honor in his hand1 and staked all on an endeavor to get between the two separated parts of the ,spanish fleet4 ,the ,british ,commander quickly realized what his daring subordinate had in mind1 and speedily came to his relief4 ,a brilliant1 though not materially decisive1 victory was won4 ,the already distinguished ,commander-in-,chief was then made ,earl ,st4 ,vincent1 and the hitherto obscure ,horatio ,nelson brought into the forefront of naval heroes1 with the rank of rear-admiral1 a gold medal and a knighthood4 ,now1 ,nelson had not appeared at the mouth of the ,nile because of any accident1 or any chain of fortuitous circumstances2 he did not fight the epochal battle there because of any accidental occurrences or conditions1 and he did not gain the victory because of any similar causes4 ,nelson appeared at the mouth of the ,nile in accordance with a plan that he had conceived as soon as he heard of ,bonaparte's departure from ,toulon on a destination carefully kept secret1 but which ,nelson divined as ,egypt4 ,he so divined it1 by imagining himself in ,bonaparte's place1 and imagining for what purpose he1 ,nelson1 would have left ,toulon under the conditions prevailing then in ,france4 ,he engaged the ,french fleet when he did1 and he fought the ,french fleet in the way he did1 in accordance with a plan that he had conceived long before4 ,no men were ever more cautious1 more solicitous about the future1 more painstaking1 more prudent1 more insistent against taking undue risks1 than those reputedly reckless devil-may-cares1 ,napoleon ,bonaparte and ,horatio ,nelson4 ,napoleon realized at once that his brilliant scheme had been shattered2 but he could not now even take his army home1 because the ,british fleet was in the way4 ,finally1 he succeeded in making the trip himself1 with only a few of his staff4 ,events ran rapidly then2 and on the sixth of ,may1 #ahjj1 we see ,napoleon leaving ,paris to undertake a campaign in northern ,italy1 in accordance with a plan embodied to carry out an idea conceived in his fertile mind1 of taking his army through the great ,st4 ,bernard pass1 dragging his cannon with him through the snow4 ,this plan 7like most of his plans7 was so brilliantly conceived1 so skillfully planned1 and so energetically executed1 that when ,napoleon suddenly appeared with his army in the ,north of ,italy1 the ,austrian general was bewildered with amazement4 ,the natural result developed quickly1 and the ,austrians retired beyond the ,mincio ,river4 ,by this time affairs in ,europe were vastly complicated1 because of the fact that the maritime enemies of ,france 7which meant virtually all the other maritime countries of ,europe7 became exasperated at one of their number1 ,great ,britain1 in consequence of what they considered her unreasonable insistence on certain doctrines concerning maritime affairs4 ,a ,league of ,armed ,neutrality against her was finally formed1 that soon assumed menacing proportions4 ,this league was completely broken by the same ,horatio ,nelson in a naval battle off ,copenhagen on ,april #b1 #ahja4 ,this battle was the direct result of a plan conceived by ,nelson1 that was so original and so daring that for a long time he could not secure the consent of his ,commander-in-,chief to its execution4 ,the battle resulted in a victory that was brilliant in the highest degree2 but it was brilliant only because the original idea was brilliant1 and because it was developed into a plan that was constructively correct and skillfully carried out4 ,meanwhile1 a brief campaign had been going on between the ,french and the ,austrians in ,austria4 ,it was carried on with great brilliancy of conception and skill of execution by ,moreau1 and ended with the battle of ,hohenlinden and the disastrous defeat of the ,austrians4 ,the treaty of ,lunville followed in ,february1 #ahja1 and left ,great ,britain as ,france's only antagonist4 ,the victory of ,copenhagen having broken the strength of the ,confederacy of ,neutrals1 and ,napoleon seeing the folly of attempting further to ruin ,british commerce then1 the ,treaty of ,amiens between ,great ,britain and ,france followed in ,march1 #ahjb4 ,as part of this treaty1 ,great ,britain agreed to give up ,malta4 ,for various reasons that do not concern this discussion1 ,great ,britain did not do so1 and war followed in ,may1 #ahjc4 ,before that time1 ,napoleon had realized that his principal enemy was ,england4 ,he now conceived the project of sending an invading army across the ,english ,channel1 knowing that if he could accomplish that1 he could march to ,london1 and dictate his own terms of peace4 ,but how could he get across the channel1 in the face of the ,british fleet8 ,from the numberless pictures conjured up in his brilliant imagination1 ,napoleon selected the one which showed a ,french fleet threatening ,british possessions in the ,west ,indies1 a ,british fleet rushing to the ,west ,indies to save them1 the ,french fleet returning and joining with another ,french fleet waiting for it1 then the combined fleets securing the mastery of the ,english ,channel from the depleted ,british fleet remaining1 then a ,french flotilla of transports with an invading army forthwith starting across the channel1 then a landing against an opposition easily overcome1 then a march to ,london1 then a capture of ,london3 and finally1 he1 ,napoleon1 riding in triumph through ,london streets and sleeping in the palace at ,london--as he had slept in other palaces on the ,continent4 ,it was a beautiful vision2--a beautiful series of moving pictures presented to his imagination4 ,to embody all these pictures in realities became the pre-occupation of his waking and his sleeping hours4 ,by dint of herculean exertions1 he finally collected near ,boulogne about #bjj1jjj troops and #a1ejj transports4 ,at the proper time1 ,villeneuve1 with a powerful fleet1 was sent to the ,west ,indies to threaten the ,british possessions there4 ,but the same man who had spoiled his ,india project by the battle of the ,nile1 and who had spoiled his project of ruining ,british commerce by the battle of ,copenhagen1 spoiled his present project3 the same man1 ,horatio ,nelson4 ,nelson had some imagination himself2 and he imagined 7correctly as usual7 that ,villeneuve had sailed for the ,west ,indies--and away he went in pursuit4 ,arriving there1 and finding that ,villeneuve had been in the ,west ,indies but had left1 ,nelson left also4 ,he imagined that ,villeneuve had sailed for ,europe2 and so ,nelson sailed for ,europe also1 sending a fast frigate to inform the ,admiralty of all that he had learned1 and of all that he inferred4 ,the frigate made such speed1 and the ,first ,lord of the ,admiralty1 ,admiral ,lord ,barham1 acted with such sailor-like energy and skill1 that a large ,british fleet intercepted ,villeneuve on his return1 brought him to action near the coast of ,spain1 and handled him so roughly that he went for repairs to ,cadiz4 ,he arrived there on ,august #bj4 ,the news of this1 reaching ,napoleon1 wiped all the beautiful pictures out of his mind4 ,but he had other pictures in the background4 ,these he put promptly into the foreground1 and started off with incredible swiftness toward ,austria4 ,on ,october #ai1 he brought the ,austrians to battle near ,ulm1 and achieved one of the most decisive victories of his career4 ,the victory was mainly due to the clearness and correctness of ,napoleon's conceived idea1 and the amazing speed and certainty of his movements in carrying it into execution4 ,the ,austrian ,general ,mack was so wholly taken by surprise that he found his army was completely surrounded before he had had time to take any preventive measures4 ,napoleon had correctly judged the import of ,villeneuve's interception by the ,british fleet1 and realized that it would be mere folly afterward to attempt to cross the channel then4 ,still1 the situation was not wholly bad for him1 and the victory at ,ulm made it beautiful4 ,for1 though ,england was still greater on the sea than ,france1 ,france was also great1 and was still a powerful weapon which he could wield against ,england1 with all the power of genius4 ,but1 two days after the victory of ,ulm1 came the disaster near ,cape ,trafalgar1 when ,nelson defeated the combined ,french and ,spanish fleets1 and thereby secured for ,england a superiority at sea1 vastly more pronounced than it had been before4 ,this victory1 by making ,napoleon helpless at sea against ,great ,britain1 ruined all ,napoleon's chances of dominion1 except upon the ,continent4 ,napoleon made two brilliant campaigns after this1 that brought him to the summit of his career4 ,had he been content to stop there1 had he not tried to climb still higher1 his descendants might now sit on the throne of ,france4 ,but the intoxicating fumes of success seem to have clouded that brilliant mind1 and to have prevented those clear and correct pictures from forming there that had formed before4 ,the result was that he embarked on a new project for ruining ,england that began with an invasion of ,portugal and ,spain1 which brought on a war with ,austria4 ,it is true that1 by a brilliant campaign1 ,napoleon worsted ,austria and made an advantageous treaty with her1 and then married the daughter of the emperor3 but the continuance of the policy that underlay the war with ,austria1 brought on later a war with ,russia that sent ,napoleon to ,elba1 an exile4 ,we see the key to ,napoleon's successes in the quality of his mind at the time of those successes1 and we see the key to his failures in a lowering of the quality of that mind4 ,military writers tell us that his mind was not of the same quality when he planned his ,russian campaign as it had been when he planned his early campaigns4 ,now the reasoning faculties do not grow dull when one approaches middle age2 but the imaginative faculties do--7in most people74 ,it is an old saying that one cannot teach an old dog new tricks4 ,clearly1 this cannot be because of any failing of memory1 though memory fails with age2 because the memory is not involved1 save slightly4 ,it must be therefore because of failing impressionability and receptivity4 ,we all speak of the receptive years1 meaning the years of childhood and then of youth2 and it is a common saying that young people are more receptive than old people4 ,of what are they receptive8 ,clearly1 of mental impressions4 ,parents and teachers are warned not to forget that the minds of young people are very impressionable1 and to be careful that their minds receive good impressions only1 so far as they can compass it4 ,napoleon1 when he made his ,russian campaign1 was only #dc years old in years2 but he had lived a life that was far from normal or hygienic physically1 and extremely abnormal and unhygienic mentally4 ,the intention of the last sentence is to point out that mental health cannot be long preserved amid surroundings mentally unhealthful1 any more than physical health can be long preserved amid surroundings physically unhealthful2 and that the highest qualities of our nature are the most difficult to maintain and therefore are the first to fail1 under unhealthful surroundings4 ,the spiritual faculties fail first1 then the moral1 then the mental and lastly the physical4 ,now the imagination1 while a mental quality1 rather than a moral one1 partakes in a measure of the spiritual1 and is one of the highest of the mental attributes4 ,for this reason imagination is one of the first to be impaired4 ,the especial picture of the imagination that becomes faulty under certain conditions1 is the picture of one's self4 ,under conditions such as ,napoleon had lived under for several years1 the picture of himself in his mind had become unduly magnified in relation to the pictures of other men4 ,now is there any one thing more dangerous to a man than to carry in his mind an incorrect picture of himself8 ,in ,napoleon's case1 it led him to the unforgivable military crime2 that of underestimating the enemy4 ,his imagination1 by presenting a magnified image of himself1 presented relatively dwarfed images of his antagonists4 ,the very faculty 7imagination7 which started ,napoleon on his great successes1 started him now on his great reverses4 ,the actual beginning of these was in his carelessly planned campaign in ,russia4 ,his invention seems to have failed him both in planning the campaign and in meeting situations afterwards2 because his imagination failed to picture each situation to him exactly as it was4 ,but the ,russian campaign did not wholly ruin him4 ,even after that1 even after ,elba1 situations were sometimes presented to him1 such that 7although ,trafalgar had prevented him from achieving ,european domination71 yet1 if he had been able to see them as clearly as he had seen situations in his unspoiled days1 he might1 at least have saved himself from ruin4 ,but his imagination had become impaired and therefore his powers of invention also4 ,napoleon as general1 and ,nelson as admiral were what we may term opportunistic inventors1 who made inventions for meeting transient situations with success1 as distinguished from inventors like ,newton and ,watt1 who made permanent contributions to the welfare of mankind4 ,napoleon as statesman1 however1 made contributions of a permanent character4 ,a supremely valuable contribution of this kind was the stethoscope1 which was invented about #ahai by ,dr4 ,laennec in ,paris1 and by means of which the science and art of diagnosis were given an amazing impetus almost instantly4 ,possibly one cannot find in the whole history of modern invention any instrument so small and so inexpensive that has been so widely and definitely useful4 ,a painful interest hangs to it in the fact that by means of his own invention1 ,laennec discovered that he himself was dying of tuberculosis of the lungs4 ,in ,july1 #ahbj1 a discovery of a vastly different character was made by ,oersted in ,copenhagen2 the discovery that if a current of electricity be passed over or under a magnetic needle1 the needle will be deflected in a direction and to a degree depending on the strength and direction of the current and the position of the conducting wire relatively to the needle4 ,now ,laennec invented a simple and little instrument that began virtually perfect1 and that exists today substantially as it started4 ,oersted did something equally important1 that ultimately initiated intricate inventions of many kinds1 and yet he did not really invent anything whatever4 ,the importance of his discovery was recognized at once2 so quickly1 in fact1 and by so many experimenters and inventors1 that ,oersted soon found himself in the extraordinary position of being left behind1 in an art to which himself had almost unknowingly given birth6 ,that some relation existed between magnetism and electricity had long been evident to physicists2 but what that relation was they did not know until ,oersted told them4 ,they seized on his information with avidity1 with results that the whole world knows now4 ,the first man heard from was ,ampre1 who communicated the results of his experiments in the new art to the ,institute of ,france as early as ,september #ahth4 ,almost immediately afterward1 ,arago discovered that1 if a conducting wire were wrapped around iron wires1 those iron wires became magnets and remained magnets as long as the electric current continued to pass4 ,thereupon1 ,arago made and announced his epoch-making invention1 the electro-magnet4 ,the influence of this invention on the subsequent history of the machine of civilization1 it is hardly needful to point out4 ,the experiments of ,oersted gave rise at once to much speculation as to the nature of the action between electric currents and magnets1 and also to considerable experimental and mathematical research4 ,as had been the case for many thousand years in other endeavors1 speculation accomplished little1 but experimental research accomplished much4 ,by this time mathematics had been highly developed1 not only as an abstract science but also as an aid to physical and chemical research4 ,the man who attacked the problem in the most scientific manner was ,ampre1 who in consequence solved it in the following year1 after a series of mathematically conducted experiments of the utmost originality and inductiveness4 ,as a result in #ahbj1 he showed that all the actions and reactions of magnets could be performed by coils of wire through which electric currents were passing1 even if there was no iron within the coils3--but that they were more powerful1 if iron were within4 ,from this and kindred facts1 which he developed by experiment--7especially the fact that electric currents act and react on each other as magnets do71 he established a new science to which he gave the name electro-dynamics4 ,in recognition of his contributions to electricity1 the name given many years later to the unit of electric current was ampre4 ,in the following years1 while pursuing a series of investigations into the new science1 ,faraday invented the first electro-magnetic machines4 ,in the first machine1 a magnet floating in mercury was made to revolve continuously around a central conducting wire through which an electric current was passing2 in the second a conductor was made to revolve continuously around a fixed magnet2 in a third machine1 a magnet so mounted on a longitudinal axis that an electric current could be made to pass from one pole half way to the other pole1 and then out1 would revolve continuously as long as the electric current was made to pass4 ,faraday invented the first machines that converted the energy of the electric current into mechanical motion2 though ,oersted was the first who merely effected the conversion4 ,it can hardly be said that ,oersted invented a machine2 but ,faraday certainly did4 ,the first utilization of ,oersted's discovery in a concrete and practically usable device was the galvanometer1 invented by ,schweigger in #ahbj4 ,it was a brilliant invention1 and solved perfectly the important problem of measuring accurately the strength of an electric current4 ,the apparatus consisted merely of a means of multiplying the effect of the deflecting current by winding the conductor into a coil1 the magnetic needle being within the coil4 ,the galvanometer 7named after ,galvani7 was an invention of the utmost value1 and it is in use to this day1 though in many modified forms4 ,when one realizes how obvious a utilization of ,oersted's discovery the galvanometer was1 and that ,schweigger did not invent it until two years later1 he wonders why ,oersted himself did not invent it4 ,but the history of invention is full of such cases and of cases still more amazing4 ,why did the world wait several thousand years before ,wise invented the metal pen8 ,why are we not now inventing a great many more things than we are8 ,nature is holding out suggestions for inventions to us by the million1 but we do not see them4 ,in the year before ,schweigger's invention1 in #ahba1 the important discovery had been made by ,seebeck in ,berlin1 that if two different metals are joined at their ends1 and one junction be raised to a higher temperature than the other1 a current of electricity will be generated1 the strength of which will vary with the metals employed and the difference in temperature of the junctions4 ,the discovery was soon utilized in ,nobili's invention of the thermopile in which the current was increased by employing several layers of dissimilar metals 7say antimony and bismuth7 in series with each other4 ,the main use of the thermopile has been in scientific investigations1 especially in the science of heat4 ,one of the results of the increased use of mathematics1 especially arithmetic1 was the invention of ,babbage's calculating machine in #ahbb4 ,the usefulness of this invention was so apparent that it was not long in coming into use1 or long in causing the invention of improvements on it of many kinds4 ,the calculating machine was a distinct contribution to civilization4 ,another contribution1 but of quite a different kind1 was made by ,faraday in the following year 7#ahbc7 when1 after a series of experiments1 he announced that he had succeeded in liquefying many of the gases then known by the combined action of cold and pressure4 ,the possibility of doing this had long been suspected by physicists reasoning from known phenomena2 but the actual accomplishment of the liquefaction of gas was none the less a feat of a high order of brilliancy and usefulness4 ,in experiments subsequently made1 ,dewar received the gases in a vessel of his invention which had double walls1 the space between which he had exhausted of air1 and thus made a vacuum--which is a non-conductor of heat4 ,the thermos bottle of today was invented by the great chemist ,dewar1 and is not therefore a new invention4 ,meanwhile1 the steam engine had been undergoing rapid development1 though the use of locomotives for drawing passenger trains does not seem to have come into regular use until the ,liverpool and ,manchester ,railroad was opened in #ahcj4 ,in #ahbh1 the ,delaware and ,hudson ,canal ,company constructed a short railroad1 and sent an agent to ,england to buy the necessary locomotives and rails4 ,in the four years following twelve railroad companies were incorporated4 ,the ,baltimore and ,susquehanna began actual operations in #ahca4 ,the inventions of ,hero1 ,branca1 ,worcester1 ,savery1 ,papin and ,leupold1 brought to practicality by ,watt1 had now come to full fruition1 and entered upon that career of world-wide usefulness that has advanced civilization so tremendously and still continues to advance it4 ,but the most decisive triumph of the steam engine had come more than a decade before1 when in #ahai the ,american steamship ,savannah crossed the ,atlantic ocean in #bf days1 going from the ,united ,states to ,liverpool4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,inventions ,,in ,,steam1 ,,electricity ,,and ,,chemistry ,,create ,a ,,new ,,era ,when the nineteenth century opened1 ,george ,,iii was ,king of ,england1 ,napoleon was ,first ,consul of ,france1 ,francis ,,ii was ,emperor of ,germany1 ,frederick ,william ,,iii was ,king of ,prussia1 ,alexander was ,czar of ,russia 7beginning #ahja71 and ,john ,adams was ,president of the ,united ,states4 ,by this time the influence of the inventions of the few centuries immediately preceding1 especially the invention of the gun and that of printing1 was clearly in evidence4 ,the ,feudal ,system had entirely vanished1 the sway of great and powerful sovereigns had taken the place in ,europe of the arbitrary rule of petty dukes and barons1 the value of the natural sciences was appreciated1 and a fine literature had developed in all the countries4 ,a terrible war was raging1 however1 that was not to end for fifteen years and that involved1 directly or indirectly1 nearly every ,european nation4 ,the war had started in ,france1 where the tremendous intellectual movement had aroused the excitable people of that land to a realization of the oppression of the nobility and a determination to make it cease4 ,the wars that ensued were not so different from the wars of the ,egyptians and other ancient nations as one might carelessly suppose1 because the weapons were not very different4 ,the only weapon that was very novel was the gun2 and the gun of the year #ahjj was a contrivance so vastly inferior to the gun that exists today as not to be immeasurably superior to the bow and arrow4 ,it had to be loaded slowly at the muzzle2 and the powder was so non-uniform and in other ways inferior1 that the gun's range was short and its accuracy slight4 ,even the artillery that ,bonaparte used so skillfully was crude and ineffective1 according to the standards of today4 ,the cavalry was not very different from the cavalry of the ,assyrians1 and the military engineers performed few feats greater than that of ,csar's1 in building the bridge across the ,rhine4 ,there were no railroads1 no steamships1 no telegraphs1 no telephones4 ,there was less difference between the armies of #ahjj ,a4 ,d4 and those of #ahjj ,b4 ,c41 than between the armies of #ahjj ,a4 ,d4 and those of #aijj ,a4 ,d4 ,the same remark applies to virtually all the material conditions of living4 ,there was less difference1 for instance1 between the fine buildings of #ahjj ,b4 ,c4 and #ahjj ,a4 ,d4 than between the fine buildings of #ahjj and #aijj ,a4 ,d4 ,the influence of the new inventions on the material conditions of living was only beginning to be felt2 for the twin agencies of steam and electricity1 that were later to make the difference1 had not yet got to work4 ,it was the power of steam that was to transport men and materials across vast oceans and across great continents at high speed1 and place in the hands of every people the natural fruits and the foods and the raw materials and the manufactured appliances of other lands2 it was the subtle influence of electricity that was to give every people instant communication with every other4 ,it was the co-working of steam and electricity that was to make possible the ,british navy and the ,british merchant marine1 and the relatively smaller merchant marines and navies of other countries1 and to bring all the world under the dominance of ,great ,britain and of the other countries that were civilized4 ,the opening of the nineteenth century1 therefore1 marks the opening of a new era4 ,in #ahjj the steam engine was already an effective appliance1 but it was not yet in general use4 ,electricity was a little behind steam2 and though ,franklin and the others had proved that it possessed vast possibilities of many kinds1 and also that it could be harnessed and put to work by man for the benefit of man1 electricity had as yet accomplished little of real value4 ,under the stimulating influence of the quick communication given by the art of printing1 literature had blossomed especially in ,great ,britain1 ,france1 ,germany and ,italy2 but in #ahjj one has to notice the same fact as in previous years--literature had not improved4 ,the literature of #ahjj ,a4 ,d4 was no better than the literature of ,greece or ,elizabethan ,england--to state the truth politely2 and no such poet lived as ,homer1 ,shakespeare or ,john ,milton4 ,it seems to be a characteristic of literature1 and of all the fine arts as well1 that each great product is solely a product of one human mind1 and not the product of the combined work of many minds4 ,to the invention of ,watt's steam engine1 numberless obscure investigators and inventors had contributed1 besides those whose great names everybody knows3 but how can two men write a poem or any work of fiction1 or paint a picture or carve a statue8 ,it is true that each of these feats has been performed2 but rarely and not with great success4 ,for this reason1 it is not clear that mere literature as literature1 or that any of the fine arts as such can exert much influence on history1 and it is not clear that any of them have done so4 ,that they have had great influence in conducing to the pleasure of individuals there can be no question2 but the influence seems to have been transient4 ,history is a record of such of the doings of men as have had influence at the time1 or in the future4 ,of these doings1 the agency that has had the most obvious influence is war1 and next to war is invention4 ,war1 next after disease1 has caused the most suffering the world knows of2 but out of the suffering have emerged the great nations without which modern civilization could not exist4 ,the influence of invention is not so obvious1 but it is perhaps as great1 or nearly so2 the main reason being that invention has been the agency which has enabled those nations to emerge that have emerged4 ,without the appliances that invention has supplied1 the civilized man could not have triumphed over the savage4 ,now literature and painting and sculpture and music1 while they have made life easier and pleasanter1 have contributed little to this work1 and in many ways have rather prevented it from going further by softening people1 physically and mentally4 ,this statement must not be accepted without reservations of course2 for the reason that some poems1 some works of fiction1 and some paintings and 7especially7 some musical compositions have tended to strengthen character1 and even to stimulate the martial spirit4 ,but a careful inspection of most works of pure literature and fine art must lead a candid person to admit that the major part of their effect has been to please1--to gratify the appetite of the mind rather than to inspire it to action4 ,the author here requests any possible reader of these pages1 not to infer that he has any objection to being pleased himself1 or to having others pleased2 or that he regards the influence of literature and the fine arts as being detrimental to the race4 ,on the contrary1 he regards them as being valuable in the highest degree4 ,he is merely trying to point out the difference between the influence of inventions in the useful arts and those in the fine arts4 ,a like remark may be made concerning inventors and other men2 the word inventors being here supposed to mean the men who make inventions of all kinds4 ,these men seem to have been those who have brought into existence those machines and books and projects of all kinds that have determined the kind of machine of civilization that has now been produced4 ,these men are very few1 compared with the great bulk of humanity2 but it seems to be they who have given direction to the line along which the machine has been developed4 ,this does not mean1 of course1 that these men have been more estimable themselves than the men who kept the machine in smooth and regular motion1 and made the repairs1 and supplied the oil and fuel2 but it does mean that they had more influence in making its improvements4 ,naturally1 their work in making improvements would have been of no avail1 if other men had not exerted industry and carefulness and intelligence and courage1 in the countless tasks entailed in maintaining the machine in good repair1 in keeping it running smoothly1 and in receiving with open minds and helping hands each new improvement as it came along4 ,and it was not only in welcoming real improvements1 but in keeping out novelties which seemed to be improvements but were not improvements that the work of what may be called the operators1 as distinguished from the inventors1 was beneficent4 ,nothing could be more injurious to the machine than to permit the incorporation in it of parts that would not improve it4 ,there has been little danger to fear from this source1 however2 for the inertia of men is such that it is only rarely that one sees any new device accepted1 until it has proved its value definitely and unmistakably in practical work4 ,possibly the greatest single impetus given to progress about the year #ahjj was that given by ,lavoisier shortly before1 which started the science of chemistry on the glorious career it has since pursued4 ,as a separate branch of science1 chemistry then began1 though it had been the subject of investigation for many centuries1 beginning in ,egypt and the other ancient countries of the ,east4 ,in the ,middle ,ages1 it was known in ,europe by the name ,alchemy4 ,originally1 and in all the long ages of its infancy1 the investigations of the experimenters were carried on mainly to discover new remedies in medicine1 or to learn methods to transmute base metals into precious metals2 though there was a considerable degree also of pursuit of knowledge for its own sake4 ,as a result of the investigations1 many startling facts were developed1 and many discoveries were made2 but1 for the reason that the investigations were not conducted on the mathematical or quantitative lines that had led to so much success in developing physics1 alchemy or chemistry did not rest on any sure basis1 and therefore had no fixed place to start from4 ,it was in the same vague status that some subjects of thoughtful speculation are in today1 such as telepathy1 which may 7or may not7 be put on a basis of fact some day1 and started forward thence1 as chemistry was started4 ,what gave chemistry its basis was the methods introduced by ,lavoisier who was a practiced physicist4 ,he introduced the balance into the study of chemistry1 and raised it instantly from a collection of speculations to an exact science1 capable of progressing confidently and assuredly thereafter1 instead of wandering in a maze4 ,lavoisier gave chemistry a mathematical basis to start from1 and sure beacon lights to guide it2 and though many changes in its theory have been made from time to time1 they have been due only to increase of knowledge and not to departure from fundamental principles4 ,finding that a substance was not an element1 but was a compound of two elements1 or more than two1 did not require any rejection of accepted principles1 but merely a readjustment4 ,we now see that it was impossible because of the exact nature of the way in which the various elements combine1 that chemistry could have become a science until the balance had been used to weigh the substances investigated2 and we also see that it was impossible that the balance could have been so used until physics had been developed to the point permitting it1 and men skilled in exact measurements had been brought up by practice in physical researches4 ,lavoisier himself had served a long apprenticeship1 and his earliest claim to fame was his mathematical researches on heat1 embodied in an essay1 written in connection with ,laplace1 and published in #aghd4 ,even after an enormous mass of facts had been collected and announced1 chemistry could not take her place by the side of physics1 and ,bacon's teachings could not be followed1 until those facts had been mathematically investigated1 and their mathematical relations to each other had been established4 ,this ,lavoisier and his followers did4 ,no better illustration of the influence of invention on history can be found than the fact that chemistry hovered in the dim twilight of speculation1 guess-work and even superstition1 until ,lavoisier brought to bear the various inventions made in physics4 ,then1 presto1 the science of chemistry was born4 ,we must not let the fact escape us1 however1 that ,lavoisier would have left mankind none the wiser1 if he had merely brought mathematical research to bear and discovered what he did1 and then stopped4 ,if he had stopped then1 his knowledge would have remained locked inside of his own mind1 useless4 ,the good work that ,lavoisier actually did was in actually producing an invention2 in conceiving a certain definite method of chemical research1 then embodying it in such a concrete form that persons skilled in the art could make and use it1 and then giving it to the world4 ,the first important effect of ,lavoisier's work was the announcement by ,dalton about #ahjh of his ,atomic ,theory1 which has been the basis of most of the work of chemistry ever since4 ,dalton's earlier work had been in physics1 and its principal result had been ,dalton's ,laws in regard to the evaporation and expansion of gases1 announced by him about #ahja4 ,these investigations led his mind to the consideration of the various speculations that had been entertained concerning the nature of matter itself1 as distinguished from the actions and reactions between material objects that physics studies2 and they brought him to the conclusion that there are certain substances or elements which combine together to form compounds that are wholly different from each of the elements 7oxygen and hydrogen1 for instance1 combining to form water72 and that those elements are made up of units absolutely indivisible1 which combine with each other in absolutely exact proportions4 ,the units he called atoms4 ,he built up a theory wonderfully convincing and coherent1 that explained virtually all the chemical phenomena then known1 and supplied a stepping-stone following ,lavoisier's1 from which chemists could advance still further4 ,dalton classified certain substances as elements which we now know are not elements1 because they have been found since to be compounds of two or more elements2 but this in itself does not disprove his theory1 because he himself pointed out that means might be found later to decompose certain materials that seemed then to be elements1 because no means had then been found to decompose them4 ,it may be instructive to note here that ,dalton was not the first to imagine that certain forms of matter were elemental1 or that matter was indivisible beyond a certain point1 or that substances entered into combination with each other in definite proportions4 ,speculation on all these points had been rife for many years1 but it had not produced the invention of any workable law or even theory4 ,similarly1 many men later speculated on the possibility of devising an electrical instrument that would transform the mechanical energy of sound waves into electrical energy1 transfer the electrical energy over a wire1 and re-convert it into sound2 but no one succeeded in producing such an instrument1 until ,bell invented the telephone in #ahgf4 ,history is a record of acts1 and not of dreams4 ,and yet the greatest acts were dreamed of before they were performed4 ,every process1 no matter how small or how great1 seems to proceed by three stages--conception1 development and production4 ,most of our acts are almost automatic1 and the three stages succeed each other so quickly that only the final stage itself is noted4 ,but the greatest acts1 from which great results have followed1 have begun with the conception of a picture not of an ordinary kind1 such as a great campaign1 a new machine1 a novel theory1 a book1 painting1 statue or edifice3--then a long process of development1 during which the conception is gradually embodied in some concrete form1 as1 for instance1 a statue1 a painting or an instrument2--and then production4 ,finis opus coronat1 the end crowns the work2 but the work is not crowned until it is finished1 and a concrete entity has been brought forth4 ,lavoisier finished his work4 ,not only did he dream a dream1 but he embodied his dream in a definite form1 and gave it to mankind to use4 ,dalton did similarly4 ,this does not mean that their work was not improved upon thereafter1 or that they invented the chemistry of today4 ,they merely laid the foundation of chemistry1 and placed the first two stones4 ,a remarkable exemplar of the meaning of this declaration was ,benjamin ,thomson1 who was an ,american by birth1 but who entered the ,austrian ,army after the ,war of the ,revolution1 and made an unprecedented record in the application of physical and chemical science to the relief of the distressed and ignorant and poor1 especially the mendicant classes4 ,for his services he was made ,count ,rumford4 ,his researches were mostly in the line of saving heat and light1 and therefore saving food and fuel4 ,he ascertained by experiments of the utmost ingenuity and thoroughness that the warmth of clothing was because of the air entangled in its fibers2 he investigated the radiation1 conduction and convection of heat1 analyzed the ways in which heat could be economized1 and invented a calorimeter for testing the heat-giving value of different fuels4 ,in #agih he had noted the fact that heat was developed when cannon were being bored4 ,he immediately conceived the idea that the heat developed was related to the amount of work expended driving the boring tool1 and invented a means of measuring it4 ,this consisted simply of a blunt boring tool that pressed into a socket in a metal block that was immersed in water1 of which the temperature could be taken4 ,to get a basis for his investigations into the problem of lighting economically the dwellings of the poor1 ,rumford invented a photometer for measuring illumination4 ,no man in history shows more clearly the co-working of a high order of imagination1 and a careful and accurate constructiveness2 and no man ever secured more intensely practical and beneficent results4 ,in the hospital at ,verona he reduced the consumption of fuel to one-eighth4 ,in #ahbg a valuable improvement was made to the machine of civilization by ,ohm1 who announced the now famous ,ohm's ,law1 that the strength of an electric current in any circuit is equal to the difference in potential of the ends of the circuit1 divided by its resistance4 ,this is usually expressed by writing ,c ,e_/,r4 ,can anything be less inspiring than ,c ,e_/,r8 ,yes3--few things have been more inspiring4 ,few things have inspired more zeal for work than that simple formula4 ,that simple formula evolved order out of chaos in the little but super-important world1 in which physicists and chemists were trying to solve the riddles that the utilization of electric currents presented4 ,it gave them a basis from which to start1 and a definite rule to work by4 ,no oration of ,demosthenes1 ,cicero or ,webster has imparted more inspiration1 or supplied a greater stimulus to high effort1 or done more for human kind than ,c ,e_/,r4 ,in #ahbg ,walker in the ,united ,states invented friction matches4 ,it seems strange that someone had not invented matches before4 ,the usual way of getting light was with the flint and steel and tinder-box1--a most inconvenient contrivance4 ,it was quite well known that certain substances would ignite when rubbed1 and yet men waited until #ahbg to utilize the fact in matches6 ,in the following year ,whler succeeded in reducing aluminum1 thus contributing a valuable new factor to human knowledge and a valuable new metal to human needs4 ,in the same year ,neilson took out a patent in ,england for an improved application of air to produce heat in fires1 forges and furnaces1 in which he proposed to pass a current of heated air through the burning fuel4 ,his invention met with opposition of all kinds1 but eventually proved its usefulness4 ,another invention produced in the same year was ,woodworth's machine for planing wood4 ,still another1 was the tubular boiler for locomotives4 ,in #ahbi the first steam locomotive was put into use in the ,united ,states4 ,no especial invention seems to have been expended on this device2 but there was considerable invention of the kind that ,i have ventured to call opportunistic involved in conceiving the idea of getting the locomotive1 and then in actually getting it1 and then putting it to work4 ,in the following year ,braithwaite and ,ericsson in ,london brought out the first portable fire-engine4 ,there was a great deal of invention of the practical kind involved in the design1 construction1 production and successful employment of this novel device2 and an important step was taken in the means of protecting life and the material products of civilization from destruction by fire4 ,in #ahca ,faraday in ,london made one of the most important discoveries in physical science ever made1 the discovery that if a current of electricity is changed in strength1 or if a conductor carrying a current be moved1 an instantaneous magnetic effect is felt in the vicinity2 and that this magnetic effect will cause an instantaneous current in any closed conducting circuit that may be near4 ,faraday also discovered that a similar instantaneous current will be set up in a closed circuit if a magnet be moved in its vicinity4 ,this discovery is usually spoken of as the discovery of electro-magnetic induction2 and the instantaneous currents are said to be induced4 ,about the same time ,professor ,henry in ,princeton discovered that an electric circuit will act not only on other circuits in its vicinity1 but on itself2 that the fact of being increased or decreased will set up instantaneous currents that tend to oppose the increase or decrease4 ,thus1 while ,faraday is credited with the discovery of electro-magnetic induction1 ,henry is credited with the discovery of self-induction4 ,it has been claimed by some that ,henry discovered electro-magnetic induction before ,faraday did4 ,this question is of great interest but it is outside the scope of this modest volume4 ,while both discoveries were of prime importance1 and were also analogous1 that of electro-magnetic induction has played the more conspicuous part4 ,with it began the endeavor to develop electric currents by the relative motion of coils of wire and magnets1 that resulted in the invention of the dynamo1 and the later invention of electric lights and motors4 ,in the same year the discovery 7or was it the invention87 of chloroform was made by ,guthrie in ,america1 ,soubeiran in ,france and ,liebig in ,germany4 ,a curious fact connected with the early history of chloroform is that1 although its ansthetic properties were known in general1 and although the idea of using gases and vapors and medicines to deaden pain was many centuries old yet nevertheless1 chloroform was not put to practical use until about #ahdf when ,dr4 ,morton1 a dentist1 of ,boston1 adopted it as an ansthetic4 ,of all the single inventions ever made1 chloroform has unquestionably done more than any other1 invented till that time1 to give relief from agony4 ,in #ahcb the electric telegraph was invented by ,morse1 though he did not patent it until #ahcg4 ,the influence of the electric telegraph on subsequent history has been so great that the influence of no contemporary invention can reasonably be declared to be greater4 ,as with many other inventions1 one is tempted to wonder why it had not been invented before2 for the fact that electricity could be sent along a conductor and made to cause motion at the other end had been known since ,guericke had demonstrated the fact in the closing years of the seventeenth century4 ,the original invention of the electric telegraph is claimed by some for ,henry1 who had a wire run between his house and his laboratory at ,princeton1 over which he sent messages1 by opening and closing the circuit and thereby actuating an electro-magnet at the receiving end4 ,the first machine to put ,faraday's discovery of magneto-electric induction to practical use was invented by ,pixii in ,france in #ahcb1 and exhibited before the ,academy of ,sciences4 ,it consisted of a powerful magnet that was made to revolve with great rapidity before a bar of soft iron that had wrapped around it a coil of insulated wire about #c1jjj feet long4 ,the north and south poles taking position in succession in front of the coil1 currents were induced that alternated in direction1 twice in each revolution4 ,if a man grasped two wires in the circuit he received a series of sharp electric shocks2 but such effects as decomposing water that were produced by the continuous currents of ,voltaic batteries could not be produced by these alternating currents4 ,to secure such effects1 ,siemens and others made machines in which the magnet in the form of a ,u was stationary1 two coils of wire revolved in front of the poles1 and a two-part commutator was used4 ,when this was placed on the axle1 and the axle was revolved1 the change in direction of the current was obviated1 though a smooth and uniform current was not produced4 ,the reason was that the current fell to zero twice in each revolution4 ,the magneto-electric machine1 as it was called1 remained virtually in this form for many years4 ,it was not sufficiently effective or efficient to be of much practical usefulness in any art1 and was considered more of a scientific toy than a machine of serious importance4 ,still1 the probability was realized by many investigators that a new discovery or invention might be made at any moment1 that would put it in the forefront of the useful inventions of the age4 7,the invention was not made till #ahfb2 it was made by ,pacinnotti in ,italy and will be mentioned later47 ,the influence of the magneto-electric machine1 therefore was not direct1 but indirect4 ,it was a basic invention2 and like many basic inventions1 it formed the hidden foundation on which a conspicuous superstructure was later to be reared4 ,one of the lessons of history is that it is the men and the methods and the other things which are in evidence when some important occurrence happens1 that are identified with it in the minds of people not only at the time1 but afterward4 ,an invention that may have cost its creator the toil and struggle of a lifetime may not gain success simply because of some existing unfavorable conditions of some kind4 ,suddenly the conditions become favorable4 ,john ,doe takes advantage of all the work that other men have done1 adds some slight improvement1 achieves success and dons the laurel wreath4 ,we see at this time 7#ahcb7 very clear signs of an increasing number of inventions per year1 an increasing speed of invention4 ,we see an acceleration in invention which we cannot help associating in our minds with the acceleration which any material object gets1 when continuously subjected to a uniform force1 like that of gravity4 ,one almost feels that there must be a continuous force impelling men to invent2 so clear is the increase of the speed of inventing4 ,following the magneto-machine in #ahcb came the invention of a rotary electric motor by ,sturgeon1 the discovery of chloral-hydrate by ,liebig1 the production of the first large ,american locomotive by ,baldwin and the invention of link motion by ,sir ,henry ,james4 ,the last was an exceedingly important and ingenious contribution to the steam engine1 especially in locomotives and ships2 for it gave a very quick and sure means of reversing its direction of motion1 and of regulating the travel of the valve and the degree of expansion of the steam4 ,in the following year came ,stephenson's steam whistle2 and in the year following 7#ahcd7 came the ,mc,cormick reaper4 ,few inventions have had a greater or a more immediate effect on the trend of modern progress1 which is to influence men to live in large communities4 ,for the ,mc,cormick reaper could do so much more work1 and so much better work1 than men could do without it1 that the cultivation of extensive areas of land could be undertaken with the assurance that large crops of grain could be secured4 ,this not only secured more grain for the country1 but liberated many men from toil on farms1 and permitted them to migrate to the cities4 ,the author does not wish to be understood as meaning that migration to cities is wholly desirable2 for he is familiar with its disadvantages and dangers4 ,but whether it be desirable or not is beyond the scope of this book4 ,this book is merely a modest attempt to point out the influence of invention in making the world what it is today4 ,perhaps it would have been better if men had had no invention and had remained in a state of savagery4 ,some men say so sometimes2 but even those men 7or most of them7 like to sit by a warm fire in a cozy room when it is cold outdoors4 ,the consensus of opinion seems to be that civilization in the main has been a blessing to men1 though not an unmixed blessing1 and though men must keep on their guard against certain manifest dangers which civilization entails4 ,in the same year1 #ahcd1 ,jacobi invented an electric motor and ,runge made the important discovery of carbolic acid4 ,in #ahce ,burden invented a horse-shoe machine4 ,in #ahcf four important inventions added four important parts to our rapidly growing ,machine4 ,the first was the constant battery invented by ,daniell4 ,before this time a ,voltaic cell1 or battery1 soon lost its strength1 because of various chemical actions inside the cell which need not be detailed here4 ,daniell overcame this difficulty almost wholly by inventing a battery1 in which there were two liquids instead of one1 and the two liquids were in two separate compartments but separated only by porous material4 ,this invention was successful from the start1 and immediately increased the usefulness of ,voltaic batteries and the means of utilizing electric currents4 ,the second great invention in #ahcf was that of acetylene gas made by ,edmund ,davy4 ,it is still the most brilliant illuminating gas we have1 and is rivaled by the electric arc-light only4 ,the third invention was that of the revolver1 made by ,samuel ,colt4 ,it may be objected by some that the revolver did not contribute anything valuable to the ,machine of ,civilization because it was merely an improvement on the pistol1 and enabled one to kill more men in a given time than he could before4 ,such an objection would have much to justify it2 but it may be pointed out that the ,machine must be made self-protective as far as possible2 and that anything which increases the power of civilized man as against the savage1 or barbarous1 or semi-barbarous increases its power of self-protection4 ,it is true that a savage can use a revolver1 if he be instructed2 but the more complicated a weapon is the more difficult it is for a savage1 as compared with a civilized man1 to use it effectively4 ,this is not an argument in favor of complication for its own sake2 but it is an argument in favor of accepting complication in a weapon1 if the complication renders greater effectiveness possible4 ,the last invention was the most important of the four1 the application of the screw propeller to navigation made by ,john ,ericsson4 ,the author is aware of the fact that this invention was claimed by others1 and is claimed for others now4 ,the weight of testimony1 however seems to be on the side of ,ericsson2 and as has been pointed out before1 the question of the identity of the inventor is not important to our discussion4 ,the first ocean steamship to be propelled by a screw was the ,stockton1 which was built in ,england under ,ericsson and fitted with his screw4 ,the first war-ship to be fitted with a screw was the ,u4 ,s4 ,s4 ,princeton in #ahda4 ,its screw was designed by ,ericsson4 ,in #ahcg ,crawford invented a process for galvanizing iron2 for electro-plating it with a non-oxidizable metal4 ,the value of this invention in preserving iron wire and iron articles in general needs not to be pointed out2 it was a contribution to the permanency of the ,machine4 ,in the same year1 ,cooke and ,wheatstone in ,england invented their famous ,needle ,telegraph1 in which a magnetic needle was made to deflect quickly to the right or left when one of two keys was pressed by an operator and letters thereby signaled4 ,this invention was a valuable contribution2 but it was eventually superseded by ,morse's telegraph1 after that system had established itself in the ,united ,states and on the ,continent4 ,in #ahci ,babbitt invented his celebrated ,babbitt metal1 which has been successfully used ever since in the bearings of engines and in moving machinery generally1 for reducing friction2 and in the same year ,goodyear made an invention even more important1 the art of hardening1 or vulcanizing1 rubber by means of sulphur4 ,this invention was a great boon to mankind1 but not to ,goodyear2 for the jackals who lie in wait for great inventions eager to wrest unearned profit for themselves from the men who have truly earned it1 made ,goodyear's life miserable for many years4 ,before he died1 however1 his wrongs were righted at least in part4 ,in the same year ,jacobi1 in ,germany1 propelled a boat by electricity using an electric motor of his own invention4 ,but the great contributions made in #ahci were to the art of what we now call photography4 ,about #ahcd ,talbot had succeeded in taking pictures in a camera by the agency of light on paper washed with nitrate of silver and also in fixing them4 ,later1 he was able to obtain many copies1 or proofs1 from one picture or negative4 ,it seems that he did not publicly announce his invention till #ahci4 ,to it was given the name calotype4 ,in ,may of that year ,mr4 ,mungo ,ponton announced that he had been able to copy pictures of engravings and of dried plants on paper that he had soaked in bichromate of potash4 ,a number of other investigators forthwith announced similar feats1 using various chemical solutions4 ,in #ahdj ,draper published the result of certain important experiments made by him in photographing celestial bodies4 ,in #ahda pneumatic caissons were invented by ,triger in ,france4 ,in #ahdb ,long discovered the usefulness of ether as an ansthetic1 and ,seytre invented the automatically played piano4 ,in the same year1 ,selligne discovered a method of utilizing water-gas1 made by decomposing water and producing a new illuminating agent that could be used by itself or in combination with coal gas4 ,in the same year ,james ,nasmyth in ,scotland invented the steam hammer--a simple appliance by means of which steam was able to make a hammer give blows much heavier than the human arm could give4 ,this invention belongs to the class in which the human muscles are assisted in doing work which the brain directs them to do1 but which they are not strong enough to do effectively4 ,the self-playing piano belongs in a class closely allied1 in which the machine invented merely assists the muscles3 the assistance in this class being not in supplying power in order to do more work1 however1 but in supplying what may be called auxiliary physical agencies4 ,in the player piano1 the fingers are replaced by little mechanical hammers2 in the steam hammer the arm is replaced by a piston actuated by steam4 ,one secures quickness1 the other secures force4 ,but the self-playing piano and the steam hammer are in very different classes1 when viewed from the standpoint of their influence on history4 ,the influence of the piano is scarcely discernible1 while the influence of the steam hammer stands out in enormous letters of steel4 ,the piano seems to be in the same category as are literature and poetry and music in general3 it serves to please4 ,the steam-hammer1 on the other hand1 has had so great an influence on history subsequent to its invention1 that we know that subsequent history could not have been as it has been1 if the steam hammer had not been invented4 ,it has been the steam hammer and the ensuing modifications of it that have made possible the making of large forgings of iron and steel4 ,it has been the large forgings of iron and steel that have made possible the use of large solid masses of those metals in the construction of engines1 guns1 shells1 houses1 bridges and ships4 ,it is the ability to use large and solid masses of iron and steel1 free from holes and seams1 that has enabled constructors and engineers to produce the tremendous engineering structures that characterize today4 ,the main element in the progress of the race has been its triumph over the forces of material ,nature4 ,this triumph has been gained by inventors1 who conceived of certain methods and devices 7clothing1 for instance7 by means of which materials provided by ,nature could be utilized by man to protect himself against her attacks upon him--attacks by cold1 for instance4 ,inventions of the useful kind have had a history of their own1 as definite as the history of any other thing or things1 in which it is shown that every useful instrument or method has been succeeded by another and better2 so that the history of useful inventions may be compared to a picture of men mounting a flight of stairs toward civilization1 the steps of the stairs being the successive useful inventions of different kinds4 ,the paragraph just written is not intended to mean that inventions which please have no value1 but merely to point out the difference between what are aptly called the fine arts and the useful arts4 ,there would be little happiness given to man by toilsomely climbing the stairway to civilization1 unless he were occasionally cheered on the way by a strain of music1 or a beautiful painting1 or a poem1 or a brisk walk in northwest weather1 or a gladdening glass of wine4 ,it may be argued that these are the things that really give happiness2 it may be claimed that these things go direct to the seat of happiness in the brain1 but that steam hammers merely provide a material civilization1 which continuously promises to make men happier some day1 but never makes them happier4 ,verily1 verily1 the way to happiness is not so clearly marked1 that anyone can walk in it all the time1 or even for five minutes1 except on rare occasions4 ,the consensus of opinion seems to be1 however1 that the civilized man is1 on the whole1 happier than the savage2 that civilization is preferable to savagery4 ,it is the purpose of this book1 moreover1 merely to point out that that structure of civilization has become so complicated and is moving so fast that it is now a veritable machine and to indicate the part that invention has taken in building it4 ,not only is it a veritable machine1 it is the largest1 the most powerful1 the most intricate machine we know of--except the solar system and the greater systems beyond it4 ,and not only is it powerful and intricate--it is1 like all powerful and intricate machines1 extremely delicate4 ,extreme delicacy is a characteristic of all machines2 it is inherent in every machine1 simply because the good working of every part is dependent on the good working of every other part4 ,an organism is a machine of the highest order1 and therefore possesses this characteristic of inter-dependability in its highest form4 ,a club is not an organism1 or even a machine1 and does not possess it4 ,if a man injures one end of a club the other end is just as good as before2 but if a club injures one end of a man1 the other end is injured also4 ,a severe blow on the head will prevent the effective use of the foot1 and a severe blow on the foot will prevent the effective use of the head4 ,similarly1 in this great ,machine of ,civilization1 a war between any two nations affects every other nation in the realm of civilization1 though it may not affect appreciably the savages of ,australia4 ,a strike in the coal mines affects every person in the ,united ,states2--and even a threat to strike by the railway employees affects not only the whole ,united ,states1 but1 to some degree1 all ,europe4 ,this brings us to realize that1 while the ,machine of ,civilization itself has improved tremendously1 it is only as a machine1 and only because it is a machine4 ,it should make us realize also that the mere fact that a machine is good or useful is no bar to its being destroyed4 ,it should make us realize besides that the finer a machine is the greater danger there is of its being injured and even destroyed1 by careless or ignorant handling4 ,these facts are clearly realized by all engineering companies of all kinds2 and the result has been that highly competent engineers have been trained to care for and handle their engines4 ,there are no more highly competent men in any callings than are the engineers in every civilized country4 ,one might declare without much exaggeration that1 of all the men in business or professions1 the engineers are the most competent for their especial tasks2 and the reasonableness of the declaration might be pointed out on the ground that the very nature of the engineering profession 7unlike that of most other professions7 makes it impossible for an engineer to be incompetent1 and yet maintain his standing4 ,but the ,machine of ,civilization is composed not only of material parts1 such as come within the province of the engineer1 but also of immaterial parts2 in fact1 the principal parts are men1 and especially the minds of men4 ,it is the office of the ,machine of ,government to handle the men4 ,it is also its office to direct their minds2 because unless those minds view things correctly1 the ,machine of ,government cannot work with smoothness4 ,now1 men are inferior to machines in one important way3--men1 as men1 cannot be improved4 ,it therefore devolves on ,government continuously to instruct and train men to handle the ,machine of ,civilization skillfully1 because the machine is being made more and more complicated1 and more and more in need of intelligent care1 with every passing day4 ,is this fact realized8 ,i fear not4 ,no sign is visible to the author of these pages that the people in any country realize or even suspect that there is any need for looking out for the integrity of the ,machine as a whole4 ,the closest approximation to it is a belated realization that the ,bolsheviki are a danger to society4 ,the people do not seem even to realize the necessity of having competent experts at the head of governmental affairs4 ,the ,machine of ,civilization had been developed to a very high stage when ,trajan ruled the world about the year #ajj ,a4 ,d4 ,for three-quarters of a century afterward1 it continued to run with smoothness1 under intelligent care2 but in the year #ahj ,a4 ,d4 ,commodus came to the throne1 and soon after began to abuse it4 ,for two hundred years thereafter1 the ,machine suffered from such abuse and neglect1 that by the year #cie1 it had become so unwieldy1 that it was divided into two parts1 one administered from ,rome and the other from ,constantinople4 ,the two parts soon became two separate ,machines1 the ,roman ,machine being at first the better1 but gradually becoming more and more ineffective under the unfavorable conditions of abuse and neglect4 ,in #dgf1 the ,roman ,machine broke down completely1 and the barbarian chief1 ,odoacer1 sat himself on the throne of ,octavius ,csar4 ,a ruin more complete1 it would be hard to realize4 ,the vast structure of ,roman civilization1 built on the civilization of ,greece and ,assyria and ,babylonia and ,egypt1 was hurled to the ground2 and its fine and beautiful parts were scattered to the winds by barbarians who hated civilization because they were barbarians4 ,the progress of science and literature and art stopped4 ,the marvelous inventions of the past were forgotten and disused4 ,a condition of semi-barbarism passed into ,europe1 and continued for a period of five hundred years1 to which the name ,dark ,ages has been aptly given4 ,a feeble light began to glow about #hjj ,a4 ,d4 as a result of the activities of ,charlemagne1 but it almost expired when he did4 ,it began again when the ,crusaders came back from the ,orient with knowledge of the civilization that still persisted there2 and shortly after came the first effort of the ,renaissance4 ,then followed the invention of the gun1 and then the invention of printing3--and presto--the making of another ,machine of ,civilization is begun4 ,now let us realize three facts3 one fact is that the ,machine of ,modern ,civilization1 though bigger and more complicated than the one of ,trajan's time is not nearly so strong2 another fact is that the ,roman ,machine was destroyed because it had become ineffective through carelessness and abuse2 the third fact is that because in a measure1 history repeats itself1 the ,modern ,machine may be destroyed1 as the ,roman was4 ,the ,machine of today is vastly weaker than ,trajan's4 ,trajan's ,machine was operated by a powerful empire that controlled the whole world absolutely4 ,no rival of ,rome existed4 ,the structure of society was simple1 homogeneous and strong4 ,it was almost wholly military4 ,it rested on force2 but that force rested on reason1 moderation1 skill and patriotism4 ,rome had many foes2 but they were so weak compared with ,rome1 that she had naught to fear from them--so long as she kept her ,machine in order4 ,the ,machine of today is not only more complicated than that of ,trajan1 and therefore more liable to derangement from that cause alone--but it is supported by no government that dominates the world4 ,on the contrary1 the control is divided among a number of different nations that have diverse interests4 ,the influence of this condition can be clearly seen in the fact that every great war has set back the progress of civilization for a while in all civilized countries1 even though in some ways it has advanced it4 ,the ,world ,war just finished1 for instance1 shook the very foundations of society2 and we do not yet know that it did not impair them seriously4 ,certainly the ,machine has not yet begun to run smoothly again4 ,certainly1 the ,bolsheviki are threatening it as seriously as the barbarians began to threaten ,rome not long after ,trajan's time4 ,the ,romans did not regard the barbarians then any more seriously than we regard the ,bolsheviki now4 ,the barbarians finally succeeded in destroying the ,roman ,machine1 but not for the reason that they had become any stronger4 ,they had not become any stronger1 but the ,roman ,machine had become weaker4 ,it had become weaker for the reason that the men in charge of it had not taken the proper care of it4 ,they failed to take proper care of it1 for the reason that they were not the proper kind of men to have charge of that kind of machine4 ,the reason for this was that the ,roman people did not see to it that they put the proper kind of men in charge of their ,machine4 ,someone may say that ,rome was an autocracy1 and that there are no autocracies now4 ,true1 but republics have been inefficient1 just as often1 and in as great a degree as autocracies have4 ,the ,united ,states under ,president ,buchanan1 for instance1 was excessively inefficient2 while the ,roman autocracy under ,octavius was exceedingly efficient4 ,but whether a government is autocratic or democratic1 the degree of civilization must depend in the main on the people themselves4 ,even the power and genius of ,charlemagne could not at once make ,europe civilized2 and even the power and bestiality of ,commodus could not at once make ,rome uncivilized4 ,in every nation1 the rulers and the people re-act upon each other1 and each makes the other in a measure what they are4 ,a people that are strong and worthy will not long be governed by men who are weak and unworthy4 ,if a nation continues to have weak and unworthy rulers1 it is because the people themselves are weak and unworthy4 ,therefore1 it is an insufficient explanation of the breaking down of the ,roman ,machine to declare that the ,roman emperors were what they were4 ,the ,roman emperors reflected the ,roman people1 or they would not have remained ,roman emperors4 ,if the ,roman people had been as strong individually and collectively as they were in the days of ,octavius and ,trajan1 no such emperors as later sat on the throne would have been possible4 ,but the ,roman people gradually deteriorated1 morally1 mentally1 and even physically2 and inefficient government was one of the results4 ,what caused the deterioration of the ,roman people8 ,the same thing that has caused the deterioration of every other great people that have deteriorated--the softening influence of wealth and ease4 ,thus1 ,rome did not fall because of the barbarians1 but because of herself4 ,she fell because her people allowed the ,machine which she had built up1 in spite of the barbarians outside1 at so much cost of labor and blood1 to become so weak that it could no longer protect itself4 ,can this happen to our ,machine8 ,yes1 and it will happen as surely as effect follows after cause1 unless means be taken to see that men are trained to care for the ,machine more carefully than they are trained now4 ,in no country is there any serious effort made to train men to operate the ,machine of ,government1 except those parts of the ,machine that are called the army and the navy3--though some tremendous efforts are made in private life to train men to handle corporations and business enterprises1 and to learn all that can be learned in medicine1 engineering1 the ,law and all the learned professions4 ,and even the efforts made to train officers to handle armies and navies are in great part neutralized by placing men at the head of those armies and navies who are not trained in the slightest4 ,the ,roman ,machine fell with a crash that was proportional to the magnitude of the ,machine4 ,the ,machine of today is much larger and heavier than the ,roman4 ,if it falls1 as it may1 the crash will be proportionally greater4 ,what will follow1 the mind recoils from contemplating4 ,,chapter ,x ,,certain ,,important ,,creations ,,of ,,invention1 ,,and ,,their ,,beneficent ,,influence ,in #ahdc ,charles ,thurber invented the typewriter4 ,few inventions are more typical4 ,in #ahdc1 the conditions of life were such that the first stage in inventing the typewriter must have been the conception of an extremely brilliant and original idea4 ,after that1 the difficulties of embodying the idea in a concrete form must have been very great2 for it was not until about #ahge that instruments of practical usefulness were in general use4 ,since then1 typewriters have penetrated into virtually every office in the civilized world4 ,though the typewriter is a very simple apparatus in both principle and construction1 yet few machines stand out more clearly as great inventions4 ,few inventions also have exerted a greater influence--though the influence of the typewriter has been auxiliary1 rather than dominant2 it has merely enabled a greater amount of business to be transacted than could be transacted before4 ,if anyone will go into any business office whatever1 and note the amount of work performed in that office by means of one typewriter that could not be performed without it1 and will then multiply that amount by the number of typewriters in the world1 he will come to a confused but startling realization of the amount of executive work that is being done in a single day through the agency of the typewriter1 that otherwise would not be done4 ,if he will then go a step further1 and multiply the number of days that have gone by since the typewriter was first employed1 by one-half1 or even one-tenth1 of the amount accomplished by means of all the typewriters in a single day1 he may then be able to appreciate in a measure the enormous influence on progress which the invention of the typewriter has already had4 ,one would not make an exaggerated statement if he should declare that if the typewriter had not been invented1 every great business organization in the world today would be much smaller than it is2 the great industries would not exist in their present vastness2 and all the arts of manufacture1 transportation and navigation would be far behind the stage they now have reached4 ,the electric telegraph was patented by ,morse in #ahcg1 but the first telegram was not sent till #ahdd1 along a wire stretched from ,washington to ,baltimore4 ,it is said that the first official message was ,what hath ,god wrought6 ,this message shows a realization of a fact which some people fail to realize3 the people who say1 ,god made the country1 but man made the city4 ,the message showed a realization that ,god inspires the thoughts of men1 as truly as ,he provides them with things to eat4 ,it is inconceivable that it was intended to call attention to the fact that ,god wrought the wire along which the message ran1 or the wooden poles that carried the wire1 or the material zinc and copper of the battery4 ,the only new thing evidenced in the telegraph so far as anyone could know1 was the invention itself4 ,god had wrought that through the agency of ,morse4 ,it is a known fact that no human mind1 no matter how fine it may be1 or how brilliant and correct its imagination1 can have any images or ideas that are not based in some way on the evidence of the senses4 ,we can imagine things1 and even create things1 that have never existed before2 but those things must be composed of parts whose existence we know of through the evidence of our senses4 ,so ,morse1 although he invented a thing that was wholly new1 although he created something--did not create any of the parts that composed it4 ,he used such well-known things as wire1 iron1 zinc and copper4 ,even in the creation of man1 the ,almighty himself used common materials3 ,and the ,lord ,god formed man of the dust of the ground1 and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life3 and man became a living soul4 7,genesis1 ,chapter ,,ii47 ,if the ,lord ,god breathed the breath of life into ,adam1 ,he inspired him according to the original meaning of the word inspire4 ,if ,he inspired ,morse with the conception of the electric telegraph1 ,he inspired him according to the modern meaning of the word1 which is not very different from the original meaning1 and which is not at all different from the meaning according to which ,he is said to have inspired the prophets of old4 ,to bring before us clearly the whole influence of the telegraph on history would require a book devoted to no other subject2 yet the telegraph belongs in the same class with the typewriter1 in the sense that its main office is to assist the transaction of business4 ,the telegraph does not of itself produce results4 ,it is not in the class with the fist-hammer1 or the weaving machine1 or the gun1 or the steam engine1 or the electric light1 or chloroform1 or the telescope1 or the discovery of ,america4 ,it owes its reputation largely to the spectacular way in which it first appeared1 and to the seeming wonderfulness of its success4 ,yet the telegraph seems no more wonderful than the typewriter1 to a person who knows even a little of electricity2 and the task of making it practicable was much easier4 ,a very simple and crude apparatus sufficed for the telegraph3 but a highly perfect mechanism was needed for the typewriter4 ,it is probably true1 however1 that the telegraph has had a greater influence on history than the typewriter1 though modern civilization would not be even approximately what it is1 if either had not been invented4 ,and if by any combination of circumstances1 either one should now be taken from us1 the whole ,machine would be thrown into inextricable confusion4 ,it may be objected that if ,morse had not invented the telegraph1 or if any inventor whoever had not invented whatever thing he did invent1 some other man would have done so2 and that therefore those inventors do not deserve to be placed in any especial niche of honor4 ,there would be considerable reasonableness in such an objection1 as is evidenced by the fact that in many cases two or more men have invented the same thing at about the same time4 ,it may be pointed out1 however1 that while this has often happened in regard to improvements on basic inventions1 it has not happened very often in regard to the basic inventions themselves2 and also that1 even if we include all the inventors the world has ever heard of1 we find that there have been surprisingly few4 ,therefore1 it really makes little difference to the race as a whole whether ,smith or ,jones made a certain invention1 or whether ,smith would have made it1 if ,jones had not made it4 ,the man who delivers the goods1 receives1 and as a rule deservedly1 the recognition of mankind4 ,furthermore1 this book1 as has been stated1 is not concerned mainly with inventors1 but with inventions4 ,in #ahdd1 the use of nitrous oxide gas 7laughing gas7 as an ansthetic was introduced by ,dr4 ,wells4 ,it cannot be said that this invention has had any direct influence on history itself1 though it has had a great deal of influence on the history of some individuals4 ,it contributed a new and distinct part to the ,machine1 however1 and certainly helped to ameliorate the conditions of living4 ,besides1 it seems to be one of the lessons of history that most new and distinct creations1 even if no use has been found for them for a long while1 have ultimately found a field of usefulness4 ,furthermore1 every new and useful thing1 like nitrous oxide gas1 attracts the attention of men to the advantages that the study of physical sciences and the prosecution of invention offer1 and gives inspiration for further study and endeavor4 ,in the same year1 ,lon ,foucault invented the first practical electric arc-light4 ,davy had made the basic invention of the ,voltaic arc in #ahjh2 but his invention was in the class just spoken of1 in that it was not utilized for many years4 ,even the arc-light that ,foucault produced in #ahdd was not utilized then4 ,in both cases1 the cause of slowness of utilization did not rest so much in the invention as in the stage of civilization at the time4 ,the world was not yet ready for the arc-light4 ,in fact1 it did not become ready1 and it could not become ready1 to use the arc-light in real service1 until a cheaper means of producing electric current had been invented4 ,this did not happen until the dynamo-electric machine had been invented and had been brought to such a point of practical development that it could supply electric current1 not only adequately and economically1 but reliably4 ,a necessary step toward the utilization of the arc-light was made in #ahde1 however1 by ,thomas ,wright1 who invented a means whereby the carbons could be kept automatically at the correct distance apart for maintaining a continuous and uniform light4 ,in #ahde1 ,robert ,hoe made an important contribution in his double-cylinder printing press4 ,in the same year1 ,r4 ,w4 ,thompson invented the pneumatic tire4 ,this invention belongs distinctly in the class just spoken of1 for the pneumatic tire did not come into general use until the bicycle did1 about #ahij4 ,it may be asked if there is any use in inventing appliances long before they are needed4 ,so far as the inventor is then concerned--no3 so far as the public is eventually concerned1 yes4 ,all inventions made and patented are described and illustrated in the ,patent ,office ,gazette2 and many of them are described and illustrated in magazines and newspapers1 even if they are not used in actual practice4 ,these records form part of the general knowledge of mankind1 just as much as do the facts of geography and history and arithmetic2 and they can be drawn upon by investigators and inventors1 and made to assist them in their work4 ,in #ahdf1 an invention was made by ,elias ,howe1 that does not belong at all in the same category as that of the pneumatic tire1 because it was utilized almost immediately4 ,this is usually spoken of as the sewing-machine2 but the essence of the invention was not a machine1 but merely an instrument2 for it consisted of a needle in which the eye was near the point1 instead of at the other end1 as in existing needles4 ,the machine afterwards produced was merely an obvious means for using the new kind of needle4 ,the invention of the sewing-machine was one rich in influence on subsequent progress2 and all the story connected with it is interesting in many ways4 ,but the most wonderful fact connected with the invention is that it was not made before6 ,many inventions have not been made because the conditions at the time did not demand them1 or make their successful utilization possible3 and yet some inventions1 like the ,voltaic arc1 were made despite the unfavorable conditions4 ,but what conditions were unfavorable to the utilization of ,howe's sewing-machine1 even as far back in history as the days when the pyramids were built8 ,the ,howe sewing-machine was not so complicated an apparatus as the ballista1 or the chariot1 used by the ,assyrians and the other nations in the fertile crescent1 that curved from ,alexandria to ,babylon2 and it was much easier and cheaper to make4 ,its construction required immeasurably less scientific knowledge and carefulness than the printing press1 the gun1 the telescope and the microscope1 and a score of appliances that had preceded it by several centuries4 ,why was the sewing-machine not invented before8 ,why1 why8 ,this question continually presents itself to the mind1 when certain simple inventions appear1 that 7so far as we can see7 could have been invented and ought to have been invented1 long before4 ,in #ahdf1 the printing-telegraph was invented by ,house4 ,no such question as that just discussed is presented to our minds by this invention1 because we realize that it could not have been invented before some means of generating continuous electric currents had been invented4 ,the printing-telegraph was not an invention of the same order of influence as the sewing-machine2 but it has assisted the work of the telegraph in supplying news1 especially in reports of stock fluctuations4 ,in the same year1 ,de ,lesseps started his project of building the ,suez ,canal1 and joining the ,mediterranean to the ,red ,sea2 so that ships could proceed to ,india from ,europe by a direct route4 ,many centuries before1 a canal had been cut and generally used that ran from the ,nile ,river to the ,red ,sea4 ,the canal that ,de ,lesseps proposed was to be larger1 and the engineering difficulties greater4 ,the vast enterprise was finally carried out1 at a cost of about #ajj1jjj1jjj4 ,it seems to have passed through the three successive stages of conception1 development and production4 ,the idea of building a canal did not originate in #ahdf1 or in the brain of ,de ,lesseps2 for the idea was very old1 probably older than recorded history4 ,but the only man who formed the mental picture in his mind and afterwards developed it into a concrete plan was ,de ,lesseps4 ,he did this2 and his plan was so complete and coherent1 and so evidently practical1 that he finally succeeded in convincing engineers and capitalists of the fact1 and forming a large company4 ,the execution of the concrete plan was not begun until #ahei1 and it was ,de ,lesseps who began it4 ,thus ,de ,lesseps1 though he did not conceive the basic idea1 conceived and combined the various ideas necessary to embody the basic idea in a concrete plan1 then constructed the concrete plan1 and then produced the actual instrument4 ,this instrument 7the canal7 was a very useful instrument4 ,an instrument1 according to the ,standard ,dictionary1 is a means by which work is done4 ,by means of the ,suez ,canal1 the work of direct water transportation between the ,far ,east and ,europe was done2 and it could not have been done1 except by means of that instrument4 ,it has been done by that instrument ever since1 and at an increasing rate4 ,the canal was completed in #ahfi1 and widened and deepened in #ahhf4 ,it has shortened the water distance between ,england and ,india by about #gfjj miles1 and has had a tremendous influence on history1 especially on ,great ,britain's history4 ,one of the largest stockholders is the ,british ,government2 three-fourths of the ships passing through it have been ,british2 and though the whole world has benefited1 the greatest single beneficiary has been ,great ,britain4 ,yet ,de ,lesseps was a ,frenchman6 ,this calls to our minds the fact that although some of the greatest names in ,history are ,french1 yet the ,french nation1 as a nation1 has never shown the same concerted national purpose as the ,british4 ,in this respect1 the ,french seem to have borne somewhat the same relation to the ,british1 as the ,greeks did to the ,romans3 and yet the ,french are more nearly allied by blood and language to the ,romans than are the ,british4 ,the ,greeks and the ,french aimed to make life pleasant1 by the aid of the fine arts and a general utilization of all that is delightful2 while the ,romans and the ,british1 early in their careers1 conceived the idea of dominion1 embodied the idea in a concrete plan1 and proceeded to carry the plan into execution4 ,the plan was continually accommodated to the changing conditions of the times1 and the means of execution were continually accommodated also4 ,the result has been that ,greece and ,france never1 as nations1 acquired dominion even approximately2 while ,rome did completely1 and ,great ,britain did1 approximately4 ,the author does not wish to be understood as approving of the idea of acquiring dominion1 or as failing to realize the sordidness of such an ambition1 and the evil that men and nations have done1 in order to achieve it4 ,he begs leave to point out1 however1 that the ,machine could not have been built1 except under the stable conditions that large nations permit better than small nations do2 and that it has been the endeavor to achieve dominion by aspiring tribes and nations1 and the consequent endeavor to gain strength in order to prevent it1 by other aspiring tribes and nations1 which have caused the gradual building up of the great nations of today1 with the comfort1 security and culture that their existence permits4 ,in the same year1 #ahdf1 artificial limbs were invented1 and so was the electric cautery4 ,neither of these inventions had a profound influence2 but each was a new creation1 and each formed a useful and distinct addition to the ,machine4 ,but another invention was made in #ahdf1 that has had great influence4 ,this was the invention of gun-cotton1 made by ,schonbein in ,germany by the action of nitric and sulphuric acids on cotton1 or some other form of cellulose4 ,it was the first practical explosive that depended for its usefulness on the decomposition of a chemical compound1 and not on the combustion of a mechanical mixture1 like gunpowder4 ,the explosive power of gun-cotton was declared by the chemist ,abel to be fifty times that of an equal weight of the gunpowder of that day2 but this does not mean that it possessed fifty times the energy4 ,the action of gun-cotton is very much more sudden than that of gunpowder2 and for that reason1 it exerts a much greater force for an instant1 and has much greater efficacy for such purposes as breaking into structures1 bursting shells1 etc4 ,on the other hand1 the very fact that its energy is developed with such suddenness1 causes its force to fall to zero very soon1 and makes it useless for such purposes as gunpowder fulfils in firing projectiles from guns4 ,in a gun1 especially in a long gun1 the endeavor is made to keep down the pressure of the gas and prolong its continuance2 so that the projectile will receive a comparatively gentle but prolonged push1 that will start it gradually from its seat1 and will continue to push it1 and therefore to increase its velocity1 all the way to the muzzle4 ,gun-cotton does not belong in the class with the typewriter and the telegraph1 that merely assist men to transact business3 gun-cotton transacts business on its own account4 ,gun-cotton belongs in the class with the gun2 and its main influence has been to increase the self-protectivity of the ,machine4 ,it has done this mainly by increasing the power of the submarine torpedo against the hulls of warships4 ,it may be objected that both sides in a war between civilized nations would use torpedoes1 that no persons except organizations controlled by civilized nations 7such as those in warships7 would use torpedoes1 and that therefore1 whatever effect the torpedo might have on the ,machine is neutralized by the fact that two civilized bodies use it against each other4 ,true2 but the fact that the torpedo and the gun-cotton in it require a high degree of civilization in the people who use it1 gives civilized people an immediate and tremendous advantage over uncivilized people2 and furthermore1 the fact that the torpedo and the gun-cotton in it depend for their ultimate effect not only on their being used1 but on the degree of knowledge and skill with which they are used1 gives an advantage to which every nation in any war is willing and able to utilize the most knowledge and exert the most skill4 ,that is1 the torpedo and the gun-cotton in it combine to give the advantage to the nations possessing the highest degree of civilization and willpower4 ,they enable the ,machine of the most highly civilized nation to protect itself if it will against the ,machines of less highly civilized nations4 ,in the year following the invention of gun-cotton1 came ,sobrero's invention of nitro-glycerin1 made by the action of nitric acid on glycerin 7#ahdg74 ,the new explosive was more powerful than gun-cotton1 but much more dangerous to handle4 ,by reason of its extreme sensitiveness and the consequent danger of handling it1 the use of pure nitro-glycerin has never been great4 ,in the same year1 #ahdg1 the time-lock was invented by ,savage4 ,this invention was in the class with the gun and gun-cotton1 in the sense that it enhanced the self-protectiveness of the ,machine4 ,it did not enhance its self-protectiveness against a few great1 open1 external foes1 however1 but against a myriad of small1 secret1 internal foes4 ,the ,machine is very expensive to maintain in operation1 and so is every one of the little mechanisms of which it is composed4 ,and each one of these little mechanisms1 each bank1 its business corporation1 each company1 each department store1 each little shop1 requires that its money be kept safe from the burglar and the pilferer4 ,inasmuch as the time-lock assists in doing this1 the time-lock has been a valuable contribution to the ,machine1 and has exerted a good influence on history since it was invented4 ,in the same year1 #ahdg1 ,r4 ,m4 ,hoe invented his great printing press1 that could make #bj1jjj impressions per hour4 ,as it was a long step forward in the improvement of printing1 this invention deserved the applause which it received2 and the inventor deserved the financial reward which he received4 ,in #ahdh1 ,dennison invented a machine for making matches4 ,this was a most useful contribution2 but one is inclined to wonder why twenty years elapsed between the invention of matches and the invention of a machine for making them4 ,inventing was not going ahead so fast then as it is now4 ,surely1 no such interval is allowed to pass unutilized1 in the present inventing days4 ,in #ahdi1 the interrupted thread screw1 for use in closing the breeches of guns was invented4 ,many men have claimed the honor of this invention4 ,regardless of who the particular inventor was1 the invention itself must be regarded as one of a very high order1 from the standpoints of originality1 constructiveness and usefulness4 ,though the screw itself was a very old contrivance1 the idea of cutting a long slot lengthwise1 so that the screw could be pushed forward quickly without the slow process of continuously turning it around1 yet so arranged that the screw could be turned when near the end of its travel1 and the force-gaining power of the screw-thread thus secured1 seems to have been entirely new4 ,certainly the idea was original and brilliant and useful4 ,to develop the idea into a concrete plan was not difficult1 and neither was it difficult to carry the concrete plan into execution4 ,this invention falls into the happy class of which the stethoscope is typical1 in which the idea originally conceived was so perfect1 that little else was needed4 ,the main use of this invention has been that for which it was first intended1 to close the breeches of guns4 ,it is used in most of the navies and armies4 ,its principal rival is the famous sliding breech-block of ,krupp4 ,in #ahdi1 came an invention in the gun class1 the magazine gun1 made by ,walter ,hunt4 ,this invention also seems to fulfil all the requirements of a real invention1 in originality of conception1 constructiveness of development and ultimate usefulness4 ,but in this case1 the original idea can hardly be declared as brilliant and spectacular as that of the interrupted thread2 and certainly the labor of developing it was incomparably greater4 ,the author feels the temptation of declaring that the more brilliant and valuable a conception is1 the less will be the difficulty of developing it4 ,he refuses to declare it1 however1 realizing that it would not be wholly true2 and yet he wishes to point out that if a conception be wholly erroneous1 it cannot be developed into any concrete plan whatever2 and that many of the most brilliant conceptions1 such as the fist-hammer1 the flute1 the telescope1 the telegraph and the telephone were very easily developed into forms sufficiently concrete to make them practically usable4 ,an idea itself is an extremely simple thing1 even if it be developed ultimately into a highly complex machine4 ,the idea of the steam engine1 for instance1 the idea which ,hero conceived was1 of itself1 extremely simple2 but see into what complex forms it has been developed6 ,the original idea of ,hero was easily developed into ,hero's engine4 ,the improvements that have been made upon it have been the developments of separate ideas that were conceived later4 ,not one of these ideas has been nearly so brilliant as ,hero's1 and few of them have been so easily developed4 ,in #ahdi1 ,bourdon invented the steam pressure gauge that still bears his name1 and made a contribution of distinct and permanent value1 by which ability to keep track of the steam pressure in boilers was increased1 and safety from explosion increased proportionately4 ,in the same year1 ,sir ,david ,brewster invented his lenticular stereoscope4 ,in this beautiful instrument two separate pictures of the same object are put on one card1 one picture showing the object as it would look to the left eye from a given distance1 and the other picture showing the object as it would look to the right eye4 ,the two eyes of an observer look at the two pictures through the two halves of two convex lenses1 that are so shaped that the two pictures are seen as one picture1 but so superposed as to represent the object in relief1 as the actual object appears to the two eyes4 ,like the kaleidoscope1 this later product of ,sir ,david ,brewster's brilliant imagination has had little influence thus far1 except possibly to lead the way toward stereo-photography and the stereopticon3 but it seems hardly probable that an important field will not be found some day for an invention so suggestive4 ,in the same year1 ,hibbert made an important improvement on the knitting machine1 and ,corliss invented his famous engine cut-off1 which vastly economized fuel4 ,neither invention was especially novel or brilliant1 but both were highly practical and useful contributions to the improvement of the ,machine4 ,in the same year also came ,worm's improvement on the printing press1 that concerned the making of turtles which held type in a curved shape1 so that they could be secured to the cylinder of the press4 ,in #ahej1 ,scott ,archer succeeded in using collodion to fix silver salts on the surface of glass plates in photography4 ,he cannot be credited with the basic invention1 because the idea of doing this had been suggested long before4 ,the invention made an important contribution to the growing art of photography1 mainly by supplying a stepping stone for further advances4 ,in the same year1 an important improvement was made in watch-making by inventing a watch-making machine4 ,this was one of the first of those distinctly ,american inventions1 by which machine-work replaced hand-work1 with great increase in speed of production and lessening of cost1 but without decrease in accuracy of workmanship4 ,the influence of this invention has escaped the notice of many of us1 for the reason that it has spread so gradually1 and has been of such a character as to fail to strike the imagination from its lack of spectacularity4 ,but the idea of what we now call quantity production has spread to all the fields of the manufacturing world1 and is the basis of much of the enormous industrial progress of the last half century4 ,it is rendered possible mainly by making the machinery automatic1 or nearly so4 ,without such exaggeration1 ,america may justly claim the contribution of automaticity to the ,machine of ,civilization4 ,in #ahea1 ,dr4 ,charles ,g4 ,page produced the first electric locomotive4 ,like many pioneers1 it did not achieve practical success itself1 but it supplied a stepping stone to further progress4 ,in the same year1 ,seymour produced his self-rakers for harvesters1 and ,gorrie invented the ice-making machine4 ,two more important inventions were the ophthalmoscope1 invented by ,helmholtz1 and the ,ruhmkorff coil1 invented by the man whose name still clings to it4 ,the ophthalmoscope reminds one of the stethoscope2 so simple it is1 so perfect and so useful4 ,it consists merely of a small concave mirror with a hole in it1 a lamp and a small convex lens3 the mirror being held so that one eye of a physician can look through it1 and the lens being placed conveniently by the physician near the eye of a patient4 ,the mirror reflects light from the lamp towards the patient's eye1 and the convex lens concentrates them on whatever is to be examined--usually the interior of an eye4 ,this instrument belongs in the small class of inventions already spoken of1 in which the original conception was so perfect1 that the acts of developing it into a concrete instrument and then producing the instrument were easily performed4 ,the ,ruhmkorff coil is in the same class2 for it consists merely of two coils of wire2 one primary coil being of coarse wire and connected with a source of electric current1 and the other secondary coil of fine wire placed around the coil of coarse wire4 ,if the current in the primary coil be made or broken or changed in force or direction1 currents are induced in the secondary coil2 the strength of the two currents varying relatively according to the sizes and lengths of the wires in the two coils4 ,this invention has an interest apart from its usefulness1 in the fact that ,ruhmkorff invented it for purposes of scientific study1 and that no utilization of it for everyday life occurred until nearly half a century later4 ,then ,ruhmkorff coils were made into transformers for use in stepping down the small high voltage currents needed for transmitting electric currents over long distances1 into the larger but lower voltage currents needed for actuating electric lights and motors4 ,in the following year1 #aheb1 ,channing and ,farmer invented the fire-alarm telegraph1 an important contribution to the safety of the ,machine1 though it did not come into general use for several years4 ,in the same year1 ,fox ,talbot made another of his epochal contributions to photography1 by inventing a process by which photographic half-tones could be produced4 ,in the following year1 a process was invented for making from wood a pulp that was very valuable as the basis of making paper1--and ,faraday made three important discoveries4 ,these were the laws of electro-magnetic induction1 the relations of the dielectric to the conducting bodies in electro-static induction1 and the laws of electrolysis4 ,these discoveries of ,faraday were all inventions1 in the sense in which the word invention is used in this book4 ,each one was the outcome of a series of careful and mathematically guided experiments1 and the outgrowth of an idea4 ,in the following year1 ,melhuish invented photographic roll films1 and ,herman invented the rock drill4 ,the latter invention has been of the utmost practical value in blasting operations of all kinds1 and must be regarded as a very distinct addition to the ,machine4 ,in the same year1 appeared the ,smith ,wesson revolver2 not a great invention1 but an improvement in many ways over ,colt's2 ,mr4 ,a4 ,b4 ,wilson brought out his four-motion feed for sewing-machines1 and ,r4 ,a4 ,tilghman invented his process for decomposing fats by hot steam4 ,in the following year 7#ahee71 ,lundstrom made the highly important invention of safety matches4 ,when one reflects 7as every one must at times7 how great and absolutely irretrievable are the losses caused by fire each year1 how the amount of possible destruction grows each year exactly as fast as the ,machine grows1 and realizes how large a fire many a small match has caused1 he feels inclined to give a mental salute to ,mr4 ,lundstrom of ,sweden4 ,in the same year1 iron-clad floating batteries were used in the ,crimean ,war4 ,this was not the first time that iron-clad vessels had been employed1 for vessels protected on the sides with sheets of iron and copper had been used by the ,coreans in their victorious war against the ,japanese about three hundred years before2 but it was the first time that such vessels had appeared in ,europe4 ,cocaine was invented the same year1 and one of the most valuable ansthetics yet known was then produced4 ,but the most valuable contribution to the ,machine in #ahee was ,henry ,bessemer's epochal invention of making steel by blowing air through molten cast iron1 until enough of the carbon had been burnt off to leave a steel of whatever quality was desired4 ,this invention reduced the cost of making steel1 and the time required1 in so great a degree as to place the manufacture of steel on a basis entirely new1 and to extend its field of employment greatly4 ,and1 as with many previous great inventions1 this one paved the way for still other inventions1 by indicating the possibility of still wider fields4 ,the ,bessemer process is not in the class with the typewriter or the telegraph1 but in the class with the gun2 for it does things itself4 ,it would be difficult to specify any invention 7except one produced at a much earlier time7 that has had more influence1 and more good influence1 on history than ,bessemer's4 ,no one can look out of his window in any town or city1 without seeing some of the innumerable products of ,bessemer's idea4 99 99 99 99 99 ,our record has now brought us to the middle of the nineteenth century4 ,the conditions of living in #ahej were greatly different from those of #ahjj4 ,in fifty years1 the physical conditions of living and of carrying on business of all kinds1 had improved more than in the century between #agjj and #ahjj1 more than in the two centuries preceding #agjj1 and more than in the ten centuries from #ejj and #aejj4 ,rapid transportation over the land in railroad trains for both passengers and freight had largely replaced the slow transportation methods of #ahjj2 and1 in an almost equal degree1 steam transportation at sea had replaced transportation by sails4 ,the printing press had been developed from a crude and slow contrivance1 worked by a hand1 to a magnificent mechanism worked by steam3 the electric battery had been improved into an appliance of the utmost reliability and usefulness2 telegraph lines stretched over the continents1 and messages were sent surely and instantaneously over hundreds of miles of land2 and the science of chemistry had arisen from the ashes of alchemy4 ,as a result of this1 the science of photography had been born1 and had already begun its work1 so varied and so useful4 ,physics had grown so surely and so greatly1 that it had been divided into the separate but allied sciences of heat1 light and electricity--including magnetism3 the science of engineering had expanded so widely1 that it also had been divided into other sciences--civil engineering1 mechanical engineering1 hydraulic engineering and electrical engineering3 the science of medicine1 because of the advances in chemistry and physics1 had advanced at an equal rate3 the gun had been so greatly improved1 and gunpowder also1 that such a degree of precision and range had been attained as to make the gun of #ahjj seem crude indeed2 and the improvement had been inevitably caused by the greater knowledge placed at the disposal of ordnance officers1 by the advances in chemistry1 heat1 light1 electricity1 magnetism and the various engineering arts4 ,the introduction of illuminating gas1 the improvements in forging1 casting and turning metals1 had made possible the building of edifices1 and the fabrication of better and cheaper utensils of every kind3 improvements in the means and methods of spinning1 knitting and weaving had bettered the materials that people wore upon their persons3 improvements in rubber manufacture had made possible the use of waterproof garments2 crops could be gathered more quickly and surely3 safety from fire had been increased3 methods of heating houses had been vastly improved3 and the discovery of ansthetics had relieved civilized man in great degree from his most distressing single enemy4 ,as a result1 the people of every civilized country lived under conditions of comfort far greater than had ever been known before in similar climates4 ,the facts and conditions detailed above relate almost wholly to the material conditions of living1 and show that1 for most people1 they had been enormously improved3 though it is noteworthy that for the very poor1 they had not improved in many cases1 and had been altered for the worse in other cases4 ,the unfavorable changes were mainly those produced by factory life which in #ahej must have been worse than country life for the same class of people4 ,these cases were so greatly in the minority1 however1 as not to affect the main proposition that the advance in civilization from #ahjj to #ahej1 caused by new inventions1 had improved the material conditions of living for the great majority of the people affected by them4 ,that it was desirable that these conditions should be improved1 some people may be disposed to deny2 pointing out that the improvement tended to develop luxury1 thou cursed of ,heaven's decree4 ,one of the effects of increasing material prosperity is undoubtedly a tendency toward luxury4 ,but the number of people thus affected was so very small in the period from #ahjj to #ahej1 and the degree of luxury attained then was so slight1 that this question need hardly be discussed1 at this point4 ,but the mental condition of the people had changed as greatly as the physical conditions of their environment4 ,the immediate cause of this change was1 of course1 the printing press1 which disseminated the thoughts of thinking men broadcast1 and told of events that were occurring not only in places near1 but also in places distant4 ,this gave an enormous stimulation to the minds of the people by exciting their interest3 and it also gave to their minds both food for thought and almost unlimited opportunity for exercise4 ,before this period1 only a small part of the population had a wide range of knowledge1 or a large number of subjects to think about4 ,their lives were exceedingly monotonous1 and would have been exceedingly dull1 had it not been for the continuous necessity of combating the inconveniences of every-day life by continual toil of one kind or another4 ,there were very few subjects of conversation4 ,but the printing-press told the people of other things besides the events that were taking place2 it told them also of new discoveries and inventions that were being made1 and of the effects they would produce4 ,the news of a great discovery or invention must have created more excitement in #ahca when the discovery of chloroform was announced1 than almost any discovery would now1 because we are so accustomed to new discoveries as almost to be sated4 ,we know what excitement the first successful railway trips created4 ,the coming of these new discoveries and inventions gave mental exercise in four ways3--first by stimulating the imagination with a picture it had never seen before1 and whose possibilities reached no one could guess how far2 second by stimulating the logical powers to reason out and understand the principles underlying each discovery or invention2 third by stimulating the memory to engrave upon its tablets certain new and important facts2 and fourth1 by stimulating the inventive faculties1 to carry inventions further4 ,thus1 the influence of new inventions was to change a man's environment1 both physical and mental4 ,now every man is said to be the product of his environment and his heredity2 so that the influence of these new inventions was to change men to a degree proportional to the degree by which they changed their environment4 ,this does not mean that inventions have changed man biologically1 or even changed him so much that he will act very differently from a savage1 under abnormal conditions4 ,it does mean1 however1 that they have caused men so to adapt themselves to the new environment which inventions have created1 that1 while in that environment1 they will for all practical purposes1 be very different from savages4 ,it means that under nearly all the conditions of living1 a gentleman in civilized society will be a gentleman--courteous1 refined1 law-abiding and moral4 ,it does not mean that he will be perfect1 but that he will be very much more courteous1 refined1 law-abiding and moral than a savage2 and it means1 in consequence that the society of civilized people in general will possess these characteristics much more than any society of savages does4 ,not only1 however1 have these inventions changed the environment of civilized man1 they have changed his heredity also2 because they had previously changed the environment of his parents1 grandparents and other ancestors4 ,the graduate of ,oxford of #ahej1 the son of an ,oxford graduate who was also the son of an ,oxford graduate1 though he was biologically the same as his barbarian ancestors of ten thousand years before1 was nevertheless a much more refined1 intelligent and courteous gentleman4 ,under certain abnormal conditions1 such as intense thirst1 hunger1 jealousy1 passion or unlooked-for temptation he might act as badly as a savage3--in fact such men sometimes do4 ,but nevertheless1 the fact that in #ii of the conditions under which he lives he acts as a gentleman and not as a savage makes him #ii a gentleman1 and only #a a savage1 during his mortal life4 ,thus inventions1 while originating 7or seeming to originate7 in the minds of men1 change the environment of men1 and this changes the men4 ,of the two changes1 it would be easy to say that the change made in the men is the more important2 but would it be truthful to say so8 ,we have already noted the curious fact that inventions have the faculty of self-improvement to a degree far greater than men have it2 for the reason that each new man must begin where his last ancestor began1 whereas each new invention begins where his last ancestor finished4 ,this suggests that the changes produced in environment are more profound than the changes produced in men2 that in fact the changes in environment are very profound1 and the changes in men quite superficial4 ,that this is really the case is indicated by the very long time needed to build up the environments of civilization1 and the very short time needed for men to adapt themselves to those environments1 or to any changed conditions4 ,the fact has often been noted 7sometimes with chagrin7 that highly refined gentlemen adapt themselves with extreme facility to the often primitive environments of hunting or campaigning1 and history shows in many instances how quickly barbarians have adapted themselves to civilization4 ,this leads us to suspect that the ,machine which inventions have built up may not be of so much permanence as we are prone to think1 and makes us realize that it is not a natural production but one wholly artificial4 ,now nothing that is wholly artificial can reasonably be expected to be permanent1 unless adequate and timely measures are taken to insure it4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,invention ,,and ,,growth ,,of ,,liberal ,,government1 ,,american ,,civil ,,war ,while the period from #ahjj to #ahej was alive with inventions of many sorts1 it was alive also with the economic changes which the inventions caused and with political changes also4 ,it was in the ,united ,states of ,america that the greatest changes of all kinds came4 ,this was to be expected from the fact that before #ahjj the ,united ,states were considerably behind the countries of ,europe from which their own civilization had been derived2 whereas in #ahej1 they had been able to get abreast of them1 by reason of the quickness of transportation and communication that ocean steamers gave1 and the energy and enterprise of the new ,american nation4 ,during the period from #ahjj till #ahej1 the ,united ,states went through three successful wars2 one with ,great ,britain1 one with ,algiers and one with ,mexico4 ,they expanded also over a considerably greater territory1 acquired a much greater population1 added new states1 and showed such aptitude in scientific discovery and invention as to achieve a place in the first rank of nations in this particular4 ,the ,constitution of the ,united ,states may be characterized as a great invention1 in the meaning of the word which is used in this book2 and until #ahej1 it had worked with a success that surprised many of the statesmen and scholars of ,europe4 ,the problems placed before the nation had been many1 various and difficult2 but all had been solved with a sufficient degree of success for practical purposes2 and the resulting situations had1 on the whole1 been met with courage1 energy and intelligence4 ,the ,monroe ,doctrine had been treated with respect1 if not with entire acquiescence2 the conduct of the ,navy in the ,war of #ahab had demonstrated to ,europe the fighting ability of our people2 our scientific men1 such as ,franklin and ,henry1 ranked as high as any who had ever lived in any country2 certain of our statesmen such as ,franklin1 held equal rank with statesmen anywhere2 and the invention and first use of the electric telegraph had put ,america ahead of every other country in inventions of a basic kind4 ,when we realize the rapid growth of the ,united ,states in the half century #ahjj-ahej1 and realize also that it was a growth almost ab initio1 and note that the engineering materials of all kinds and all the knowledge of science in the country had come from ,europe1 we must admit that it is to the influence of invention1 more than to any other one thing1 that we owe the rapid progress of our country4 ,as is the case with individuals1 nations are prone to extol their own successes1 and to take the entire credit for them4 ,americans are apt to thank themselves only for their amazing progress2 but1 in fairness1 they should admit that without the inventions made in ,europe and by ,europeans1 they would have had no means for even starting4 ,the first locomotive used in the ,united ,states was brought from ,england4 ,in ,great ,britain1 the wars with ,france were under full headway in #ahjj1 and her statesmen knew that she was faced with a danger so great that only the most strenuous exertions1 and the utmost naval and military skill could overcome it4 ,this danger was not overcome till the ,battle of ,waterloo in #ahae4 ,thereafter1 the progress of the nation was fairly quiet and assured1 the main difficulties centering in the deplorable condition of the working classes1 serious disturbances in ,ireland and the mutiny in ,india4 ,in few matters has the influence of invention been greater than in the relations between ,great ,britain and ,india4 ,in #aefd a company called the ,merchant ,adventurers had been formed for competing with the merchants of ,spain1 ,venice1 ,holland and other countries4 ,a company coming into existence shortly afterward was the ,east ,india ,company1 formed for trading with ,india1 ,persia1 ,arabia and the islands in the ,indian ,ocean4 ,the company was chartered by the ,crown and had a monopoly of a certain territory4 ,the object was that the company should not only make money for itself1 but promote the welfare of ,great ,britain and her subjects1 by taking out manufactured goods1 and bringing back raw materials and coin4 ,during the seventeenth century1 naval wars took place with ,holland1 and in the eighteenth century with ,france2 both originating in commercial and colonial rivalry--especially in regard to ,india4 ,both wars were won by ,great ,britain4 ,the ,seven ,years' ,war in particular ended to the advantage of ,great ,britain1 as regards ,india2 for ,france was left with only a few trading stations4 ,by #aggc1 the ,east ,india ,company was in virtual control of ,india2 but in #aghd ,william ,pitt secured political control of it by the ,government4 ,napoleon realized the importance of ,india and sent an army there to recover control1 but without success4 ,the ,crimean ,war that began in #ahec between ,russia and ,turkey was joined by ,great ,britain in #ahed because she feared that ,russia would flank the ,british route to ,india through the projected ,suez ,canal4 ,this war ended to the advantage of ,great ,britain1 and the danger to ,india was removed4 ,now the whole area of the ,united ,kingdom of ,great ,britain and ,ireland is only about #aba1jjj square miles1 while that of ,india is about #a1hjc1jjj1 nearly fifteen times as great4 ,the population of the ,united ,kingdom in #aiag was about #de1cgj1jjj1 while that of ,india was about #cae1aef1jjj1 or nearly seven times as great4 ,yet ,great ,britain has secured the complete mastery of ,india6 ,how has she been able to do it8 ,the easiest answer would be that the ,british are a superior people4 ,even if they are1 such an answer would explain nothing1 unless the means be indicated by which the superiority was made effective in conquering ,india4 ,the superiority evidently did not consist in courage or physical strength1 which were obvious factors in achieving the victories in the field that were necessary1 for those qualities were shown equally by the ,indians4 ,but if we should answer that the ,british succeeded for the reason that they could bring to bear superior weapons1 equipments1 means of transportation1 means of communication1 methods of organization and methods of operation1 we evidently would explain what happened adequately and convincingly4 ,now all these facilities the ,british had available2 they had been invented and were ready4 ,one of the important influences of invention on history therefore1 has been to give ,great ,britain control of ,india4 ,in ,france1 the changes in economic and political conditions rivaled the changes that one sees take place in ,sir ,david ,brewster's kaleidoscope4 ,in #ahjj ,napoleon had been ,first ,consul1 in #ahjd emperor1 in #ahad an emperor and then an exile1 in #ahae an emperor and then an exile4 ,france was a kingdom from then until #ahdh1 and then a republic till #aheb1 when she again became an empire1 under ,napoleon ,,iii4 ,the virtual anarchy following the ,revolution had been crushed out and replaced with order2 and the menace to republican institutions had been removed by the genius of ,napoleon ,i1 who then established an autocracy of a kind that1 though arbitrary1 was so wise and broad-viewed as to be beneficent on the whole4 ,the result of all was that in #ahej1 ,france was in a condition of civilization and prosperity that was amazing to one who remembered the conditions of #ahjj4 ,when we analyze the causes of the evolution of order and prosperity out of the conditions of #agic1 and the later conditions of #ahjj1 we can hardly fail to realize the greatest single cause was the same cause as that of ,napoleon's victories4 ,it was the mind that conceived and developed and brought forth2 the mind that invented so amazingly4 ,that many other causes may be named need hardly be pointed out4 ,in the complex affairs of human life1 every result is the resultant of many causes2 but in most of those affairs1 most of those causes are always present2 so that we have to find an unusual cause to explain an unusual condition or event4 ,it would be easy to say that the cause of ,france's return to a condition of law and order was that the condition of anarchy was abnormal2 and that ,france simply returned to her normal state1 as a wave does after it has risen above or fallen below the level of the sea4 ,but would this be true8 ,is the condition of anarchy more abnormal than the condition of law and order8 ,which was the condition of primitive man8 ,which is an artificial product of man's invention8 ,is it not logical to conclude from the record of invention's influence that it was man's inventions that brought into existence the artificial condition of law and order which existed in ,france prior to #agic1 and that it was also man's inventions that restored it afterward8 ,three ideas were conceived in ,france and developed into the ,revolution3 these ideas were the principles of equality1 of the sovereignty of the people and of nationality4 ,after the overthrow of ,napoleon1 the ,congress of ,vienna met to readjust the affairs of ,europe4 ,the ,congress seems to have conceived the idea of preventing the carrying out of those principles as their first starting point1 and to have developed that idea with fixed determination4 ,the ,commissioners endeavored to restore everything to its condition before the ,revolution1 and to discredit the principles conceived and developed in ,france4 ,they succeeded in accomplishing their intent1 so far as remaking political boundaries1 etc41 was concerned2 but they did not succeed in discrediting the principles4 ,a great picture had been made in the minds of men1 and the ,commissioners could not wipe it out4 ,as a result1 three revolutions took place in #ahbj1 #ahcj and #ahdh1 of which the second was more important than the first1 and the third was more important than the second4 ,shortly after the fall of ,napoleon1 the ,czar ,alexander1 with the emperor of ,austria and the king of ,prussia1 invented the ,holy ,alliance4 ,it was in pretense an alliance to advance the cause of religion1 and to reduce to practice in political affairs the teachings of ,christ2 but it was in intention a league against the spread of the ideas embodied in the ,french ,revolution4 ,the ,league was not successful in the end1 for the picture of liberty made in the minds of men was too brilliant and too deeply printed to be wiped out4 ,one of the results of the ,holy ,alliance was the invention by the ,united ,states of the ,monroe ,doctrine which was made to prevent that intervention in affairs on the ,american continent which the proceedings of the ,alliance foreshadowed4 ,italy was very harshly treated by the ,congress of ,vienna1 two of her largest provinces in the north being given to ,austria1 who forthwith proceeded then to try to control the entire peninsula4 ,in #ahbj1 a revolution broke out in ,italy1 but it was soon suppressed4 ,another broke out in #ahcj1 simultaneous with that in ,france2 and this was also suppressed4 ,the third1 in #ahdh1 met a similar fate4 ,but the revolutions in ,france were successful2 the one of #ahdh resulting in the formation of a republic4 ,at the same time1 a sympathetic revolution in ,germany was in a measure successful also4 ,in ,germany1 the formation of the ,german ,confederation in #ahae by the ,congress of ,vienna was the formation of a kind of political body that has never lasted long2 for no political body has ever lasted long1 except an actual and definite nation4 ,the various components of the ,german ,confederation were too loosely bound together4 ,this invention1 like others of mechanical machines1 was not a practical invention because the machine invented was too easily thrown out of adjustment4 ,the ,customs ,union was invented in #ahbh to supply the necessary element of coherency4 ,it was hardly adequate for its task1 at the time2 but it made the people think of national union2 an idea that was finally developed in #ahga4 ,in ,russia1 considerable progress was made from #ahjj to #ahej1 though not so much as in the countries farther west4 ,an adequate reason would seem to be that there were too few minds1 in proportion to the entire population1 that were able to conceive and develop the ideas that are needed to make progress4 ,during this half-century1 while the names of many men stand out as having done constructive work in invention and discovery1 and while many great statesmen existed1 the names of three statesmen stand out more brightly than the rest3 ,pitt1 ,talleyrand and ,metternich4 ,each had the mind to conceive1 develop and produce2 and each did conceive1 develop and produce4 ,of the three1 ,william ,pitt was1 according to almost any accepted standard by far the greatest1 and ,talleyrand was second4 ,without the force and guidance of such a mind as ,pitt possessed and utilized1 it is hard to estimate what would have been the rle of ,england in the ,napoleonic wars1 and what would have been her fate4 ,in the actual course of events1 it was ,england that announced the mate in four moves to ,napoleon at ,trafalgar1 and that finally checkmated him at ,waterloo4 ,true1 ,pitt died long before ,waterloo2 but the policy which he conceived and developed was the policy which was followed2 and the influence of his mind lived in almost unabated strength after his poor1 frail body had ceased to live4 ,talleyrand seems to have been what ,i have asked permission to call an opportunistic inventor2 quick to conceive1 develop and produce plans for meeting difficult situations as they arose1 but without any ultimate objective1 or any moral or other principles of any kind4 ,metternich1 on the other hand1 though lacking the brilliancy of ,talleyrand1 exerted his talents devotedly to the interests of his country1 as he saw them4 ,but he failed to realize how deep the ideas of the ,french ,revolution had been engraved in the minds of men1 and finally saw the ,machine of the ,austrian ,government almost destroyed in #ahdh4 ,he himself was forced to flee2 and the ,emperor was forced to abdicate in favor of his nephew1 who granted the people a ,constitution1 in order to save the ,machine4 ,in ,prussia1 affairs went almost as far as in ,austria1 though not nearly so far as in ,france4 ,the ,machine in ,prussia was saved by the promise of the granting of a constitution4 ,the main ultimate political result of the agitations of all kinds during the half century #ahjj to #ahej1 was the granting to greater numbers of people of a part in directing the affairs of ,state4 ,in ,france1 the whole ,machine of ,civilization had been menaced with destruction in the years just previous to #ahjj2 but destruction had not resulted1 and actual improvement had been begun by #ahjj1 though in an experimental and tentative way4 ,during the fifty years now under consideration1 the idea conceived and developed in ,france spread to all other civilized countries2 and in all those countries it exercised its benignant influence1 especially in the new nation across the ,atlantic1 the ,united ,states of ,america4 ,reciprocally1 the news of the formation of that republic1 and the adoption of its ,constitution in #aghg1 had exercised considerable influence in giving support to the idea of the people of ,france1 although the ,united ,states of ,america was very far away indeed1 and her experiment in government was as yet untried4 ,then1 as the years went by1 between #ahjj and #ahej1 and as the ,american experiment became increasingly successful1 and as the ocean steamships brought prompt and adequate information about all of its developments1 the ,american idea joined with the ,french idea1 to advance the cause of government by the people4 ,it may be pointed out here that the discoveries in the physical sciences and the utilization of those discoveries in the invention of material instruments and mechanisms were more fruitful in creations of a permanent and definite character than were the achievements of statesmen1 generals1 admirals and opportunistic inventors in general4 ,the same remark is true of discoveries and inventions in systems of government1 ethics and religion4 ,these also have developed monuments of extraordinary permanency2 witness1 for instance1 the inventions of the kingdom1 of democracy and of the ,buddhist1 ,shinto1 ,taoist1 ,jewish1 ,christian and ,mohammedan religions4 ,the distinctive feature in securing permanency seems to have been the intent to secure it4 ,the sudden conception1 development and production of a campaign1 political maneuvre or business enterprise1 seems to have produced a creature that was merely a temporary expedient1 adapted only to meet emergencies that themselves were temporary4 ,this does not mean that the influence of these temporary expedients has not sometimes been great3 it does not mean1 for instance1 that the influence of the victory at ,salamis was not great4 ,it does not mean to deny the plain fact that it has been the succession of the results of temporary expedients that has brought affairs to the condition in which they are today4 ,it does mean1 however1 that the actual pieces of the existing ,machine of ,civilization are the permanent inventions which have been made2 while the opportunistic inventions have in some cases prevented1 and in other cases have furthered1 the making of those inventions1 and the incorporation of them in the ,machine4 ,the invention of printing1 for instance1 produced an actual part of the ,machine2 while the successful wars waged by civilized nations with the gun against savages1 barbarians and peoples of a lower order of civilization1 made possible the further development of printing1 and its continual use in upbuilding the ,machine4 ,the use of the opportunistic inventions seems to have been in assisting the inventors of permanent creations and in directing the efforts of the operators of the ,machine4 ,an analogue can be found in the case of the invention1 development and operation of the smaller machines of every-day life3 the inventor of each machine merely invents that machine2 when he has done this his work is virtually finished4 ,when his machine is put to work 7say1 an electric railroad7 the operators carry on the various routine tasks2 just as the president of a bank operates his bank1 or the president of a nation administers the affairs of the nation4 ,but there arise occasions when something goes wrong1 when something besides supplying coal and oil and electricity is necessary for the successful running of the railroad1 when something more than routine administration is required of the president of the bank1 or the president of the nation4 ,then the ingenious and bright mechanic or electrician invents a practical scheme for circumventing the difficulty with the railroad2 or ,napoleon invents a campaign to save the ,french ,republic4 ,in #ahee ,taupenot made the important invention of dry-plate photography1 by which dry plates can be prepared and kept ready for use when needed1 and ,michaux invented the bicycle4 ,both of these were fairly important contributions of a practical kind2 so was ,woodruff's invention of the sleeping-car1 and so was ,perkins's discovery of aniline dyes1 both of which came in #ahef4 ,none of these was a brilliant invention1 though each was a useful one4 ,but they were immediately followed by one of a high order of brilliancy and usefulness1 ,siemens's regenerative furnace1 in which the waste heat of the combustion gases was utilized to heat the air or gas just entering4 ,in the same year1 ,kingsland invented a refining engine for use in making paper pulp4 ,in the following year the first ocean-going iron-clad ship of war1 ,la ,gloire1 appeared1 and in #aheh the first cable car1 invented by ,e4 ,a4 ,gardner4 ,in the same year ,giffard invented his famous injector1 which performs the feat 7seemingly impossible at first thought7 of using steam at a certain pressure in a boiler to force water into that same boiler against its own pressure6 ,the explanation of course is that the area of the stream of water that enters the boiler is less than the area of the stream of steam that leaves the boiler4 ,this invention was one of a very high order of brilliancy of conception1 excellence of construction and usefulness of final product4 ,it was a valuable contribution to the ,machine4 ,in the same year ,cyrus ,field of ,new ,york succeeded in laying the first ,atlantic cable between ,ireland and ,newfoundland4 ,it is difficult to declare whether this achievement constituted an invention or not1 and it may not be so classed by many people4 ,nevertheless1 it created something that had not existed before1 and it progressed by the same three stages of conception1 development and production by which all inventions progress4 ,it was a contribution of enormous value to the ,machine1 moreover2 for though the first cable was not a practical success1 and though the second cable broke while being laid in #ahfe1 it was recovered and re-laid and afterward operated successfully4 ,since that time1 submarine cables have been multiplied to such an extent that there were more than #ahjj in operation in #aiag1 and they formed a network under all the seas4 ,such important parts of the ,machine of ,civilization have these submarine cables become that the ,machine as it is could not exist without them4 ,that is1 it could not have existed before the wireless telegraph came4 ,the wireless telegraph has made the ,machine less dependent on submarine cables than it was before1 and yet not wholly independent4 ,in #aheh the ,great ,eastern was launched1 the largest steamship built up to that time4 ,the case of the ,great ,eastern is interesting from the fact that she was too large to fit in the ,machine as it then existed1 and that by the time that the ,machine had grown large enough the ,great ,eastern was obsolete6 ,about #ahei1 ,kirchhoff and ,bunsen invented the spectroscope1 an optical instrument for forming and analyzing the spectra of the rays emitted by bodies and substances4 ,in #ahfj ,gaston ,plant invented his famous secondary battery1 formed by passing an electric current through a cell composed of two sheets of lead immersed in dilute sulphuric acid1 the two sheets separated by non-conducting strips of felt4 ,the acid being decomposed1 hydrogen formed on one plate1 while oxygen attacked the other plate and formed peroxide of lead4 ,there being now two dissimilar metals in an acid solution1 a ,voltaic battery had been created1 that gave a current which passed through the liquid in a direction the reverse of the current 7charging current7 that had caused the change4 ,plant's secondary battery was an important and practical contribution to the ,machine2 but the credit for the basic invention does not belong to ,plant1 but to ,sir ,william ,grove1 who had invented the ,grove's gas battery4 ,in this battery1 two plates of platinum were immersed in dilute acid1 and submitted to a charging current that decomposed the liquid and formed an actual though practically ineffective secondary battery2 the two elements being oxygen and hydrogen4 ,in the next year ,philip ,reis invented the singing telephone1 by which he could transmit musical tones over considerable distances4 ,whether or not ,philip ,reis invented the speaking telephone has been a much controverted question1 for the reason that speech was occasionally transmitted over ,reis's telephone1--though not by intention4 ,the invention that ,reis conceived1 developed and produced was a singing telephone only2 the apparatus by which he sometimes transmitted speech was his singing telephone1 slightly disadjusted4 ,that ,reis should have failed to invent the telephone is amazing1 in the same sense that it is amazing that ,galileo did not invent the thermometer and the barometer2 and the fact is extremely instructive in enabling us to see distinctly what constitutes invention4 ,to make an invention1 a man must himself create a thing that is new1 and produce it in a concrete form1 such that persons skilled in the art can make and use it4 ,reis did not do this3 and yet ,philip ,reis's telephone could be made to speak in a few seconds1 by simply turning a little thumb-screw6 ,reis did not know this1 and consequently could not give the information to persons skilled in the art4 ,reis did not invent the speaking telephone1 for the fundamental reason that his original conception1 although correct for his singing telephone1 was wholly incorrect for a speaking telephone2 because the speaking telephone requires a continuous current1 while ,reis's conception included an intermittent current4 ,apologies are tendered for going into what may seem a technicality at such great length2 but the author wishes to utilize this example to emphasize the importance of the original conception1 the image pictured on the mind by the imagination4 ,this original conception is of paramount importance in making inventions1 not only of material mechanisms1 but of all other things that can be invented1 such as religions1 laws1 systems of government1 campaigns1 books1 paintings1 etc41 etc4 ,the final product cannot be better than the original conception1 except by chance2 for even if the development be absolutely perfect1 the invention finally brought forth can be only equal to the original conception4 ,it is obvious that the simpler the invention is the more easily it can be made equal to the original conception1 and vice vers4 ,for this reason the stethoscope is a more efficient embodiment of the original conception than is that very inefficient product--the steam engine4 ,the fact that the final product cannot be better than the original conception 7except by chance7 is the bottom reason for placing men of fine minds at the head of important organizations4 ,it is the ideas conceived by the man at the head in any walk of life1 that are developed by his assistants3 at least1 this is the intention1 in all organizations1 and the only efficient procedure4 ,we see an analogue in the actual life of every individual4 ,now the conception is the work of the imagination1 and not of the reasoning faculties3 the reasoning faculties develop and construct what the imagination conceives4 ,it is because of this that men of fine mentality sometimes devote their talents to evil ends3 their imaginations have conceived evil pictures4 ,sometimes this is the result of a bad environment in childhood4 ,the environment of ,talleyrand's childhood1 for instance1 caused the conception in his imagination of evil aims4 ,in #ahfj ,carr made the important invention of the manufacture of ice with the use of ammonia4 ,in #ahfa ,craske improved stereotyping by making it possible to reproduce curved printing plates from flat forms of type4 ,green invented the driven-well in the same year1 and ,mc,kay invented the shoe-sewing machine4 ,the most important event of #ahfa was the outbreak of the ,civil ,war in ,america1 when the invention of the ,american ,constitution was put to its severest test4 ,it had been known ever since the adoption of the ,constitution that the instrument was faulty in not defining clearly the relative rights of the ,federal ,government and the separate states2 but it had been found impossible to secure the assent of a sufficiently large body of citizens to any proposition that defined them clearly2 and so the machine of ,government had operated for nearly three-quarters of a century1 with the disquieting knowledge in the minds of its operators that conditions might put it to a test that would break it down1 and perhaps destroy it totally4 ,the most dangerous condition was seen to be the one associated with the question of slavery in the ,southern ,states4 ,this question1 and the consequent condition of antagonism between the ,north and the ,south1 became rapidly worse during the period from #ahdf to #ahfa1 when war between them finally broke out4 ,the war was ultimately decided in favor of the ,north1 despite the fact that the ,south was much the better prepared2 in fact1 that the ,north was wholly unprepared4 ,the main weakness in the ,confederate situation was the fact that cotton was virtually the only product with which she could raise money for feeding and equipping her army1 that she had to get the equipments from ,europe1 and that the line of communication to ,europe was across the ,atlantic ,ocean1 #cjjj miles wide4 ,the weakness seemed1 during a period of about twenty-four hours1 to be removed by the invention of the iron-clad ,merrimac2 for the ,merrimac destroyed the ,cumberland and ,congress1 two of the finest warships on the ,union side1 without the slightest difficulty in one forenoon1 and threatened the destruction of all the other ,union ships4 ,the ,union ships having been destroyed or made to flee to port1 complete freedom from blockade of the ,confederate coast would follow immediately4 ,the ,monitor had been invented years before2 but no steps had been taken to build her1 despite the insistence of the great inventing engineer1 ,john ,ericsson4 ,news of the work of constructing the ,merrimac had reached the ,north1 however1 and stimulated the northern imagination to the extent that it was able to see in the ,monitor a savior 7and the only savior7 from the ,merrimac4 ,by the exercise of amazing engineering skill1 ,ericsson constructed his invention with such speed and precision that the ,monitor was able to meet and defeat the ,merrimac the very day after she had destroyed the ,union ships4 ,the result was an immediate and absolute reversal of conditions4 ,it was the ,north now that controlled the sea and the ,south that was to be blockaded4 ,and not only this2 for the fact that the ,north possessed a warship that was not only the most formidable in the world1 but was of such simple construction that many of them could be launched in a very short time1 showed to those ,european powers who were deliberating as to whether or not they should recognize the ,confederacy1 the futility of their attempting to carry into effect on the ,american coast any naval policy of a character unfriendly to the ,united ,states4 ,the victory of the ,monitor was the announcement of the mate in four moves4 ,victory for the ,south became immediately impossible1 no matter how long the final checkmate might be delayed4 ,we know1 of course1 that checkmate was delayed until ,april #i1 #ahfe1 when ,lee surrendered to ,grant at ,appomattox4 ,in few cases has the influence of invention on history shone more clearly than in the case of the ,monitor4 ,the ,monitor was the deciding factor in the ,civil ,war4 ,this does not mean that the ,monitor alone won the ,civil ,war4 ,no one event or person or maneuver won the ,civil ,war3 for the ,civil ,war was won by the resultant effect of many events1 persons and maneuvers4 ,it does mean1 however1 that the victory of the ,monitor made it virtually impossible for the issue to be otherwise than it eventually was2 provided1 of course1 that a course of conduct not wholly unreasonable was pursued by the ,north4 ,all the other factors in the war were what might be called usual3 the ,monitor alone was unusual4 ,the ,monitor's battle was the only battle in which the light of genius shone1 on either side4 ,the ,monitor's victory emphasizes a truth previously pointed out in this book3 the truth that the influence of invention has been to advance the cause of civilization1 by giving victory in wars1 as a rule1 to the side possessing the higher civilization4 ,this was clearly the case in our ,civil ,war2 for the ,south was far more an agricultural and primitive community than the ,north4 ,it was for this reason that ,ericsson lived in the ,north4 ,we can hardly imagine ,ericsson coming from ,england and going to live in the ,south2 for the simple reason that ,ericsson1 the dynamic1 inventive ,ericsson1 could not possibly have lived a life even approximately satisfying to him in the ,south4 ,there was no opportunity in the ,south for him to exercise his powers4 ,it has been said sometimes that the ,monitor might have been produced by the ,south1 and the ,merrimac by the ,north4 ,of course1 anything is possible that is not wholly impossible2 but history shows that inventions have1 as a rule1 been produced by people like those of the ,north1 and not by people like those of the ,south4 ,the influence of invention on history has been to bring about such victories as that of the ,monitor over the ,merrimac2 and the influence of those victories has been to enhance the advantages possessed by the more highly civilized4 ,furthermore1 the victory of the more civilized has given civilization greater assurance in its struggle to go still higher1 just as defeat has made it pause and sometimes retreat4 ,the issue of the ,civil ,war1 for instance1 was more than a victory over slavery and the tendency to dissipation of energy by a division into two parts of the forces of the country2 for it removed permanently a highly injurious obstruction and started the rejuvenated republic along that career of progress which it has followed since so valiantly4 ,in #ahfa ,e4 ,g4 ,otis invented the passenger elevator4 ,possibly this was not an invention of the first order of brilliancy1 but certainly it was an invention of the first order of utility4 ,can anyone imagine the ,new ,york of today without passenger elevators8 ,the ,otis elevator has not made it possible to grow two blades of grass where one blade grew before2 but it has made it possible to operate hotels and office buildings of more than twice as many stories as could be operated before4 ,few inventions have had more immediate influence on contemporary history than the passenger elevator4 ,in the same year was invented the barbed-wire fence4 ,the production of carbide of calcium followed in #ahfb1 and also the invention of the ,gatling gun4 ,this was the first successful machine gun1 and an invention of a high order of brilliancy of conception1 excellence of construction and practical usefulness4 ,few inventions have been more wholly unique than this machine3 so beautiful and harmonious and simple in principle--though devoted superficially merely to the killing and wounding of men4 ,like all inventions in the gun class1 it contributed to the self-protectiveness of the ,machine4 ,an invention in a similar class1 smokeless gunpowder was invented by ,schultze in #ahfc1 for use as a sporting powder4 ,being based on the action of nitric acid on cellulose1 it was somewhat like gun-cotton1 and therefore a chemical compound2 rather than a mechanical mixture like the old gunpowder4 ,it gave out but little smoke when fired4 ,smokelessness would be such an obvious advantage in military operations1 that the study of this powder was prosecuted carefully1 with a view to obtaining a smokeless powder suitable for military purposes4 ,this was accomplished in #ahhf by ,vieille in ,france4 ,the invention of smokeless powder was not one of a high order of brilliancy for the reason that it was the result of a long series of painstaking investigations and not of any luminous idea4 ,it was nevertheless a contribution of the highest usefulness to the self-protectiveness of the ,machine1 and therefore to ,civilization4 ,in #ahfd ,behel invented the automatic grain binder1 an invention of the same class of practical and concrete usefulness as ,mc,cormick's reaper1 and a distinct contribution to the ,machine4 ,it expedited the binding of grain1 tended to insure accuracy and efficiency1 and stimulated the agricultural classes to a study of mechanism1 and therefore of physics and the arts depending on it4 ,in other words1 this invention performed the double service that many other inventions have performed1 of contributing to the material necessities of men1 and inspiring their intellects as well4 ,in the following year1 ,martin invented his process for improving the manufacture of fine steel4 ,in the same year 7#ahfe7 ,lister brought out his method of antiseptic surgery4 ,it would be difficult to specify any invention which has contributed more in half a century to the direct welfare of mankind4 ,it has effected such a change in surgery as to make the surgery before ,lister's time seem almost barbarous4 ,it made a greater change in surgery than any change ever made before3 one is tempted to declare that it has brought about a greater change in surgery than all the previous changes put together4 ,now1 it is interesting to realize that all these changes1 extending over all the civilized world1 and affecting countless human beings1 were caused by a mere idea4 ,they were caused by a picture made by the imagination of ,lister on his mental retina1 that must have covered a very small area of his brain4 ,it is interesting also to realize that if that part of his brain had become impaired from any cause1 the picture could not have been imprinted there4 ,and was his brain always in condition to receive such a picture1 or only seldom8 ,knowing as we do that even the most brilliant minds are brilliant only rarely1 may we not infer that conditions of the brain permitting such pictures as this of ,lister occur but rarely8 ,it was also in #ahfe that ,bullock invented his web-feeding printing press1 and ,dodge invented the automatic shell-ejector for firearms4 ,in #ahff ,siemens and ,martin invented the open-hearth process for steel making1 ,burleigh the compressed air rock-drill1 and ,whitehead the automobile torpedo4 ,the ,whitehead torpedo was an invention of the highest order of brilliancy of conception2 but1 unlike many other inventions of this class1 it has been a matter of the utmost difficulty to develop it4 ,the possible usefulness suggested was so great that the principal ,european nations1 especially the ,germans and ,english1 went about its development at once2 but the practical difficulties encountered were so many and so great1 and the opportunities of testing out its usefulness in actual warfare were so few1 that it was not until after its successful and important use in the war between ,russia and ,japan in #aijd-aije1 that the torpedo was accepted as a major weapon4 ,this invention is one of the most important contributions ever made to the self-protectivity of the ,machine of ,civilization2 not only because of its immediate usefulness in war1 but because its complexity necessitates such skill and knowledge in the operators1 and its cost is so great1 that only the most wealthy and highly civilized nations are able to use it successfully4 ,as has been pointed out repeatedly in this book1 one of the influences of invention on history has been to urge nations to a high degree of civilization1 under pain of greater or less subjection to nations more highly civilized4 ,in #ahff ,wilde in ,england and ,siemens in ,germany invented dynamo electric machines1 in which the magnetic field was made1 not by permanent steel magnets1 but by electro-magnets of soft iron that were energized by the current which the machine itself produced4 ,this was an invention of the utmost practical value2 but who was the actual inventor does not seem to be exactly known4 ,its main value is in its ability to produce a much more powerful current than could be produced when using permanent magnets2 caused by the fact that electro-magnets can create a magnetic field much stronger than steel magnets can4 ,in #ahfg ,tilghman invented his sulphite process for pulp making1 and in #ahfh1 ,moncrief invented his famous disappearing gun-carriage4 ,this was an invention requiring a high order of conception and constructiveness2 it resulted in a considerable improvement in the art of sea-coast defense1 and therefore in the self-protectiveness of the ,machine1 by keeping the guns safe behind fortifications except when actually being fired4 ,moncrief's carriage1 although originally very good1 has been improved upon from time to time2 whenever the progress of the mechanic arts has made it possible1 and some inventor has realized the fact4 ,attention is here requested to the last clause in the last sentence4 ,as civilization has progressed and various inventions have been made1 the whole field of possible future invention has been narrowed1 but a field of clear though limited opportunity has been mapped out4 ,each invention narrows the field by removing the opportunities for making that especial invention3 after the printing press had been invented1 for instance1 the number of possible inventions was reduced by one2 but see what a field for future invention was mapped out1 and what immeasurable opportunities were suggested6 ,nevertheless1 opportunity does not produce inventions1 it merely invites them2 and we have occasionally noted in this book that the opportunity to make a certain invention had existed for ages before it was realized3 for instance1 the sewing-machine and the little stethoscope4 ,in #ahfh ,sholes invented what is usually considered the first practical typewriting machine4 ,the machine that ,thurber had invented in #ahdc had never been developed to a practical stage1 and1 consequently1 it was not itself a direct contribution to the ,machine4 ,whether it paved the way for ,sholes's is a debatable point2 if it did1 it was an indirect contribution1 like ,hero's engine4 ,not for several years after #ahfh did the typewriter take its place in the ,machine3 but now it plays an exceedingly useful1 if not conspicuous1 part in making it operate day after day4 ,in the same year ,nobel contributed another of his notable inventions1 and called it dynamite4 ,it was the development of an exceedingly brilliant and original idea2 and1 as often happens with conceptions of that kind1 it was easily developed into a concrete1 usable and useful thing4 ,it consisted merely in mixing nitro-glycerin with about an equal quantity of very finely divided earth4 ,the resulting mixture was much less sensitive to shock and therefore much safer to handle than nitro-glycerin4 ,it supplied the factor needed to render the utilization of nitro-glycerin possible1 and therefore it was a valuable contribution to the ,machine4 ,in the same year1 ,mege invented oleomargarine1 a comparatively inexpensive substitute for butter1 and therefore an important factor in furthering the health and comfort of the poorer classes and a considerable forward step4 ,shortly after #ahff1 ,mrs4 ,eddy declared to many people that she had made a discovery which enabled her to cure the sick with ,divine aid1 and without the use of drugs4 ,she healed many people and gradually gathered followers4 ,in a few years1 she developed a religion that is now called ,christian ,science2 and in #ahge she published a book called ,science and ,health1 with ,key to the ,scriptures4 ,since then1 the number of her followers has increased enormously1 and ,christian ,science ,churches have been erected in all the civilized countries of the world4 ,though the doctrines of ,christian ,science have not been accepted by many ,christians1 the great opposition directed toward them at first has now been largely overcome2 and it is admitted by most fair-minded people that ,christian ,science seems to have made an important contribution to the spiritual1 mental and physical welfare of mankind4 ,in #ahfh1 ,westinghouse made his epochal invention1 the railway air-brake4 ,it was the result of a brilliant mental conception that was put into practical form without very serious difficulty4 ,at first sight1 this invention might not be considered of very great importance1 because one might assume that its only office was to prevent collisions and consequent loss of life and property4 ,doubtless that was its only direct effect2 but its indirect effect was to increase the confidence of the people in the safety of railway travel1 consequently the number of people who traveled1 consequently the prosperity of the railway companies1 consequently the faith of people in railway investments1 consequently the number and magnitude of railway projects1 consequently the number and length of railways1 consequently the speed and general excellence of transportation and communication over the land in every civilized country1 and consequently the coherency and operativeness of the entire ,machine4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,invention ,,of ,,the ,,modern ,,military ,,machine1 ,,telephone1 ,,phonograph1 ,,and ,,preventive ,,medicine ,in #ahff1 one of the most important inventions of history was put to test1 in a war between ,austria and ,prussia4 ,the invention was the ,prussian ,military ,machine1 of which the inventor was von ,moltke1 the ,chief of ,staff of the ,prussian ,army4 ,moltke was not the original inventor of the ,military ,machine1 any more than ,watt was the original inventor of the steam engine2 but he was the inventor of the modern ,military ,machine1 just as ,watt was the inventor of the modern reciprocating steam-engine4 ,moltke had been made ,chief of ,staff in #aheh1 and had proceeded at once to embody an idea that his mind had conceived some years before4 ,this idea was to utilize all the new inventions of every kind that had been made1 especially in weapons1 transportation and communication2 and to continue to utilize all new inventions as each reached the useful stage1 in such a way that the ,prussian ,army would be an actual weapon1 which could be handled with all the quickness and precision that the products of modern civilization could impart to it4 ,philip of ,macedon1 ,julius ,csar1 and ,frederick ,william of ,prussia evidently had had similar ideas2 but no one after them1 save ,moltke1 seems to have realized fully that armies and navies must utilize all the new methods and appliances that can be made to assist their operations1 if those armies and navies are to attain their maximum effectiveness4 ,it is true that no very great changes in arms or in methods of transportation and communication had recently taken place1 at the time when ,napoleon went to war2 but this only emphasizes the new conditions with which ,moltke was confronted1 and the courage and resourcefulness with which he met them4 ,moltke's ,machine was1 of course1 much more comprehensive and detailed than the paragraph above would indicate2 but almost every machine1 after it has been perfected1 is comprehensive and detailed1 even if the original idea was simple4 ,it is true also that the direct means which ,moltke employed to perfect his ,machine was to train officers to solve independently certain problems in strategy and tactics1 just as children at school were taught to solve problems in arithmetic4 ,it is true also that more attention has usually been fixed on ,moltke's system of training than on his utilization of inventions1 and it may be true that ,moltke himself fixed more attention on it4 ,but the idea of training officers as he did1 seems also to have been original with ,moltke2 and it is certain that ,moltke was the first to develop such a system1 and therefore1 that he was the inventor of that system4 ,we see1 therefore1 that ,moltke made two separate inventions1 and combined both in his machine4 ,both inventions were condemned and ridiculed1 but both succeeded4 ,the result was that1 when war was declared in #ahff between ,prussia and ,austria1 a reputedly greater nation1 the ,prussian machine started smoothly but quickly when the button was pressed1 advanced into ,austria without the slightest delay or jar1 collided at once with the ,austrian machine1 and smashed it in one encounter4 ,this encounter was near ,sadowa and ,kniggrtz1 and took place only seventeen days after war began4 ,the most important single invention that ,moltke had utilized was the breech-loading needle gun1 a weapon far better than the ,austrians had1 not only in speed of loading1 but in accuracy4 ,the two armies were not very different in point of numbers3 so that1 even if von ,moltke's other measures had not been taken1 the superiority of the ,prussian musket over the ,austrian must of itself have caused the winning of the war1 though not so quickly as actually was the case4 ,but in the war with ,france1 ,moltke's machine demonstrated its effectiveness even more completely1 because its task was harder4 ,for ,france was esteemed the greatest military nation in the world2 it was the ,france of ,napoleon the ,great1 then ruled by his nephew ,napoleon ,,iii4 ,in the usual sense of the word1 the ,french were a more military people than the ,prussians4 ,the ,empire of ,napoleon ,,iii was much more splendid than the poor little ,kingdom of ,prussia1 the army was more in evidence1 there were more military pageants1 the people were more ardent4 ,but the military leaders of the ,french included no such inventor as von ,moltke1 there was no one who conceived any such ideas as were pictured in ,moltke's imaginative brain2 and consequently it never occurred to anyone to utilize strenuously all the new inventions1 or to train officers like school boys1 in the practical problems of war4 ,the result was that ,moltke's machine got into ,france before the ,french machine had been even put together4 ,the pieces of the ,french machine had not been got together even when the war ended4 ,when war was declared by ,france1 her military machine was in three parts4 ,two of them got together fairly quickly1 so that the ,french machine was soon divided into only two parts2 one under ,marshal ,bazaine1 and the other under ,marshal ,mc,mahon4 ,but ,moltke's machine was together at the start1 and it stayed together throughout the war4 ,this does not mean that all its parts stood in the same spot2 but it does mean that the parts were always in supporting distance of each other4 ,the two parts of the ,french machine were not in supporting distance of each other1 and the ,german machine prevented them from uniting4 ,when ,mc,mahon and ,bazaine tried to unite1 ,mc,mahon was defeated at ,wrth1 and ,bazaine at ,gravelotte4 ,mc,mahon was forced to surrender his entire force1 including the emperor at ,sedan2 and ,bazaine was shut up in ,metz4 ,paris was then besieged4 ,bazaine was soon forced to surrender and ,paris to capitulate4 ,the main immediate result was the establishment of the ,german ,empire4 ,a later result was the establishment of what is sometimes called militarism4 ,of the two1 the latter was probably the more important in future consequences2 for the influence of ,moltke's conception of military preparedness has been to make all civilized nations keep up enormous and highly organized military and naval establishments1 under pain of being caught unprepared for war and beaten to subjection4 ,the ,german ,empire has vanished1 but militarism has not vanished4 ,there seem to be no signs that it will soon vanish1 for it is simply part of a general preparedness movement that embraces many fields of life1 that is necessitated by the existence of this cumbrous ,machine of ,civilization1 and that is advanced by the realization that everyone must cultivate foresight4 ,the physicians tell us1 the financiers tell us1 the lawyers tell us1 the clergymen tell us1 even the business men of every day and the housewives tell us that we must continually look ahead and continually prepare to meet what may be coming4 ,now this is what ,militarism urges as applied to the coming of war4 ,militarism is the doctrine of preparedness for war2 it holds the same relation to national health that preventive medicine does to individual health4 ,it would make us do many unpleasant things1 and refrain from doing many pleasant things4 ,but to do many unpleasant things and to refrain from doing many pleasant things is necessary1 in order to lead even a moderately virtuous and prudent life4 ,militarism may be pushed to an undue extreme2 but so may any course of conduct4 ,it may be interesting to note that ,moltke was not an opportunistic inventor1 like most men of action typified by ,napoleon1 but that ,bismarck was4 ,moltke made inventions of a permanent nature1 but ,bismarck did not4 ,yet ,moltke was a soldier and ,bismarck was a statesman4 ,bismarck's ,german ,empire has already passed away1 but ,moltke's method of preparedness is with us still1 and is gathering more and more prestige as the years go by4 ,judged by the standard of permanent achievement1 ,moltke was a greater man than ,bismarck2 though a belief to the contrary was held during their lifetimes1 and is generally held by most men now4 ,in #ahgj1 ,gramme invented the famous ,gramme dynamo-electric machine1 which was so excellent a machine for producing a smooth and unidirectional electric current1 that it gave the start to that wonderful succession of electrical inventions which established the ,age of ,electricity4 ,the main part of ,gramme's machine was a modification of the ,pacinnoti ring1 invented by ,pacinnoti in #ahfb1 which seems never to have been put to practical use1 and never to have been heard of by ,gramme4 ,the ,pacinnoti ring consisted of a ring around which a continuous coil of wire was wound4 ,this ring being rotated in a magnetic field1 the various parts of the wire at any instant lay at different angles to the lines of force1 instead of at the same angle to them1 as was the case with the flat coil of previous dynamo machines4 ,the result was that some coil was always cutting the magnetic lines-of-force at the maximum speed1 while others were cutting them at varying speeds1 down to zero2 so that the aggregate of all was approximately the same at all instants4 ,the result was that the current was nearly uniform in strength4 ,the influence of this invention on subsequent history need hardly be pointed out2 for it is impressed on us every day and every night1 in every part of the civilized world4 ,in the same epochal year that ushered in the ,franco-,prussian ,war and the ,gramme machine1 the ,hyatts invented celluloid4 ,the invention was of the simplest character1 involving mainly the compression of camphorated gun-cotton by hydraulic or other force4 ,this was not a great invention1 but a useful one2 making it possible to fabricate many useful articles at low cost4 ,in the following year of #ahga1 ,goodyear invented his welt shoe-sewing machine and ,maddox made his epochal discovery4 ,this was that when nitrate of silver was added to a solution of gelatine in water containing a soluble bromide1 silver bromide was formed1 which did not subside even after long standing2 that the emulsion could be made quickly and in large quantities1 and that by thus substituting gelatine for collodion on the surface of glass plates used in photography1 greater sensitiveness1 and therefore1 greater speed could be obtained4 ,this led to an important improvement1 and paved the way to others1 and thus became the basis of rapid photography4 ,by #ahga the work of several inventors had produced a press that printed an endless sheet of paper on both sides and folded it automatically4 ,in the same year ,ingersoll invented his compressed air rock drill4 ,in #ahgb1 ,lyall invented his positive-motion weaving loom1 and ,clerk ,maxwell propounded his electro-magnetic theory of light4 ,according to this theory1 luminous and electric disturbances are the same in kind1 the same medium transmits both1 and light is an electro-magnetic phenomenon4 ,this was a most important invention in the field of physical science1 and is now accepted by the majority of scientists4 ,it is not so applicable to the needs of men at the present moment as the weaving loom2 but in the future1 it may be more so4 ,in the same year1 ,westinghouse invented an improvement on his original air-brake that made it automatic under some conditions1 and in the following year ,janney invented the automatic car-coupler4 ,both of these were brilliant inventions1 though not nearly so brilliant as ,clerk ,maxwell's4 ,they were immeasurably more important1 however1 from the standpoint of material contributions to the ,machine4 ,one result was that the inventors were immeasurably more rewarded in a material way than was that great mathematical physicist1 ,clerk ,maxwell4 ,in the same year of ,our ,lord1 #ahgc1 ,willis invented his platinotype photographic process1 in which finely divided platinum forms an image virtually permanent1 and ,edison invented his duplex telegraph4 ,this was the first of those wonderful inventions that made ,edison famous2 and it embodied possibly as brilliant an idea as he ever conceived4 ,the principle was exceedingly simple1 and consisted merely in using currents that increased in strength as the key was pressed to actuate an ordinary electro-magnet for one message1 and using currents whose direction was reversed when the key was pressed1 to actuate a polarized relay for another message4 ,by combining this scheme with one long before proposed1 of putting the receiving instruments across the arms of a ,wheatstone ,bridge1 the entire system could be duplicated1 and two messages sent at the same time in each direction4 ,this1 of course1 constituted quadruplex telegraphy4 ,in the same year1 ,gorham invented the twine-binder for harvesters1 ,bennett improved the gelatine-bromide process of ,maddox2 and ,locke and ,wood invented the self-binding reaper4 ,in #ahgd1 ,glidden and ,vaughan invented a machine for making barbed wire1 and ,sir ,william ,thomson invented his super-excellent siphon-recorder for receiving messages over the ,atlantic cable4 ,this invention combined the three elements that constitute a great invention2 brilliancy of conception1 excellence of construction and concrete product4 ,it was of immediate usefulness also1 which a great invention may not necessarily be4 ,but ,sir ,william ,thomson was a canny ,scot1 a good mechanic1 and a man of the world1 as well as a mathematical physicist of the highest order2 with the result that even on his loftiest flights1 he held tight to a string that connected him to the earth1 and that kept his flights within the regions of the practical and immediate4 ,his siphon-recorder was very much more sensitive to electric currents than any recorder ever invented before2 a quality which made feebler currents utilizable1 decreased induction and therefore increased speed4 ,coming when it did1 and coming because ,sir ,william ,thomson saw a need for it1 it was a great and important contribution to submarine telegraphy1 and therefore to the ,machine2 for the ,machine has now become very large and complicated1 and needed the best possible communication among its various parts4 ,some of these parts were far distant from each other4 ,in the following year1 #ahge1 ,brown invented his cash-carrier4 ,this was not so brilliant or important an invention as ,sir ,william ,thomson's2 but it can hardly be doubted that a hundred thousand times as many cash-carriers and their children1 cash-registers1 have been made as siphon-recorders4 ,in the same year1 ,lowe invented his illuminating water-gas2 ,wegmann his roller flour mills2 ,smith his middlings purifier for flour2 and ,pictet his ice-machine4 ,the last four inventions were of that distinctly practical kind that contribute directly to the operativeness of the ,machine1 by facilitating the conditions of living in large communities1 and make great cities possible4 ,of the four1 the invention of ,pictet was the most brilliant and scientific1 and the least directly useful4 ,in #ahgf1 ,bell made an invention that is usually conceded to be the most important of modern times1 and that was also of the highest order of brilliancy of conception1 excellence of construction and concreteness of result4 ,the invention was that of the speaking telephone4 ,the telephone is not in the class with the actual doers of things1 like the weaving machine and the gun1 but rather in the class with the telegraph and the typewriter1 in being an assistant to the doers of things3 that is1 it is an instrument rather than a machine4 ,this does not mean that a machine is more important than an instrument1 though possibly machines have done more work directly in furthering civilization than instruments have4 ,a machine does something itself2 an instrument is a means or agency or implement with which men do something4 ,as a class1 machines have probably been more directly useful than instruments2 but this does not mean1 of course1 that any machine that one may name has been more useful than any instrument4 ,a machine 7generally speaking7 does only one class of work2 the sewing-machine1 for instance1 does no work save sewing2 while such an instrument as the telephone is an aid to men in directing the work of thousands of machines4 ,it may be pointed out here that1 in the broad meaning of the word instrument1 every machine that does actual work is an instrument in the hands of men for doing that work2 but that every instrument is not necessarily a machine4 ,a machine1 by definition1 is composed of various parts that work together to a common end1 and it carries with it the ideas of movement and of power4 ,an instrument1 on the other hand1 need not be composed of more than one part2 it may of itself be incapable of moving or exerting power2 and yet1 in the hands of men and women1 it may be the means of doing the most useful work4 ,a familiar illustration among many is the needle4 ,now the telephone can hardly be called a machine3 it can of itself do nothing4 ,it is not like an engine that can do work hour after hour1 without external interposition1 supervision or assistance4 ,yet1 for the reason that the only value of a machine lies in the fact that it is an instrument whereby men can get results1 an instrument is not necessarily in a lower class than a machine4 ,the essential value of the telephone seems to lie in the fact that the ,machine has become so complicated1 and composed of so many separate parts1 that1 without the telephone1 those parts would not be adequately linked together4 ,the telephone1 like the telegraph1 acts in the ,machine of ,civilization as do the nerves in the human organism4 ,the human organism could not be an organism without the nervous system2 and the present ,machine could not exist in its present form without the telegraph and the telephone4 ,these two instruments have so greatly improved the ,machine as to raise it toward the dignity of an organism4 ,they have not made it an organism1 because they have not endowed it with life4 ,they have1 however1 raised it to the dignity of an automatic machine1 by supplying such a ready and sure means of conveying information and instructions1 that a blow to the ,machine anywhere is felt everywhere1 and assistance to the part attacked can be summoned from everywhere4 ,illustrations of this can be seen the most clearly in our large cities1 in which information concerning a fire1 or a riot1 or an accident is transmitted instantly to all parts of the city2 and fire engines1 police or ambulances are sent in response thereto4 ,illustrations covering wider fields come to mind at once2 but they are of the same character1 whether the fields comprise single states or continents or seas1 or the whole surface of the earth4 ,possibly the best single illustration is that supplied by the events of the recent ,world ,war1 in which the nerves of civilization in every land were kept on the tingle by the news continually received from the fighting fronts1 and measures were continually taken to meet each situation as it occurred4 ,australia and ,new ,zealand and ,america and ,canada and ,south ,africa assisted ,france to repel the invader from her soil4 ,the influence of the telephone on history has been so great that history would not be at all as it has been1 if the telephone had not been born4 ,has this influence been beneficent8 ,probably1 because it has tied the parts of the ,machine together1 and made it more coherent4 ,but it may be well to realize that this very fact has had the effect of permitting other additions to the ,machine2 with the result that the ,machine is perhaps no more coherent now than it was when the telephone was added to it4 ,furthermore1 we must not forget that1 although the influence of each new invention is usually to assist civilization rather than to assist its enemies1 yet we cannot assume that #ajj is exerted on that side1 for a considerable percentage is always exerted on the other side4 ,for instance1 the printing press is used to disseminate harmful teachings1 as well as beneficent teachings1 the telephone is used for bad purposes as well as good ones1 etc4 ,we must not restrict our appreciation of the influence of the telephone by ignoring the stimulation which it has given to study and experiment1 especially in the physical sciences4 ,people of the present day do not realize the amazement and excitement caused throughout the world by the sudden realization of the fact that human speech could be transmitted4 ,coming as it did so soon after the invention of the ,gramme dynamo1 it waked the minds of men with a sudden start1 and opened a dazzling avenue of anticipation of discoveries and inventions yet to come4 ,young men1 and especially young men of fine ambition1 saw ahead a clear line of useful and brilliant work2 and the colleges and technical schools were soon thronged with eager youth4 ,a new epoch--the electric epoch--was at hand4 ,the most generally noticed herald of the new epoch was not the telephone1 however1 but the electric candle invented by ,jablochkoff in #ahgf1 which soon afterward came into use in ,paris4 ,this candle consisted of two parallel sticks of carbon separated by an insulating substance1 made of some refractory material1 that fuzed as the carbons gradually burned away4 ,the two carbons were connected to an electric circuit that passed from the tip of one carbon to the tip of the other1 causing a brilliant electric arc4 ,to prevent one carbon wasting away more rapidly than the other1 an alternating current was employed4 ,this great invention is now almost forgotten1 because it was soon supplanted by the present arc-light that is better in many ways4 ,nevertheless1 to ,jablochkoff must be accorded the distinction of being the first to make electric lighting on a large scale practicable1 and to demonstrate the fact4 ,in the same year1 an invention of more than doubtful beneficence was made1 a machine for continuously making cigarettes2 but this was balanced in the same year by the inventions of the steam saw-mill and of ,portland cement4 ,in the following year came an invention fully as brilliant as the telephone1 though not so useful1 the phonograph4 ,it is usually considered as more brilliant2 certainly it was more unexpected4 ,the idea of transmitting speech was very old1 many men had worked on it1 and many were working on it at the time when ,bell accomplished it2 but the idea of recording speech was almost undreamed of4 ,up to the present moment1 it can hardly be said that the phonograph has had great influence on history2 for its main work has been in giving pleasure by the music it has rendered4 ,we can easily imagine the present ,machine1 without the phonograph1 but not without the telephone4 ,and we cannot imagine the present ,machine to exist without the gas engine1 invented the same year by ,dr4 ,otto1 that made possible the use of large units of mechanical power1 without the need of boilers or condensers or other external appliances2 for the combustion of the fuel was carried on inside the engine itself4 ,this invention has been followed by many others during the forty-five years that have since gone by1 in which oil has taken the place of gas4 ,petrol or gasolene has been the oil 7or spirit7 most used2 but engines of the ,deisel type1 employing heavy oils1 have now come into being in large numbers4 ,it is easy to underestimate the influence of the gas-engine1 or oil-engine 7usually called the internal combustion engine71 as is proved by the fact that most people do so2 despite the evidence of its importance on all sides1 in the shape of submarine vessels1 automobiles and similar vehicles4 ,its most important single effect has been to make possible the aeroplane1 and all the science and art of aviation1 and the consequent conquest of the air4 ,in the same year of #ahgg1 ,edison made his great invention1 the carbon telephone transmitter1 which increased enormously the effect of the voice in varying the resistance of a telephone circuit1 and thereby increased the loudness of telephone speech4 ,in the same year1 ,berliner invented the induction transmitter1 which consisted of a primary coil of small resistance in circuit with the transmitter and the secondary coil connected to the outside circuit4 ,these two inventions1 added to ,bell's original invention1 made the telephone of today--in its essential features4 ,in #ahgh1 ,edison produced his incandescent lamp1 in which a carbon filament1 enclosed in a bulb exhausted of air1 was heated to incandescence by an electric current4 ,the importance of this invention need hardly be even mentioned4 ,as to the originality of the conception1 there are many opinions2 for several experimenters had been working in this field1 and many brilliant results had been achieved4 ,important as this invention was1 we can imagine the ,machine to exist without it1 though not in quite so perfect and complete a form4 ,its main use is its obvious use2 though there can be no doubt that the improvement it wrought in the conditions of comfortable living1 and the attractions it offered to ambitious youths enlisted a large army in the study of the physical sciences1 gave impetus to all the mechanic arts1 and assisted in many important ways the upbuilding of the ,machine4 ,in #ahgi1 ,appleby invented the automatic grain-binder1 and ,sir ,william ,crookes made his epochal discovery of cathode rays4 ,this discovery1 like many others of a highly scientific character1 was not of immediate practical value2 consisting as it did in the fact that if the poles of the secondary circuit of a ,rhumkorff coil were connected to the two ends of a glass tube from which nearly all the air 7or other gas7 had been exhausted1 a stream of electrified particles was projected from the cathode1 or negative pole4 ,these particles were evidently projected with great violence2 for if they struck the side of the tube1 they produced a brilliant illumination there2 while if they struck a piece of metal they developed heat4 ,if the metal were sufficiently thin1 it was melted4 ,later study of these cathode rays developed the fact that the stream of charged particles could be deflected by magnetic and electric fields1 thus showing that they had actual physical mass2 and still later studies resulted in that mass being determined1 and also the amount of the electric charges on them4 ,to an individual particle the name electron was given2 and the interesting fact developed that the mass of an electron is only about one-thousandth that of an atom of hydrogen4 ,this is not very exciting news to men whose time is consumed in the engrossing occupation of earning a living2 but scientific facts have a curious habit of lurking in the background1 sometimes a long while1 and then suddenly stepping up to the footlights in the form of facts or inventions of a kind that are exceedingly important1--even from the standpoint of making a living1 or at least of enduring the conditions of living4 ,the study of electrons1 for instance led the way to the discovery of the beneficent ,x-rays1 made in #ahie by ,rntgen4 ,the first electric railways1 like the first railways of any kind1 were laid in mines2 for the superiority of electricity over steam for use in the unventilated spaces of mines was obviously greater than in the open spaces on the surface4 ,the first one was in the mines at ,zankerode in ,germany and was constructed by the famous ,siemens ,brothers4 ,the first electric surface railway was built at ,berlin in #ahgi4 ,it was about three hundred and fifty yards in length1 and laid upon wooden sleepers2 an auxiliary rail being fixed midway between the two main rails4 ,the auxiliary rail carried the electric current1 which was taken off by a brush connected to the electric motor on the car1 from which it went to the rails that acted as the return4 ,the similarity between this system and that now used in all our cities is striking1 and shows how practically and scientifically good the first electric railway was4 ,to estimate correctly the influence of the invention of the electric railway would be1 of course1 impossible1 especially on partially developed countries2 for the electric railway assisted greatly in developing them4 ,it seems possible1 however1 that the electric railway may be of not very long life1 for the reason that the internal-combustion-engine possesses the same great advantage of smokelessness that the electric motor does and makes possible the use of a much simpler system than electric railways necessitate4 ,the fact that any invention is displaced by a later one does not1 of course1 detract from the merit of the invention displaced1 in having supplied the needed stepping-stone for the other one to rise from4 ,in the same year1 ,foy invented the steam plow1 and ,lee invented his magazine rifle4 ,in the following year 7#ahhj7 ,blake invented his telephone transmitter1 an improvement of a practical character over preceding ones1 ,greener invented his hammerless gun1 and ,faure invented his electric storage battery4 ,the ,faure storage battery was a very important invention1 but not nearly so important a one as was at first supposed4 ,it was an improvement on ,plant's battery1 and consisted mainly in applying red lead and litharge directly to the positive and negative lead plates1 before sending any charging current through the liquid2 thus expediting the making of the battery very greatly4 ,the invention was hailed with extravagant rejoicings1 even ,sir ,william ,thomson being carried away from his habitual equanimity2 but serious practical difficulties soon developed that are familiar to most of us1 and that have never yet been overcome4 ,in #ahhj1 ,koch and ,eberth isolated the typhoid bacillus1 and ,sternberg the pneumonia bacillus4 ,the importance of these two discoveries is not usually appreciated by any but physicians and those who have suffered from these diseases and been cured4 ,even those who have been saved from having them1 especially those in armies who have been saved from having typhoid fever1 fail to realize their debt4 ,but the almost perfect immunity from typhoid fever enjoyed by all the enormous armies of the vast ,world ,war1 compared with the frightful distress and mortality caused by typhoid fever in previous wars1 bears eloquent witness to the influence of the great discoveries of those tireless investigators4 ,it may be pointed out here that of all the inventions and discoveries ever made1 those made in medical and surgical science1 especially in preventive measures1 have had more direct and immediate influence on history than contemporary inventions in any other field1 save possibly religion4 ,for what is history but the life-story of the human race2 and what greater influence can be had than influence upon the health of its component members8 ,the discoveries and inventions made in the field of bacteriology especially1 by gaining knowledge concerning the unseen and unheard foes that attack us from within1 have lifted civilized man up to a condition of cleanliness and purity1 in comparison with which the conditions under which our forefathers lived seem almost repulsive4 ,it is true that many of these conditions were outcomes of civilization itself1 and that for some of them medicine has merely found the antidotes4 ,yet the fact that medicine has found antidotes shows that medicine has been keeping pace with progress and has invented measures for preventing the ,machine from poisoning itself by a sort of auto-intoxication4 ,that the ,machine is in danger of disruption by outside and inside forces has been suggested frequently in this book2 so that what seems to be indicated as desirable is a series of discoveries and inventions that will prevent it4 ,but1 in attempting this1 we must not forget that each new discovery or invention adds another part1 that safety devices are sometimes so intricate as to increase the danger element rather than lessen or prevent it1 and that safety appliances themselves are apt to get out of order1 and thus lead to a false sense of security4 ,these reflections force on our attention the fallibility of the human1 the necessity for continuous study of all situations as they successively develop1 and the solemn fact that progress is not beneficial of itself2 for it may be in the wrong direction4 ,one obvious fact that we have always realized1 startles each one of us occasionally2 the fact that people do not know what is good for them4 ,the appetites and instincts of undomesticated brutes are said to be much more trustworthy as guides than those of domesticated brutes and human beings4 ,we1 by cultivating our imaginations and reasoning powers1 and the brutes by being given food and shelter that they themselves do not have to get1 seem to have lost a considerable part of the instinctive abilities with which we were originally blessed4 ,with human beings1 many objects that most of us aim for are extremely artificial1 and some of them are extremely harmful4 ,an illustration is the craving for much food and little physical labor1--a craving that is gratified almost at once by most people suddenly achieving wealth1 with consequences that are always deplorable and are frequently distressing4 ,of course this comes from excessive yielding to our appetites2 but the brutes seem to feel no temptation to excessive yielding2 an undomesticated brute seems to know when he has had enough4 ,we not only yield1 we go further and force our appetites4 ,possibly this is only an illustration of the fact that our minds have a sort of inertia1 comparable to the inertia of physical objects2 so that when we move in any direction1 we are apt to go too far4 ,that it is a tendency of human nature to go too far in any line of conduct1 when once it is entered on1 the facts of daily life continually testify4 ,what reformer in public or private life ever knew when to stop2 what money maker ever realized that he had enough money and ceased his efforts to get more8 ,a small percentage have1 but only a small percentage4 ,for this reason and others1 the human machine and the ,machine of ,civilization do not get along together as harmoniously as might be wished4 ,though many inventions1 especially the basic ones1 have been actually uncontrollable acts of self-expression1 many others have been inspired by motives largely selfish1 such as the wish to gain fame1 or power or money 7or fame and power and money72 and the result is a ,machine that contributes more to man's material well-being than to his moral1 mental or spiritual well-being1 and a consequent civilization that is necessarily artificial4 ,the net effect1 however 7unless all our standards are wrong71 has been beneficial2 for it cannot truthfully be denied that physically1 mentally1 morally and spiritually1 the civilized man is better than the savage1 and to a degree commensurate with the degree to which he is civilized4 ,probably most civilized men would agree to this proposition4 ,probably most of them would also agree that civilization brings its evil influences as well as its good influences1 that the ,machine has been found vulnerable to destructive influences in the past1 that the ultimate effect must be judged from its influences on human beings1 and that the most beneficent inventions and discoveries have been those that tend to the safety of the ,machine itself and the spiritual1 moral1 mental and physical health of the individual humans who comprise its principal parts4 ,they will therefore applaud such discoveries as those of ,eberth1 ,koch and ,sternberg of #ahhj1 and also another one of ,koch and one of ,pasteur two years later4 ,both of these benefactors then isolated deadly microbes of disease3 ,koch the bacillus of tuberculosis1 and ,pasteur that of hydrophobia4 ,in #ahha1 ,reece invented a button-hole machine and ,schmid a hand photographic camera4 ,both of these were useful inventions if not brilliant4 ,it would be interesting to know the amounts of money realized by their inventors1 compared with the amounts received by ,koch1 ,pasteur and ,sternberg4 ,in #ahhd1 by the way1 ,koch made another epoch-making and beneficent discovery1 and isolated the bacillus of cholera4 ,loeffler did the same thing1 in the same year for diphtheria1 and ,nicolaier for lockjaw2 while ,kuno produced antipyrene4 ,in reflecting on what these great men accomplished1 it is interesting to point out to ourselves that the consensus of opinion seems to be that1 for most people1 the pursuit of happiness is the main business of life4 ,whether this ought to be or not1 should not distract our attention from the fact that it really is4 ,to most of us--at least to those of us who are young--happiness seems to lie in the thing pursued1 provided the pursuit succeeds4 ,we all seek the crock of gold at the end of the rainbow1 and imagine that if we get it1 we shall get the summum bonum of everything--happiness4 ,yet all one has to do is to remember how happy he was one day when he was feeling well physically1 morally1 mentally and spiritually 7as we all have at rare intervals71 to realize that happiness is merely a condition1--and that it is a condition that depends more on the condition of his own machine than on all other things put together4 ,when one observes the action of a fine trotting horse1 the smooth and noiseless motion of a large steam-engine1 or the majestic setting of the sun2 or when he hears the harmonies of some great musical composer1 or the grander harmonies of the ocean-breakers on the beach2 or when he ponders on the inconceivably swift but ,god-like regularity of the stars and planets1 he may get a faint and brief conception of what it means for a machine to be in order4 ,our human machines are rarely in this condition3 but sometimes1 without any assignable cause whatever1 one takes a deep1 full breath1 and says1 ,it is good to live4 ,the men just spoken of1 and the great teachers of truth in all ages1 in even a higher degree1 admonish us to keep our machines in order1 and tell us how to do it4 ,how not to do it1 the world and the flesh and the devil tell us unceasingly2 beguiling us1 as the serpent beguiled ,eve1 to eat2 to gratify one and all the appetites of the senses1 regardless of the effect on the machine inside4 ,for we know those senses ought to guard our intake valves1 but do not4 ,why cannot some one invent a device that will automatically regulate our intake valves8 ,such an invention would prevent us from eating too much1 drinking too much1 and smoking too much1 and also from eating1 drinking and smoking things detrimental to the machine1 and injurious to our happiness2 and even from taking in sights and sounds and thoughts of an unhealthful kind4 ,this might be followed by another invention that would regulate our outgo valves1 and put a brake on our speech1 our ambition1 our acquisitiveness1 etc4 ,but would not these take from us our ,god-granted free will8 ,yes1 in great measure4 ,but such is the effect of the ,machine of ,civilization4 ,the primeval savage lived--7and the primeval savage still lives7 in a condition of almost perfect liberty1 as do the beasts that perish3 but in the vast ,machine of ,civilization1 we are only tiny parts4 ,each of us1 it is true1 has a little freedom of motion2 but it is like the lost motion of a loose part in a crude or ill-constructed engine2 and it seems to be growing smaller and smaller1 as the ,machine grows larger and improves4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,the ,,conquest ,,of ,,the ,,ether--,,moving ,,pictures--,,rise ,,of ,,japan ,,and ,,the ,,united ,,states ,in #ahhd1 ,mergenthaler invented the linotype machine1 in which matrixes for casting different type were moved successively into line1 by pressing the corresponding alphabetically marked keys on a keyboard1 and the whole line then moved to the casting mechanism and cast4 ,this was an invention of the most clean-cut and perfect character2 following clearly the processes of conception1 development and production1 and resulting in an improvement in the art of printing of a most important kind4 ,few inventions embody such a brilliant and original conception1 such excellent constructiveness and such a useful product4 ,so perfect was the result1 and so clear was the conception that preceded it1 that one marvels that some one had not invented it before4 ,why make matrixes for type1 then cast the type1 then space the type individually one after the other in line1 and then stereotype them as they stand in line1 when it is so much easier simply to place the matrixes in line and then stereotype the matrixes8 ,the influence of this invention is of the same kind as the influence of the invention of the art of printing from movable type1 because it is an improvement in that art4 ,all over the world this invention1 or inventions suggested by it1 are used by the newspaper and book publishers1 with the result that the quickness and accuracy of printing are much enhanced1 and the work of co-operating the parts of the ,machine thereby facilitated4 ,in the same year ,marble increased the safety of the bicycle by his invention of the rear-driven chain1 and ,schultz invented his chrome process of tanning leather4 ,both of these were important in their way2 but in #ahhe ,cowles made a more important invention1 that of reducing 7and thereby producing7 the metal aluminum from its oxide1 called alumina1 the chief constituent of clay4 ,the usefulness of aluminum lies largely in its extreme lightness1 and in the fact that when combined with certain metals1 notably copper1 it forms important alloys4 ,during the same year1 ,welsbach invented his gas mantle1 a valuable contribution to gas-lighting1 and ,bowers invented his hydraulic dredge1 in which the act of dredging a channel or harbor was accomplished by hydraulic power4 ,in the same year1 ,van ,depoele invented a practical contact appliance for use in taking off the current from the overhead wires of electric railways4 ,in #ahhf1 ,bell and ,tainter invented the graphophone1 an important improvement on the phonograph1 and ,elihu ,thompson invented electric welding4 ,this was an epochal invention1 inaugurating as it did an entirely new art1 and contributing enormously not only to the quickness of welding1 but to its accuracy and strength4 ,many improvements have been made on this invention during the past few years1 that have increased its scope and value4 ,many articles are now made in one piece that is really solid1 though composed of several parts3 for those parts are so firmly welded together that the joints cannot be seen and are as strong as any other parts4 ,in the same year1 ,matteson invented his combined harvester and thresher4 ,in the following year1 ,prescott invented his band wood saw1 and ,mc,arthur and ,forrest invented their process of extracting metals 7especially gold and silver7 from ores by the use of a solution of potassium cyanide1 and greatly cheapened the work4 ,in the same year1 ,tesla invented his system of multi-phase electric currents1 which rendered possible the economical transmission of power over long distances1 of which the first use was made in transmitting power derived from ,niagara ,falls4 ,this was another invention of the first order of merit in brilliancy and originality of conception1 excellence of constructiveness and usefulness of result4 ,its value has been only dimly appreciated by most men1 because the invention does not stand continually before our eyes1 like the telephone and electric light2 for it cannot be seen at all4 ,it is not a machine or instrument 7in the common use of those words7 but a system1 actually invisible of itself1 that governs the method of design1 construction and operation of the visible dynamos1 motors and conductors4 ,like the germ of life1 we see not it1 but only its manifestations4 ,in the same year1 ,welsbach brought out an improvement on his incandescent gas-mantle that was valuable for cases in which a brilliant illumination was desired1 that leaped almost immediately into public favor4 ,in the following year of #ahhh1 ,sprague made the first installation of street electric railways in the ,united ,states1 and the first in the world in which the conditions of operating were difficult4 ,the success of ,sprague's system was largely due to the excellence of ,sprague's electric motor1 which had the curious property of being designed on principles which the scientific men of those days declared to be wholly wrong4 ,sprague's reputation rests mainly on his electric railway2 but1 from the standpoint of the inventor1 ,sprague's invention of his electric motor was of a higher order than that of his electric railway4 ,in #ahhh1 ,harvey invented his process of making armor-plate4 ,in the same year1 ,eastman and ,walker invented the kodak camera1 in which the novelty consisted mainly of a continuous roll of sensitized film1 on which photographs could be successively made2 and ,de ,chardonnet invented his process of manufacturing artificial silk from threads that were made by forcing collodion through very small holes4 ,these were important in fact2 but in comparison with the discoveries in the realm of the actual ether made in the same year by ,hertz1 they were quite trifling4 ,these discoveries resulted from experiments with electric apparatus of the simplest and most inexpensive character1 in a space near which sparks were passing between the two terminals of a ,rhumkorff coil4 ,it had been known before that each spark accompanied and therefore represented an establishment of equilibrium between the two oppositely charged terminals1 and that each discharge was of an oscillatory character--as any readjustment of equilibrium always is4 ,by means of a mere single wire1 curved into a circle1 except that the two ends were not quite joined1 ,hertz discovered that the space was filled with electric waves that were propagated in straight lines from the source 7as light is7 and accompanied with vibrations at right angles to the direction of propagation 7also as light is72 and also that the electric rays were refracted1 reflected and polarized1 as light rays are4 ,subsequent experiments with modified apparatus measured the velocity of the propagation of electric waves1 and found that it was virtually the same as that of light4 ,to some1 this may not seem a very important discovery1 from a practical standpoint2 and doubtless it is not1 from the practical standpoint of some people1 because it does not affect the amount of their worldly possessions1 or their ease1 comfort and pleasure4 ,it was hailed with delight by scientific men1 however2 because not only did it support the electro-magnetic theory of light1 but the course of ,hertz's work had demonstrated the suspected fact that the receiver of electric waves must harmonize in its electric dimensions with the transmitter1 in order that the greatest amount of electric energy may be developed in the receiver2 and it had thus given assistance to investigations then in progress on what we now call wireless telegraphy4 ,many investigators were now in the field1 among whom was the humble author of these pages4 ,little real progress was made until1 in #ahia1 when ,branly announced his amazing discovery and utilized it in his amazing invention1 called the coherer4 ,his discovery was that1 if a tube containing metal filings be placed in the field of the spark of an electric machine1 ,leyden jar1 or ,rhumkorff coil1 it 7the filings7 will become a conductor of electricity when hit by the electric waves2 and that it will revert to its normal state as a non-conductor1 if smartly tapped3 the effect of the waves being to cause the separate particles to co-here and form a continuous metal conductor2 while the effect of the tapping was to jar the particles apart4 ,the first use of this coherer was in place of the ring that ,hertz had used2 but its value as an instrument of practical usefulness in achieving electric communication without wires was almost immediately perceived--and demonstrated4 ,the career of the wireless telegraph since ,branly's great discovery has been as rapid1 widespread and important as any other new agency has ever enjoyed1 and possibly more so4 ,that wireless telegraphy was a distinct invention may perhaps be questioned4 ,if it was1 who was the inventor8 ,it is true that an invention does not have to be associated with any one inventor in order to have the right to be characterized as an invention2 but in the case of the wireless telegraph1 it seems safe to say that1 although some of the separate steps toward its achievement were inventions1 the final step was merely the adding together of these separate steps in a way that was perfectly obvious1 and that several men accomplished almost simultaneously4 ,as soon as ,branly produced his coherer1 the problem was thereby automatically solved4 ,every experimenter realized that it was merely necessary to use ,branly's coherer1 in place of any receiver previously used1 and to tune the transmitting and receiving circuits into harmony4 ,the first man to make a practical wireless installation seems to have been ,marconi1 in #ahif4 ,as is well known1 the distances over which messages can be sent has been increasing rapidly ever since1 and so has been the number and the importance of the organizations using it1 of which the largest are the various national governments themselves4 ,the vast influence of wireless 7or radio7 telegraphy on the history of the great ,world ,war is too recent to need detailing1 but possibly it may be well to call to mind the fact that the ocean cables were virtually all under the control of the ,allies1 and that the wireless was almost the only means that ,germany had for receiving information quickly and sending instructions quickly beyond her own coast line4 ,it was used by the ,allies1 however1 almost continually in the controlling of their multitudinous naval units on the sea1 and among those units themselves2 and it made possible that prompt and harmonious action among numerous widely separated groups1 that distinguished this war from all preceding wars4 ,it would be difficult to determine whether the wireless lengthened the war by the assistance it gave to ,germany1 or shortened it by the assistance it rendered the ,allies4 ,in the early part of the war1 when ,germany was directing ships that were far away1 it helped ,germany more than it helped the ,allies2 but in the last years1 when the ,allies were fighting the submarines in the ,mediterranean and ,north ,seas1 it helped the ,allies more4 ,in the main1 it probably shortened the war considerably1 by accelerating the operations4 ,this reminds us of the fact that the general effect of invention has been to make wars more terrible but more brief2 and that the abbreviating effect is especially noticeable in inventions that increase the speed and safety of transportation and communication4 ,another effect of invention has been to make wars more widespread2 for the reason that it links some nations together and creates antagonism between other nations1 even if they are far apart4 ,larger and larger organizations are thus brought into being1 not only as nations but as allies and confederates4 ,in this way1 ,japan fought in ,asia1 in co-operation with her allies in ,france4 ,on the supposition that the ,machine is going to continue to increase in size and strength and excellence1 on the further supposition that the more highly civilized nations will continue to control the less civilized nations increasingly1 the time may not be many generations distant when all the nations of the world will be divided into a very few groups1 each dominated by one great nation2 as the ,middle ,europe nations were dominated by ,germany in the last war4 ,as all the known world was once divided into two groups headed by ,assyria and ,babylon2 at another time by ,assyria and ,persia2 at another time by ,greece and ,persia2 at another by ,rome and ,carthage1 etc41 and as at various times ,europe also has been divided into two opposing groups of nations1 so the whole known world may again be divided into two opposing groups of nations3--possibly the white and the yellow nations4 ,the clash of the fighting machines of two such vast organizations1 perfected in power and speed as they doubtless will be as the years go by and inventions succeed each other1 will surpass in grandeur anything yet dreamed of4 ,it may never occur4 ,never8 ,it may never occur2 but something approximating it will occur1 if history is to be as much like past history as history usually has been4 ,in #ahhi1 ,schneider invented his process of making nickel steel1 and thereby effected an improvement in steel that was first utilized in making armor1 and afterward in making other articles of many kinds4 ,hall invented a process of making aluminum during the same year4 ,in the following year1 ,stephens invented his electric plough1 and ,mergenthaler made an improvement on his linotype machine4 ,about the same time1 pneumatic tires were attached to bicycles2 and an invention of a most important kind1 that had lain dormant for many years1 was put to work at last4 ,the inventor had long since died4 ,does he know that his invention is now used all over the civilized world8 ,if so1 does the knowledge give him pleasure8 ,one of the most unsatisfactory parts of an inventor's experience is the difficulty he has in making other men see the value of his inventions1 combined with the fact that when the invention is finally adopted1 his part in it is often forgotten1 and sometimes intentionally ignored4 ,this applies especially to inventions of a high order of originality1 that are a little in advance of the requirements and knowledge of most men at the time1 and that are looked upon as visionary and do not come into use for a considerable while4 ,many an inventor has endured a purgatory while trying to get a hearing for his invention1 and yet been wholly forgotten when it was finally adopted4 ,to make the matter worse1 he has often been branded for life as a visionary1 and remained so branded1 even after the invention had been adopted because of which he had been branded4 ,in other cases1 manufacturers have stolen his invention and denied his claims1 knowing that he was too poor to fight against them with all of their resources4 ,in other cases1 business men and lawyers have combined to induce him to sign papers of a highly advantageous character to the business men1 but contrariwise to the inventor4 ,in all of these cases1 the matter has usually been the worse for the inventor in proportion to the high order of the invention3 for the real inventor1 like the real artist1 is usually so absorbed in his thoughts that he cares but little 7too little7 for material gain4 ,the case of the inventor who makes a business of inventing is somewhat different4 ,he usually confines his efforts to making inventions that will bring in money1 becomes an expert on nice points in patent law1 discerns chances for circumventing existing patents while utilizing their basic principles1 perceives opportunities for making the little improvements in detail that promote practicability1 and becomes the kind of inventor who owns a limousine4 ,in #ahij1 ,krag-,jorgensen invented the famous rifle of that name4 ,in the following year1 ,branly invented the coherer mentioned on page #cje1 and ,parsons invented his rotary steam turbine4 ,the steam turbine was an improvement over the reciprocating steam engine for many classes of work1 great and small4 ,the first steam engine invented by ,hero was a rotary engine1 but it was of course1 most uneconomical of steam4 ,the first steam engine that was really efficient was the reciprocating engine produced by ,watt4 ,the greatest single defect of rotary engines has always been the loss of steam in going by the rotating parts without doing any work1 a defect existing in only a small degree with the closely fitting pistons of reciprocating engines4 ,in the turbines invented by ,parsons and others about the same time1 wastage of steam was prevented by various means that need not be detailed here1 and smooth motion of the rotary engine at the same time secured4 ,the greatest benefit accrued probably to ocean steamships1 in which the absence of vibration1 and the saving in weight1 space and number of attendants required were features of great practical importance4 ,about #ahij1 ,edison invented the kinetograph and kinetoscope1 after a long series of investigations and experiments4 ,these followed the experiments made by ,dr4 ,muybridge some years before1 in which he had taken many successive pictures of horses at very short intervals1 by means of as many separate cameras1 7twelve pictures in one stride for instance71 and afterwards reproduced them in such a way as to show horses in rapid motion4 ,they came also after ,eastman's kodak1 in which pictures could be taken successively1 on a traveling film4 ,in the kinetograph1 only one object glass was used2 and the film was drawn along behind it in such a way that1 at predetermined intervals1 the film was stopped and a shutter behind the object glass or lens was moved away1 and a picture taken4 ,the moving mechanism 7at first the human hand7 continuing in motion1 the shutter was closed and the film was moved along a short distance1 so as to bring another part behind the object glass4 ,then the same operation was repeated--and so on4 ,in the kinetoscope1 the operation was reversed1 in the sense that the pictures taken were presented successively to the eye of the observer4 ,in the first form1 the observer looked at them through a peep-hole3 but in the latter forms1 the pictures have been thrown upon a screen--somewhat as from a magic lantern1 and become the movie of today4 ,here1 again1 we see an invention of the highest order in each of the three essentials--conception1 development and production4 ,no invention exists of a higher order4 ,as to their use and usefulness1 we are most familiar with them in moving pictures4 ,whether it is for the public good to produce so many shows for idly disposed men and women to spend their time in looking at1 is perhaps a possible subject for enlightening discussion4 ,but the moving picture is used for many purposes1 especially for purposes of education and research1 besides that of mere amusement1 and will unquestionably be so used1 more and more as time goes on4 ,one of its most obvious spheres of usefulness is in making photographs of movements that are very rapid1 and then analyzing and inspecting those photographs when presented very slowly1 and when stopped4 ,another is in taking photographs of successive situations that have occurred at considerable intervals of time1 and then presenting the pictures quickly1 and thus showing a connected story4 ,by dealing in this way with historical incidents1 we can get a realization of the interdependence of those incidents that we cannot get in any other way1 and see how cause has produced effects1 and effects have come from causes4 ,similarly1 the work of building any large structure can be shown by presenting rapidly a series of photographs taken at different stages2 and so can the growth of a plant or animal1 and almost any kind of progress4 ,let us impress on our minds the fact that if we read any book1 or witness any occurrence1 or listen to any argument1 or receive any instruction of any kind1 the only value comes to us from the pictures made on our mental retinas and the permanence and clearness of the records impressed4 ,thus1 any means that can impress us quickly with the most important pictures must be of the highest practical value1 both in prosecuting studies of events1 and in gathering conclusions from them4 ,in fact1 the kinetograph and the kinetoscope are simply ,edison's imitation of the operations carried on inside the skull of each of us2 for we are continually taking moving pictures of what we see and hear and read and feel2 recording them on our own moving sensitized films1 and bringing them before our mental gaze at our own volition and sometimes in spite of it4 ,in #ahij1 the author of this book patented ,a ,method of ,pointing ,guns at ,sea that has been adopted in all the great navies1 under the name ,gun ,director ,system4 ,in #ahia he patented a modification under the name ,telescopic ,sight for ,ships ,guns4 ,these two inventions are used in every navy in the world1 have increased the effectiveness of naval gunnery immeasurably1 and have1 therefore1 been important contributions to the self-protectiveness of the ,machine4 ,in #ahic1 ,acheson invented his process for making carborundum1 a compound of carbon and silicon1 made in the electric furnace1 and used for abrasive purposes2 and in the same year ,willson made carbide of calcium from carbon and quick-lime1 also in the electric furnace4 ,in #ahie1 ,linde invented his process of liquefying air1 and the first installation of great electric locomotives was effected3 this was in the ,baltimore and ,ohio tunnel4 ,in the same year1 ,rntgen made the epochal discovery of what he called by the significant name ,x-rays1 a name that still clings to them4 ,they were discovered by ,rntgen in the course of his researches with cathode rays4 ,his discovery was in effect that electric rays emanated from the part of the tube struck by the cathode rays4 ,they were not cathode rays1 though produced by them1 and had the amazing property of penetrating certain insulating substances1 such as ebonite1 paper1 etc41 while not penetrating metals1 except through short distances4 ,unlike the cathode rays1 they were not deflected by magnets2 and neither did they seem to be reflected or refracted similarly4 ,their most important property was that of acting photographically on sensitized plates1 even when in closed slides1 and wrapped carefully in black paper4 ,the greatest usefulness of the ,x-rays thus far made has been in photographing internal parts of the human body2 for the rays pass through certain parts less readily than through other parts2 through bones for instance1 less readily than through soft parts4 ,fractures or displacements of bones can therefore be readily detected4 ,so also can the formation of pus in cavities1 and the appearance of abnormal products of many kinds4 ,to this discovery we must give a rank as high as almost any other that we have noted in this book1 though we cannot tell1 of course1 how long it will hold it4 ,with mechanical and scientific inventions1 as with books and poems and inventions of other kinds1 the question of permanence of value or of usefulness cannot be decided until after many years4 ,one of the curious properties of ,x-rays is that of rendering the air through which they pass a conductor of electricity4 ,so far as the author is aware1 no invention of practical usefulness has yet been made1 based upon this property4 ,in #ahif1 ,marconi brought out the first practically successful system of wireless telegraphy1 ,finsen demonstrated the usefulness of certain rays of the spectrum for treating certain skin diseases1 and ,becquerel discovered what have since been called the ,becquerel rays4 ,in experimenting with ,x-ray photography1 he found that a sensitized plate1 though covered with black paper1 was acted on not only by ,x-rays1 but also by the metal uranium and certain of its salts2 and he also found that the mere presence of uranium made the contiguous air a conductor1 as did the ,x-or ,rntgen rays4 ,the amazement caused by the discovery of such undreamed-of properties1 especially in so commonplace a substance as uranium had been supposed to be1 can easily be imagined2 and it is plain why strenuous efforts were made at once by scientific people1 to see if other substances did not possess those properties also4 ,as a result1 it was soon found that other bodies did possess them4 ,to those bodies that seem to possess the quality of radiating activities of certain kinds1 the adjective radio-active has been applied4 ,the most important radio-active elements are uranium1 thorium and radium1 of which the last is immeasurably the most active and important4 ,radium was discovered in #ahih by ,m4 and ,madame ,curie and ,m4 ,bmont1 while experimenting with the uranium mineral pitchblende4 ,it seemed to some people at the time to challenge the theory of the conservation of energy1 and to threaten the destruction of the whole science of ,physics1 by emanating energy without loss to itself4 ,it has since been found1 of course1 that radium does give up part of its substance2 that it disintegrates in fact1 as a result of its emanations4 ,how great an influence the discovery of radium is going to exert1 it is now impossible to predict with confidence2 but it is manifest that the three successive and allied discoveries of cathode rays1 ,x-rays and radium have introduced a new and growing science into the ,machine2 and it is seemingly possible that that science may1 soon or tardily1 ascertain the nature of the atom1 and even teach us to divide it4 ,it seems that an atom of radium does actually disintegrate1 and by disintegrating give out energy4 ,the energy it gives out is so enormous in proportion to the mass which gives it out1 as to suggest to us an almost infinite source of available power1 if other substances can be made to disintegrate4 ,it is said that one gramme of radium can emit a quantity of heat of about #ajj calories per hour2 that is enough heat to raise #ajj grammes of water a #a centigrade in temperature1 by simply existing4 ,it is true that radium is the most expensive article in the world2 but that is only because of the difficulties of obtaining it at present4 ,now if radium is so potentially powerful and disintegrates so easily1 it seems possible that other substances less easily disintegrable could emit greater energy1 if 7or when7 a means is discovered for disintegrating them4 ,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 ,street4 ,we know what has happened at times when piles of explosives have been accidentally detonated4 ,but explosives are merely chemical compounds1 and1 compared to atoms of radium are relatively microscopic in the energy developed when broken up4 ,we remember the story of the commotion caused by the monk's experiment in making powder1 when the mixture exploded and hurled the pestle out of the mortar and across the room4 ,imagine a few tons of carbon atoms exploding4 ,in #ahid a war1 long presaged1 broke out between ,china and ,japan4 ,in #ahed1 when ,commodore ,perry went to ,japan1 and gave a virtual ultimatum that resulted in ,japan's opening her seaports to the commerce of the world1 ,china and ,japan were on the same plane of civilization1 though ,china was many times greater in area and population4 ,but the people of ,japan were different from those of ,china in the essential mental characteristic of imagination1--at least their rulers were4 ,for those rulers1 noting the superior power of the foreign war-ships as compared with theirs1 and reasoning from this to the conditions of the countries that produced those war-ships1 and that produced also the implements of war on board that were so much superior to the ,japanese1 made a mental picture of what would happen to ,japan some day1 when those war-ships should come to ,japan and demand submission4 ,to make such a picture did not require much imagination1 maybe2 but the fact seems to be that no other ,asiatic nation1 and no ,african nation1 made it4 ,then the ,japanese made another picture1 that required imagination of a brilliant kind2 and that was a picture of ,japan learning the arts of the foreign devil1 and then utilizing those arts to keep the foreign devil himself at bay4 ,to us1 looking back on the perfectly clear record of performance that ,japan has made since then1 that performance may seem not very difficult either to attempt or to achieve4 ,but no other nation in the history of the world has ever paralleled it1 or even approximated it4 ,to appreciate it1 one must exert all the imagination of which he is capable1 and see himself in ,japan as ,japan was in #ahed1 amid all the influences of the history and environment then prevailing1 with all their accompaniments of ignorance1 prejudice1 inertia and racial pride4 ,it is the consensus of opinion throughout the world that the performance of ,japan since #ahed has been amazing4 ,it is part of the humble effort of this book to show that1 in all great achievements1 the result should be attributed mainly to the estimate originally formed of the situation1 and the decision 7invention7 made to meet it4 ,c'est le premier pas qui coute3 the rest follow as results4 ,the war between ,china and ,japan1 and in greater degree the result of that war1 give clear and impressive demonstrations of the influence of invention on history2 because the victors were victors simply because they had taken advantage of the inventions made in ,europe and ,america4 ,there was no marked difference physically in favor of the ,japanese4 ,whether there was morally1 we have no means of judging4 ,was there a difference mentally8 ,we have an excellent means of judging this1--the fact that the ,japanese had made a correct estimate of the situation and come to a correct decision1 while the ,chinese had not4 ,in the war that occurred ten years later1 between ,japan and ,russia1 the influence of invention was even more clear and striking1 for the reason that ,japan was a virtually semi-barbarous country in #ahed1 while ,russia was one of the five great powers of civilization and ,christendom2 and yet in exactly fifty years1 ,japan demonstrated her equality with ,russia in the decisive court of war on land1 and beat her ignominiously in the equally decisive court of war on sea4 ,why8 ,because during that fifty years ,japan had availed herself of the aid of invention more than ,russia had done2 with the result that when they went before the supreme tribunal1 ,japan had better methods1 better equipment1 better plans1 better soldiers1 better ships1 better tout ensemble4 ,the most important single item was the naval telescope sight invented by the author4 ,that was the cause of the immeasurably superior gunnery of the ,japanese at the decisive naval battle of ,tsushima4 ,concerning ,japan's war with ,china in #ahid1 the same truths may be uttered1 though not with quite so much emphasis2 for the results had not been so startling4 ,both wars demonstrate the same principles1 though in unequal degrees of convincingness4 ,both wars show that the influence of invention has been to build up a ,machine which is powerful not only for peace but for war2 to assist those nations the most that avail themselves of it with the greatest skill and energy1 and therefore to spur ambitious and far-seeing people to the study of whatever knowledge the world affords4 ,the study most clearly indicated is that of the resources of physics and chemistry1 and the experiences recorded in history4 ,in #ahig1 ,henry ,a4 ,wise ,wood invented the autoplate1 a machine for making printing plates previously made by hand1 which multiplied fourfold the reproduction of the type page in printing plates4 ,this invention facilitated and cheapened the cost of printing1 and was therefore a valuable addition to the ,machine4 ,in #ahih a war1 giving us lessons similar to those of the ,japanese wars1 broke out between the ,united ,states and ,spain4 ,the disproportion of material resources was great1 and was in favor of the ,united ,states4 ,yet in the early part of the sixteenth century1 ,spain had been esteemed by many to be the greatest of all the powers1 while the territory later held by the ,united ,states was the wild domain of savages4 ,why had ,spain fallen so far below a country so new1 living three thousand miles away from the civilization of ,europe8 ,because she had lost her vision2 because she had become infected with the disease of sordidness which quickly-gotten wealth1 especially ill-gotten wealth1 has often brought to nations2 because she had ceased to encourage such bright visions as she had encouraged in the days of ,columbus and ,magellan1 and settled down in the torpor of unimaginativeness4 ,the ,united ,states1 on the other hand1 had been seeing such visions and following them to learn what lay beyond2 and had been embodying all that could be embodied in practical projects and machines and methods and instrumentalities of all kinds4 ,the ,united ,states had been taking all possible advantage of the potentialities of invention1 but ,spain had not4 ,an important result of this war was the proof1 and its utilization on a large scale in ,cuba and other ,spanish-,american countries1 that the mosquito is a carrier of the infections of yellow fever and many other diseases4 ,hardly had this war finished1 when a war broke out in #ahii between ,great ,britain and the ,boer ,republic in ,south ,africa4 ,it is an evidence of the important influence of invention that it was possible for ,great ,britain to wage effective war so far away1 and finally to triumph4 ,she triumphed mainly because of the superior power of her military machine2 but she had been able to construct and to improve it continually by her persistent utilization of the possibilities of invention4 ,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 intervening1 and for handling them on a foreign soil2 under conditions very novel1 and against a wary and yet skilfull and aggressive foe4 ,this war had not closed when the ,boxer rebellion broke out in ,china1 and a lesson even more clearly marked was given to the world4 ,for the ,chinese ,government was perhaps the oldest in the world and the ,chinese nation the most numerous4 ,the revolt grew out of a series of aggressions by certain ,european powers1 especially ,great ,britain1 ,germany1 ,france and ,russia1 that consisted in virtually appropriating under various pretexts1 certain important positions and valuable pieces of territory in ,china4 ,because of the fact that ,china had lost her vision1 and had not even been stimulated to realizing facts by the example of ,japan1 ,china was at this time an incoherent aggregation of separate states and organizations2 though she was supposed to be a coherent nation1 under the emperor in ,pekin4 ,because of a lack of such a nervous system as was given to each civilized nation by its railways1 mails1 newspapers1 telegraphs and telephones1 ,china was a soft and almost amorphous mass2 with no definite purpose and no strength1 either external or internal4 ,china was not a machine in any proper sense of the word1 and was therefore incapable of any action of an effective kind4 ,the result was that1 although the cause of the ,boxers was not only just but laudable1 the whole movement resulted in a series of pitiful atrocities committed by the ,boxers in ,pekin1 followed by a forced entry into that ancient capital by a few thousand troops from the principal civilized nations1 and a quick and complete suppression of the entire revolt4 ,there1 in ,pekin1 in the closing days of the year #aijj1 could be seen1 in two contrasting groups1 peoples representing the highly organized and effective ,machine of ,civilization on one side and its crude and ineffective predecessor on the other side4 ,what was the cause of the enormous difference between the groups8 ,in physical strength and size and courage1 little difference if any was observable2--yet one went down before the other1 like tenpins before a bowling ball4 ,some may say that the difference was due to the difference in race4 ,yet the ,japanese were of the same race as the ,chinese1 and the ,japanese troops were as markedly superior to the ,chinese as were the troops of any other nation3 in fact1 it was the consensus of opinion that the ,japanese troops were superior to all the others1 except the ,german4 ,some may say it was because of the difference in religions4 ,yet the ,japanese were of virtually the same religion as the ,chinese4 ,of course1 the paramount difference was in the degree of civilization4 ,what was this difference in civilization due to8 ,clearly1 it was due to numberless causes2 but there seem to be two causes more important than the others3 a difference in attitude toward the possibilities of invention1 and a difference in what has been called the fighting spirit4 ,but the fighting spirit and a receptive attitude toward invention are usually found together1 though the fighting spirit may sometimes lie dormant in inventive and enterprising people2 may lie dormant1 even for considerable periods1 when conditions are peaceful1 and prosperity prevails4 ,but ,achilles--7so the legend runs7--dwelt at one time in hiding1 dressed in woman's garb1 quiet and unsuspected4 ,yet when suddenly the bugle rang1 he grasped the sword and shield4 ,so1 in #aiad1 and for some years before1 ,great ,britain1 the ,united ,states and ,france slumbered under the narcotic spell of pacifism2 yet when suddenly the ,german ,war ,machine advanced upon them1 each nation and all three nations together rose in quick and yet majestic armed reply1 and proved their fighting spirit was not dead1 although it had been sleeping4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,the ,,fruition ,,of ,,invention ,the twentieth century was the fruition of all that invention had achieved during the ages of the past4 ,when it opened1 the world was a world far different from what it had been1 even in times not long gone by4 ,it was far different from the world of #ahej1 or even #ahge2 for many inventions had been made and utilized during the passing years4 ,the last quarter of the nineteenth century1 the interval between #ahge and #aijj1 has been called the industrial age1 because of the great advances made in all industrial appliances1 and the consequent advance made in the size and wealth and power of industrial organizations of all kinds4 ,in especial1 the organizations dealing with systems of transportation and communication1 and with manufacturing the many appliances needed by them had expanded greatly4 ,other organizations had expanded also2 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 effort1 to a degree impossible before4 ,cities grew in area and population2 the buildings in size and especially in height2 railroads increased in number1 length of route and speed of travel2 locomotives and cars grew commensurately2 colleges1 hospitals1 churches1 clubs1 scientific bodies1 benevolent societies--all seemed to take a start about #ahge and to grow at increasing speed1 as year succeeded year4 ,but the greatest single advance was made in ocean transportation2 for the sea1 by the year #aijj1 had become a plane across which steamers moved with a speed and a certainty and a safety1 rivaling that of railway trains on land4 ,the factors most immediately and importantly to be credited with all these advances were the improvements in the steam engine1 the electric telegraph1 and the manufacture of steel2 also the invention of the dynamo-electric machine1 the electric light and the telephone4 ,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 it1 advanced rapidly in prosperity and wealth1 both actually and also relatively1 as compared with nations that did not4 ,in the year #aijj1 the great nations of the world were ,great ,britain1 ,france1 ,germany1 the ,united ,states and ,japan4 ,of these ,japan had advanced the most in civilization during the preceding half century1 then the ,united ,states1 then ,germany1 then ,great ,britain1 and then ,france4 ,the nation that had increased the most in territorial extent was ,great ,britain4 ,in #aijj1 the ,british ,empire1 including ,india1 covered about one-fourth of the whole surface of the earth4 ,it comprised1 besides ,great ,britain and ,ireland1 five self-governing colonies1 the ,dominion of ,canada1 the ,commonwealth of ,australia1 the ,union of ,south ,africa1 ,new ,foundland and ,new ,zealand1 in addition to the #a1hjj1jjj square miles of ,british ,india and her three hundred million people4 ,france had expanded in both ,africa and ,asia2 that is1 she had conquered territory in those partially civilized continents4 ,germany had done similarly2 and ,russia had subjugated the nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes of ,central ,asia4 ,the ,united ,states had taken only a little territory1 that included in the ,philippines and ,porto ,rico2 for she had expanded her constructive energy and skill in developing the vast and fertile area within her own boundaries4 ,japan had expanded only slightly in actual territory2 the exercise of her constructive talents being urgently required at home4 ,it may be declared that invention should not be credited with any of this expansion1 for the reasons that to increase one's possessions is an instinct of human nature1 and that the colonization of savage and barbarous lands has been a favorite activity with great nations always4 ,true3 but the inventions enumerated in this book1 and the agencies which they supplied for going quickly1 surely and safely to places far away2 of taking to those places certain tools of conquest1 such as guns and powder2 and of supplying afterward to the conquered people finer conveniences of living1 juster laws and better government of every kind1 have been the effective means to an end that could not have been attained without them4 ,it may be objected that the principal factors in all of these achievements have been omitted1 the commercial enterprise of the merchants1 the farseeing wisdom of the statesmen1 the valor and skill of the strategists1 and 7back of all7 the courage and enterprise of the original explorers4 ,that these have been omitted1 is true2 for the reason that this discussion is intended to point out only what invention has done4 ,it is obvious that the main incentive of colonization has been commercial gain1 and that the initiators of colonization schemes have usually been merchants4 ,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 effective2 and it is equally obvious that strategists and explorers did work without which no expansion whatever would have been possible4 ,nevertheless1 it must be clear that the essential difference between the conquerors and the conquered1 by reason of which the uncivilized were conquered by the civilized1 lay in the aids which civilization had supplied to the civilized4 ,colonization and conquest have been going on ever since the beginning of recorded history and before2 but from the days of ,thutmose ,,iii in ancient ,egypt until now1 the conqueror and the colonizer have in almost every case been more civilized than were their victims4 ,it is true also that savages have sometimes overrun civilized countries1 and even conquered them1 for ,alaric captured even ,rome3 but up to the present time1 the fruits of such conquests have not been permanent1 whereas the fruits of colonization have been4 ,in #aijj1 then1 the ,machine of ,civilization was in operation in all parts of the world2 in the dark continent of ,africa1 the deserts of ,asia1 the wild regions of ,australia1 and even on the ocean4 ,in fact1 it was on the ocean that the ,machine was operating with the most efficiency and effectiveness2 for nowhere else are the power and the harmony of machinery of all kinds1 inert and human1 seen in such perfection as in great steamships on the sea4 ,we seem safe in concluding1 therefore1 that while invention was only one of many factors in bringing about the world-wide conditions that prevailed in #aijj1 invention was the initiating factor4 ,it was invention that suggested to the explorer that he explore2 to the merchant that he launch his enterprise2 to the statesman that he encourage the merchant and assist him with wise laws2 to the strategist that he make such and such plans1 to meet the emergencies that arose4 ,finally1 it was invention that made possible the actual transportation of explorers and merchants and troops to designated spots1 and made successful the operations which ensued there4 ,but the ,machine still continued growing4 ,in #aijj ,hewitt invented his beautiful mercury-vapor electric light1 and in #aija ,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 started4 ,this feat began that great succession of feats with dirigible balloons with which we are so familiar now1 and which promise to be succeeded by a condition of world-wide transportation through the air4 ,in #aijj1 the author of this book patented the method of controlling the movements of vessels1 which consists in using radio telegraphy4 ,this invention has recently been brought to the stage of practicality by the ,united ,states ,navy4 ,it was utilized in ,july1 #aiba1 for steering the ,iowa when bombed by airplanes4 ,in #aijc came the first successful flight by aeroplane1 which was made by the brothers ,orville and ,wilbur ,wright at ,kitty ,hawk1 ,north ,carolina4 ,this was an epochal adventure2 it inaugurated an age which is already called the ,aerial ,age1 and which will bring about changes so vast that our imagination cannot picture them4 ,an interesting and instructive fact connected with this flight1 and with the aeroplane in general1 is that the aeroplane was not practicable and could not be made practicable before the internal-combustion engine had been invented and developed2 because all preceding engines had been too heavy4 ,this illustrates the fact occasionally adverted to in this book1 that one of the most important factors in the influence of invention is that each new invention facilitates later inventions4 ,the influence of invention is cumulative4 ,in #aije1 ,elmer ,sperry invented his gyroscopic compass which is unaffected by terrestrial magnetism and points to the true north4 ,in #aijg1 he invented his gyroscopic stabilizer which reduces greatly the rolling of ships1 aeroplanes1 etc4 ,meanwhile1 the endeavor to accomplish photography in color had been receiving persistent attention from many scientific experimenters1 but without much practical success4 ,the achievements of ,becquerel1 ,lippman1 ,joly1 ,lumire1 ,finlay and others have doubtless laid the initial stepping stones2 for color-photography by their efforts has been made an accomplished fact4 ,as yet1 however1 the art is still in its infancy1 and has not1 therefore1 reached the stage of maturity that enables us to estimate what importance it will eventually assume4 ,in #aijh ,goldschmidt invented the thermit process of welding2 thermit being a mixture of aluminum with some metallic oxide such as oxide of iron4 ,when this mixture is ignited1 the oxygen leaves the iron and unites with the aluminum1 causing an enormous rise of temperature1 and the consequent formation of molten iron4 ,this molten mass being poured around the ends of two pieces of iron1 welds them together at once4 ,in the following year1 ,hiram ,maxim invented his silencer for fire arms1 by means of which the noise resulting from firing a gun is greatly lessened4 ,how valuable a contribution this will be to the ,machine1 it is impossible at the moment to predict with confidence4 ,in #aiaj1 ,henry ,a4 ,wise ,wood invented his printing press that more than doubled the speed of printing1 produced a thousand newspapers of the largest size per minute1 and directly enhanced the solidarity of the ,machine4 ,in #aiaa ,glenn ,curtiss produced his epochal flying-boat1 ,just and ,hanaman invented the tungsten electric light1 and ,drager his pulmotor1 for reviving persons who have been asphyxiated or partially drowned1 by forcing oxygen into their lungs4 ,the pulmotor has come into use to a surprising degree1 and has already been established as a part of the ,machine with a recognized value4 ,it belongs in the class of remedial agents1 about which nobody questions the beneficence1 and for which everyone recognizes the debt of gratitude owed by mankind to the inventors4 ,in #aiab1 the author of this book invented the torpedoplane1 a simple combination of the automobile-torpedo with the aeroplane1 so designed that an aeroplane can carry a torpedo to a predetermined point near an enemy's ship and then drop it1 while simultaneously operating the torpedo's starting mechanism3 so that the torpedo will fall into the water1 and then continue under its own power toward its victim4 ,as the torpedoplane combines the most powerful weapon with the swiftest means of transportation1 many ,navy officers think it an invention of the first rank of importance1 that threatens to wipe all surface fighting vessels off the seas4 ,during the ,world ,war1 it played only a subordinate part1 though it was used effectively by the ,british and the ,germans4 ,our ,navy did not use it at all1 as ,secretary ,daniels rejected it4 ,the ,british ,navy has already adopted it as a major instrument of war1 and constructed two especially designed fast vessels1 each of which carries twenty torpedoplanes4 ,it seems obvious that such a ship1 if sufficiently fast to keep out of the range of a battleship's guns1 could sink her without much trouble4 ,in the same year ,flexner discovered his antitoxin for cerebro-spinal meningitis1 and ,edison invented the kinetophone1 a combination of the phonograph and the kinetoscope4 ,as yet1 this has not been made to work with such complete success as to warrant its introduction into use4 ,the probabilities seem to be that someone will eventually supply the link that is evidently necessary1 and make the voice and the picture on the screen cooperate in unison as they should4 ,two years later1 ,flexner isolated the bacillus of infantile paralysis and ,plotz that of typhus fever4 ,the ,world ,war that broke out in ,august1 #aiad1 was marked with far greater utilization of new inventions than had marked any war before1 and foreshadowed even greater utilization of new inventions in the next war4 ,the first evidence of any new appliance was a rain of heavy projectiles on the tops of the ,belgian forts2 the forts having been designed to resist projectiles on their sides4 ,the projectiles1 it was discovered later1 came from mortars of a kind the existence of which had not been suspected4 ,soon after1 the ,german submarines showed qualities of endurance and radius of action that bespoke new appliances2 and then came attacks on the ,allied troops with poison-gas that almost were successful4 ,the ,allies replied with new inventions1 especially in wireless telegraphy and telephony1 mines1 depth-bombs and listening devices2 the latter being employed under water to detect the movements of submarines4 ,many other inventions were almost on the point of practicality when the ,armistice was signed1 but were not quite ready2 showing what had often been shown before1 that inventions for use in war1 like all other preparations for war1 should be complete ready for use1 before the war begins4 ,as soon as the war broke out in ,europe1 the present author began to urge that the ,united ,states develop naval and military aeronautics to the utmost2 in order that1 when we should finally enter into the war1 we should have available a large force of bombing aeroplanes and torpedoplanes4 ,when we finally entered into the war1 in ,april1 #aiag1 he urged continually that we develop a great aeronautical force and send it to ,europe to prevent the exit of ,german submarines from their bases1 to destroy those bases and to sink the ships of the ,german fleet4 ,these suggestions were rejected by ,secretary ,daniels as impracticable2 but subsequent developments have proved that they were thoroughly practicable2 in fact1 an expedition was organized in ,england to carry them out1 when the ,armistice was signed4 ,it is interesting to consider what would have been the effect on the war 7and1 therefore1 on all subsequent history7 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 #aiag4 ,this we easily could have done1 if we had started to get them ready1 when the suggestion was first made2 or even at a considerable time thereafter4 ,certainly1 the war would have been greatly shortened1 and much suffering averted4 ,the inventions and discoveries made since the ,great ,war began1 though some are evidently important1 are so recent that we cannot state with any confidence what their effect will be2 and for this reason the author craves permission to close his brief story at this point4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a noteworthy fact observable in the history of invention is that it has been confined almost wholly to ,egypt1 ,assyria1 ,babylon1 ,china1 ,persia1 ,greece1 ,italy1 ,germany1 ,france1 ,great ,britain1 and the ,united ,states1 and to a few men in those countries4 ,now it is in those countries that the highest degree of civilization has been developed1 and it is from them that other nations have drawn theirs4 ,the almost total absence of invention in women is more noteworthy still2 for ,mrs4 ,eddy and ,madame ,curie seem to be the only women who have contributed really original and important work4 ,another noteworthy fact is that the idea-germs from which all inventions have been developed have been very few and very tiny4 ,but what a numerous and important progeny has been brought forth2 and how wholly impossible civilization would be now1 had it not been for a few basic inventions and certain improvements made upon them6 ,we can realize this1 if we try to imagine the effect of removing a single one of the basic inventions 7and even of certain derived inventions7 from the ,machine of ,civilization4 ,try to imagine what would happen if the invented art of--say writing--for instance were suddenly lost4 ,would not the whole civilized world be thrown into chaos as soon as the fact were realized8 ,a like disorder would be occasioned1 though possibly not so quickly1 if men should suddenly forget how to print1 or even how to use the telegraph1 telephone or the comparatively unimportant typewriter4 ,try to imagine what would happen in even one city1--say ,new ,york--if the typewriter were suddenly to be withdrawn6 ,would not all the business of ,new ,york be paralyzed in a single day8 ,or fancy that all the machines for making and utilizing electricity for supplying light and power should suddenly become inoperative4 ,would there not be a panic within twenty-four hours or less8 ,fancy that all the elevators should have to stop4 ,imagine what would happen if the steam engine should suddenly cease to operate1 and all the steamships and railroad trains should stop1 and the countless wheels of industry that are turned directly or indirectly by steam should cease to turn4 ,imagine that gunpowder should cease to function1 and that savages could meet modern armies on equal terms4 ,some one may declare that this line of argument does not prove as much as it seems to prove regarding the influence of invention1 for the reason that it includes a sudden change1 and that every sudden change produces results which are caused merely by the suddenness of the change4 ,so let us grant this1 and then imagine that the changes suggested would not take place suddenly1 but very slowly4 ,imagine1 for instance1 that we should discover that the various inventions noted in this book were gradually to cease to operate1 but that they would not cease altogether for twenty years1 or even forty4 ,is it not certain that the human race would revert to savagery1 after those inventions had ceased to operate8 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,the ,,machine ,,of ,,civilization1 ,,and ,,the ,,dangerous ,,ignorance ,,concerning ,,it1 ,,shown ,,by ,,statesmen ,the originating work of inventors of all kinds1 and the assistance rendered by countless wise and good men and women1 have built up a ,machine of ,civilization that is surpassingly wonderful and fine4 ,to keep the great ,machine in order and to handle it1 large numbers of men have been educated in specialties pertaining to its various parts4 ,the first men were probably the warriors1 who defended whatever little ,machines the various tribes had built up1 in their little villages and towns4 ,next1 probably1 came the kings or rulers who commanded the warriors2 and then1 the priests who inculcated in the people the various virtues1 such as loyalty1 courage1 honesty1 etc41 that tended toward the discipline of the individual and the consequent solidarity of the tribe4 ,probably agriculturists came next1 who tilled the soil2 and then came the inventors1 who assisted the warriors and the agriculturalists by devising implements to help them do their work4 ,it seems probable that the artisans came next2 and that it was by the co-operative working of them with the inventors1 that the conceptions of the inventors were embodied in implements of practical usefulness and value4 ,as time went on1 and implements were produced that consisted of two or more parts1 the activities of the artisans were enlarged1 so as to take care of those implements and keep them in adjustment4 ,the bow and arrow1 for instance1 would not work well1 unless the cord were maintained at the correct degree of tension1 the feathers on the arrows were kept straight1 the ends of the cords properly secured to the bow1 etc4 ,similarly1 the mechanisms made for spinning and weaving and fabricating pottery had to be kept in proper condition and adjustment2 and if we could realize the small amount of mechanical knowledge extant in primeval days1 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 now1 with the most complicated printing-press4 ,furthermore1 it was not only for keeping mechanisms in good condition that artisans were needed3 a higher degree of skill was needed for operating them4 ,we are forced to the conclusion that1 as soon as mechanisms were produced1 the need of artisans trained to operate them was felt4 ,not only this3 the fact that the mechanisms were operated1 the facts that flax was spun and textures were woven1 and pottery was fashioned and baked1 and that bows and arrows were used in battle1 prove that operators were actually trained to skill in the various arts4 ,this means that1 as soon as the ,machine of ,civilization was begun1 operators skilled in the kinds of work which that ,machine required were trained in their various parts1 and did their appointed work4 ,it was not only machines of brass and iron and wood1 moreover1 that required skilled operators3 the individual human machines were continually getting out of order1 and men were trained in whatever knowledge the world contained1 to keep them in good order4 ,hence the physician came into being4 ,the merchant must have been developed shortly after the agriculturist and the artisan1 to act as the agent for placing the products of the soil and the products of the mechanisms in the possession of the consumers4 ,as a tribe or nation increased in size1 laws had to be formed to regulate the mode of living of its members1 decide disputes1 punish offences1 and regulate conduct in general4 ,hence the lawyer was gradually developed4 ,it seems probable1 therefore1 that even in prehistoric times1 warriors1 rulers1 priests1 physicians1 agriculturists1 inventors1 artisans1 merchants1 and lawyers were at work1 and that the activities of men were divided mainly among those classes4 ,the activities of men are similarly divided now4 ,in fact1 it is by these separate activities that the separate parts of the ,machine are handled4 ,that these separate parts are handled well1 the progress made in those parts convincingly testifies4 ,despite this fact1 however1 no book on invention would be complete which did not point out that the ,machine1 as a whole1 is not being handled well4 ,the ,machine in each country is1 of course1 handled by the ruler and his assistants4 ,originally the ruler handled it alone2 but1 as it increased in complexity and size1 the task became too great for one man1 and advisers and ministers were appointed to assist him4 ,men fulfilling such tasks and allied tasks we now call statesmen4 ,now it is to the hands of the statesmen of each country that the actual management of the ,machine of ,civilization is committed4 ,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 parts1 yet it is not from the wise and learned class that the great officials of governments are selected6 ,the truth of this statement cannot reasonably be denied4 ,that the whole safety of the ,machine of ,civilization is in the hands of men untrained in statesmanship is incontrovertible4 ,in fact1 the whole status of statesmanship is disconcertingly vague2 for in all the grand progress of mankind1 no science of statesmanship seems to have developed1 or any system of training to practice it4 ,there seem to be no fixed principles of statesmanship1 no literature except of an historical kind1 and little activity save of an opportunistic sort4 ,no special education seems to be thought necessary in a statesman1 or any record of achievement2 for in all countries1 irrespective of their form of government1 men are placed in positions carrying the utmost of human power for good and for evil1 with little previous experience or training1 and without having to pass any examinations of any kind6 ,this fact demands attention4 ,of what avail is it to train men to handle the separate parts of the ,machine1 if the ,machine as a whole is to be handled by untrained men8 ,of what avail is it to train engineers1 warriors1 priests1 physicians1 lawyers and merchants to handle their several parts1 if the ,machine as a whole is to be handled by statesmen who have not been trained to handle it8 ,it must be obvious that no men can handle the ,machine as a whole1 unless they comprehend the ,machine as a whole1 and also understand all its parts enough to realize their relation to the whole4 ,no man can well handle any machine1 be it large1 or be it small1 without such knowledge4 ,no man can be a good captain of a battleship1 for instance1 until he has spent many years mastering the necessary knowledge4 ,ignorance of the parts and the whole of a battleship is not permitted in a captain of a battleship4 ,why is ignorance of the parts and the whole of their respective responsibilities permitted in officials occupying higher places in the governments8 ,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 unfortunate2 that almost none of these few men are selected to fill the positions of statesmen is dangerous to the last degree4 ,for the ,machine has grown to be extremely complicated2 and it has the quality1 which all machines have in common1 that an injury to any part affects the whole4 ,this quality is highly valuable1 in fact it is essential2 but it carries with it a menace to the entire machine1 if it is operated by unskilled men4 ,the ,machine of ,civilization came very near to being smashed in the ,world ,war2 because the statesmen of ,france and ,great ,britain were so inefficient in the most important part of their work 7that of guarding the ,machine as a whole7 that they permitted ,germany to catch them unprepared4 ,the longer this condition continues to prevail1 the greater the danger to the ,machine of ,civilization will become4 ,the resources of invention are infinite4 ,the resources of invention are almost untouched4 ,every new discovery or invention prepares the road for a multitude of others4 ,these inventions and discoveries improve and enlarge the ,machine2 but they complicate it more and more1 and demand greater knowledge in statesmen2 just as increase in complexity of ships demands greater knowledge in captains4 ,it can be mathematically proved by the ,theory of ,probabilities that1 if there be any chance that a certain accident may occur1 it will surely occur some day if the predisposing causes are suffered to continue2 and that therefore1 any machine committed to unskilful handling will be wrecked some day1 if the unskilful handling is suffered to continue4 ,this establishes the probability that our ,machine of ,civilization will be wrecked some day1 unless statesmen be trained to handle it4 ,an invention seems to be needed that will insure adequate knowledge in high officials in governments4 ,but such an invention is not really needed1 because it is merely necessary to utilize an invention made and used in ,greece many centuries ago4 ,this invention consisted in conceiving1 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 office1 by passing a rigid examination4 ,such a system may be deemed impracticable in modern representative governments4 ,why8 ,it is followed in all civilized armies and navies4 ,if it be really impracticable1 then it is impracticable to assure that wise and able men shall manage the complex ,machine of ,civilization4 ,this means1 if history has any lessons for us1 that sooner or later1 it will again go down in ruin2--as it has gone down at different periods of the past1 in ,egypt and ,assyria and ,babylon and ,rome4 ,that influences are already at work which impair the functioning of the ,machine in the present and threaten its continuance in the future1 cannot reasonably be denied4 ,of these1 the two most powerful may be classed under the general heading bolshevistic and pacifistic4 ,at the bottom of the bolshevistic movement is1 of course1 the thirst for wealth and power2 the thirst for opportunities for handling and using the ,machine and its various parts1 by men who have done no work in designing1 or building1 or caring for it4 ,at the bottom of the pacifistic movement is effeminacy3 a desire for mere ease and luxury and softness1 a shirking of responsibility and discipline and sacrifice4 ,these two influences1 unlike though they are1 combine to threaten the ,machine2 the bolshevistic by assault1 the pacifistic by insuring weakness of resistance to assault4 ,of these1 the pacifistic is the more dangerous1 because the more insidious2 for the same reason that a disease hidden inside is more dangerous than an attack made openly outside4 ,the most potent cause of pacifism is the effeminacy caused by the combination of prosperity and long-continued peace1 with its resulting division of a population into a vulgarly ostentatious rich minority and a more or less envious poor majority4 ,when a division like this has come to pass1 hostile conflict has usually ensued4 ,such a conflict produced the ,french ,revolution1 and almost wrecked the ,machine in ,france4 ,such a conflict is now in progress in ,russia1 and threatens some parts of ,europe4 ,unfortunately1 the progress of invention1 by enlarging the scope and speed of communication and facilitating the acquiring of superficial knowledge1 has put into the hands of men possessing merely the natural gift of eloquence the power to influence large numbers of people1 without possessing knowledge or skill in statesmanship4 ,it has facilitated demagoguery3--and herein lies the root of the danger to the ,machine2 for without the demagogue1 the bolshevist and the pacifist would be unable to get their civilization-destroying doctrines presented attractively to the people4 ,fortunately1 the ,great ,war1 though it caused tremendous suffering1 broke up many visionary notions that were crystallizing into beliefs1 and brought the world face to face again with realities4 ,and although the violent disturbance of society's always unstable equilibrium is still evident in the world-wide unrest among the poorer classes1 yet the unrest seems gradually to be dying down1 with the realization that better conditions of living will be theirs in future4 ,and as every nation that is not wholly degenerate1 possesses the power within itself to save itself1 and as the great nations of the earth are very far indeed from being degenerate1 we are warranted in assuming that each nation will take the necessary steps1 not only to guard the ,machine of ,civilization1 but to increase its power and excellence4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,the ,,future ,the fact that invention has not only been increasing during the past one hundred years1 but that its speed of increase has been increasing and is still increasing1 is well recognized4 ,there seems to be a constant force behind invention that imparts to it an acceleration1 comparable to that of gravity in accelerating the descent of a falling stone4 ,such a phenomenon would be thoroughly conformable to modern theories2 and that there is a force1 impelling people to invent1 must be a fact2 for otherwise1 they would not invent4 ,if that force be constant1 the acceleration imparted to invention will be constant4 ,if the force be variable1 the acceleration imparted to invention will be variable4 ,in other words1 the future speed of invention1 like that of every moving body1 must be governed by the force behind it and the resistances opposed4 ,at the present moment1 the resistance to invention is being gradually lessened because the benefits coming from invention are being realized4 ,simultaneously1 the facilities for inventing are being increased4 ,these facilities are mainly in instruments of measurements and research4 ,so many of these are there now1 that it would only complicate matters to enumerate them and describe their spheres4 ,two of the most important are the spectroscope and the photographic camera4 ,by means of the spectroscope1 the astronomer can ascertain the chemical elements of far distant stars1 the temperature and pressure under which they exist1 the stage of progress of the star1 and its speed and direction of movement1 whether toward us or away4 ,by means of the photographic camera1 not only can records be made of stars so far away and faint that light-waves from them cannot be noted by the eye1 even with the assistance of the most powerful telescope1--but a virtually unlimited number of permanent records can be made4 ,all fields of research now feel the assistance imparted by new instruments and methods4 ,even the chemist realizes the aid of instruments invented by the physicist2 while every physicist welcomes the aid that comes to him from chemists4 ,the chemists and the physicist are now working together in harmony and with enthusiasm1 engaged in a friendly rivalry as to which shall help the other most4 ,and1 as discovery succeeds discovery1 and invention succeeds invention1 they find themselves--although the domain of each is widening--not drifting farther apart1 but drawing closer together4 ,for it seems to be coming more and more assured that the ,laws of ,nature are simpler than we thought1 that chemistry and physics are more alike than we supposed4 ,many startling generalizations have been suggested1 with much reason2 such as1 that matter and energy are one1 that space and time are one1 and that even the mind of man may be subjected to physical methods and analysis4 ,in fact1 some of the greatest advances made during the past twenty-five years have been in psychology1 and achieved largely by the use of physical apparatus4 ,many subjects1 formerly included with alchemy and astrology in the class of occult if not deceitful arts1 are now being developed apparently toward more or less exact sciences2 as alchemy was developed into chemistry1 and astrology into astronomy4 ,efforts are even being made to communicate with distant planets and with the spirits of the dead4 ,that much is being attempted that may not be realized is true4 ,but if we realize that the universe is now supposed to be many millions of years old1 it seems only yesterday that the phenomena of electrical and magnetic attraction and repulsion were confusing the minds of even the wisest3 and now electricity and magnetism are harnessed together1 and working together in perfect harmony and marvelous effectiveness1 for the good of man4 ,that the future of invention is to be as brilliant as its past1 every omen indicates4 ,in what direction will it proceed8 ,probably in all directions4 ,but the line of direction that will occur the first to many1 is probably in aerial flight4 ,doubtless it is in aerial flight that the greatest advance has been made since flight was first successfully accomplished in #aijc2 and doubtless it is in that line that the greatest progress is being made now4 ,the enormous speeds already achieved2 the growing size of both aeroplanes and dirigibles2 their increasing speed1 safety and convenience2 the fact that roads are not needed for aerial transportation as they are for carriages and railway trains1 or deep water channels as for water craft2 and the comparative cheapness with which people and light packages can be carried swiftly and far1 all point to a vast increase in aerial transportation1 and a great modification in all our modes of living in consequence4 ,akin to transportation is communication3--but in communication1 one may reasonably feel that we have arrived almost at the boundary line1 not only of the possible but even the desirable4 ,for we have almost instantaneous communication all over the surface of the earth and under almost all the ocean1 by the telegraph and telephone1 using wires and cables2 and nearly equally good communication by radio telegraph1 using no material connection whatever4 ,the wireless telephone is following fast on the heels of the wireless telegraph2 and by it we can already telephone hundreds of miles between stations on land and sea1 and carry on conversation for several miles between fast moving aeroplanes4 ,but progress is going on rapidly also in the older fields of invention4 ,the ocean steamship1 especially the battleship1 is growing in size1 speed and safety2 so is the locomotive1 so is the automobile4 ,because of the progress in all the useful arts and sciences1 buildings of all kinds are being constructed higher and larger1 and more commodious and safe2 civil engineering works of all description--roads1 canals1 bridges and tunnels are setting their durable marks of progress all over the earth2 the uses of electricity are growing1 and showing every indication that they will continue so to do2 and so are the uses of chemistry and light and heat4 ,and through all the industrial world1 in manufactures of every kind1 we see the same unmistakable signs of progress1 increasing progress and increasing rate of progress4 ,in the field of pure science1 we note the same signs of progress1 increasing progress1 and increasing speed of progress4 ,naturally1 however1 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 science1 in which invention usually bestirs itself4 ,the fact1 however1 that any actual advance has begun in any new science gives the best possible reason for expecting that the advance is going to continue4 ,therefore1 we may expect continuing progress in all branches of pure science3 for the near future1 for instance1 in biology1 psychology and what is loosely called psychics1 which seems to be a virtual excursion of psychology into the hazy realms of telepathy1 clairvoyance1 spiritualism1 and so forth4 ,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 us1 for signs are not lacking that man's material comfort is already sufficiently well-assured2 in fact1 that perhaps he is already too comfortable for his physical well-being4 ,already we see that labor saving and comfort-producing appliances are impairing the physical strength of men and women1 and to such a degree that artificial exercises are prescribed by doctors4 ,inasmuch as the mind is its own place1 and in itself can make a heaven of hell1 a hell of heaven1 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 itself4 ,but1 for the reason that this is probably the most difficult road1 it seems probable that success in it may come the latest4 ,it seems probable also that even in that road1 progress will be achieved by means analogous to those by which it has been achieved in other roads2 that is by the use of physical and chemical instruments and methods4 ,much has been done already by their aid in psychology1 and much more is promised in the not distant future4 ,the idea of influencing the mind directly to states of happiness1 and guarding it from unhappiness1 is far from new2 for what were the epicureans1 stoics1 and others trying to do but that8 ,such attempts1 many systems of philosophy and many mystic sects distinctly made4 ,of these sects1 one of the most interesting was that of the omphalopsychites1 who were able to raise themselves to high states of happiness by the simple and inexpensive process of gazing at their navels4 ,some advantages of their system are obvious4 ,certainly it was less costly than other means of gaining happiness1 such as wearing narrow-toed shoes1 chewing tobacco1 smoking cigarettes and drinking whiskey2 and there is no evidence that it ever caused ingrowing toe-nails1 delirium tremens1 or ,bright's disease4 ,that invention and progress have produced and may be relied upon to continue to produce prosperity1 may reasonably be predicted4 ,but will they together produce happiness8 ,the author respectfully begs to be excused from answering this question4 ,he requests attention1 however1 to the manifest facts that invention is a natural gift1 that the impetus to invention has always been the desire to achieve prosperity of some kind1 and that to employ our natural gifts to satisfy our natural instincts can reasonably be expected to further our happiness2 unless1 indeed1 we suspect ,nature of playing tricks upon us4 ,that ,nature sometimes seems to do this1 and that it is dangerous to follow our instincts blindly is of course a fact4 ,but it seems to be a fact also that the danger in following our instincts seems to come only when we follow them blindly2 and that1 though there may be danger sometimes in following them even under the guidance of our reason1 yet the only way in which we have ever progressed at all has been by following our instincts under reason's guidance1 and invention's inspiration4 ,and since the civilized world is in virtual agreement that civilization is a happier state than savagery1 and since we have been impelled toward civilization by invention mainly1 there seems no escape from the conclusion that it is to invention mainly that we must look for increase of happiness in the future4 ,it may be1 of course1 that happiness does not come so much from a condition or state attained as from the act of striving to attain it4 ,it may be suggested also by some one that life is merely a game1 and that happiness comes from playing the game and not from winning it1 just as children delight more in constructing a toy building with their blocks than in the building when completed3 for they no sooner complete the building than they knock it down1 and begin to build it up again4 ,but1 even from this point of view1 the desirability of fostering invention would be apparent2 because it would continually supply us with new games to play1 and new toys with which to play them4 ,but that any thoughtful person could really think life a game is an impossibility4 ,no man with a mind to reason and a soul to feel can contemplate the awful suffering that has always existed in the world1 and think life a mere game4 ,no man can think life a mere game1 who with an eye to see and an imagination to conceive1 gazes upon the infinite sea of stars visible to his unaided vision1 realizes how many thousands upon thousands of stars there are besides1 that the photographic camera records1 and realizes also that1 though light travels even through air at a rate exceeding #ahf1jjj miles per second1 yet that some stars are so distant that the light now reaching us from them started ages before the dawn of history4 ,and no man who is able to follow the teachings of science1 even superficially1 can note the enormous development of civilization during the last few thousand years1 and realize that a development similar though infinitely grander1 must have been going on in all the universe for countless centuries1 without realizing also that through the ages an increasing purpose runs4 ,he may even note a likeness between it and the development on an infinitely smaller scale1 of the conception of a merely human inventor4 ,possibly1 his fancy may even soar still higher3 possibly he may even wonder if all this great creation may not be in effect a great invention1 and ,god its ,great ,creator1 because its ,great ,inventor4 ,so1 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 past1 or consider merely the development of man since the dawn of recorded history1 we seem to find as the initiating cause of both--invention4 ,let us therefore utilize all means possible to develop this ,godgiven faculty1 the chiefest of the talents committed to our keeping4 ,that way lie progress1 prosperity and happiness4 ,how far and how high it may lead us1 ,god only knows2 for the resources of invention are infinite4 ,the ,end4 ,,index ,a ,abel1 #bdj ,acetylene gas1 #bai ,acheson1 #cab geans1 #ee1 #ef ,aerial ,age1 #cbf ,age of ,bronze1 #ae ,age of ,copper1 #ae ,age of ,iron1 #ai ,age of ,steam1 #agi et seq ,air-brake1 #bgh ,air-pump1 #adb1 #adc ,airships1 #cbf ,alchemy1 #bjh ,alexander1 #fi to #ig ,alexandria1 #gg ,alphabet1 #eh ,aluminum1 #bac1 #cjb ,ampre1 #aih1 #aii ,analine dyes1 #bfe ,antipyrene1 #bih ,antiseptic surgery1 #bgd ,antitoxin1 #cbh ,appleby1 #bib ,application of hot air to furnaces1 #bac ,arago1 #aih ,arc-light1 #ahc1 #bce ,archimedes1 #gh1 #gi1 #adi1 #agf ,aristotle1 #aci ,arithmetic1 #ce ,arkwright1 #agb ,artificial limbs1 #bci ,artificial silk1 #cjd ,assur1 #ch ,assyria1 #ci1 #dj ,astrology1 #ca ,astronomy1 #bd1 #bi ,atlantic cable1 #bff ,atomic ,theory1 #baj ,atwood's machine1 #afc ,automatic arc-light1 #bce ,automatic car-coupler1 #bhe ,automatic grain-binder1 #bgc1 #bib ,automatic piano1 #bba ,autoplate1 #cah ,b ,babbage1 #bja ,babbitt metal1 #bbj ,babylonian measures1 #cb ,babylonian religion1 #ch ,bacillus of cholera1 #bih ,bacillus of diphtheria1 #bih ,bacillus of hydrophobia1 #bih ,bacillus of infantile paralysis1 #cbi ,bacillus of lockjaw1 #bih ,bacillus of tuberculosis1 #bih ,bacillus of typhus fever1 #cbi ,bacon1 ,francis1 #aci1 #adj1 #afb ,bacon1 ,roger1 #abd ,baldwin1 #bag ,balista1 #dd ,band wood-saw1 #ahd1 #cjb ,barbed-wire fence1 #bgc ,barometer1 #adb ,battle of the ,nile1 #ahi1 #aij ,bazaine1 #bha ,bmont1 #cad ,becquerel ,rays1 #cac1 #cad ,behel1 #bgc ,bell1 #bhg1 #cjb ,berliner1 #bib ,bernoulli1 #afd ,bessemer's process1 #bdh ,bicycle1 #bfe ,bismarck1 #bhc ,black1 #aga1 #age ,blake telephone-transmitter1 #bid ,bonaparte1 #agg1 #agh ,bourdon1 #bdd ,bow and arrow1 #d1 #e ,bowers1 #cjb ,boyle1 #ada ,braithwaite1 #bad ,branca1 #aeb ,brandenburg1 #afd ,branly's coherer1 #cje ,brewster1 #ahf1 #bdd ,britain1 #ia1 #ib ,brugnatelli1 #ahb ,buddhism1 #ci1 #bfc ,bullock1 #bgd ,bunsen1 #bff ,burden1 #bah ,burleigh1 #bge ,c ,cable-car1 #bfe ,csar1 #g1 #he to #ie1 #bgi ,calculating machine1 #bja ,carbide of calcium1 #bgc ,carbolic acid1 #bah ,carbon telephone-transmitter1 #bib ,carborundum1 #cab ,carr1 #bfi ,carthage1 #hc1 #hd1 #he ,cartwright1 #age ,cash-carrier1 #bhf ,cash-register1 #bhf ,catapult1 #dd ,cathode rays1 #bib ,caus1 #aea ,cavallo1 #age ,cavendish1 #agj1 #aga1 #age ,cawley1 #aec ,celluloid1 #bhd ,cerebro-spinal meningitis antitoxin1 #cbh ,channing1 #bdf ,charlotte ,dundas1 #ahj ,chemistry1 #bjh ,chloral hydrate1 #bag ,chloroform1 #bae ,christian ,science1 #bgg ,christianity1 #ej1 #bfc ,chrome process of tanning1 #cjb ,cigarette machine1 #bia ,circulation of blood1 #adj ,civil ,war in ,america1 #bfi et seq ,clay tablets1 #bd ,clerk ,maxwell1 #bhd1 #bhe ,clermont1 #ahj ,clock1 #afb ,coal-gas1 #ahd ,cocaine1 #bdh ,coins1 #dh ,color photography1 #cbg ,colt1 #bai ,columbus1 #abe et seq ,compressed-air rock drill1 #bge1 #bhd ,confucianism1 #ci ,congress of ,vienna1 #bfj ,congress1 ,u4 ,s4 ,s41 #bgj1 #bga1 #bgb ,constant battery1 #bai ,constantinople1 #if1 #ig1 #aac ,constitution of the ,united ,states1 #bfc ,cooke1 #bbj ,copenhagen1 #aib ,copernicus1 #acb1 #acc1 #acd ,corliss cut-off1 #bdd ,cornwallis1 #agd1 #age ,cortez1 #abh1 #abi ,corvus1 #hd1 #he ,cowles1 #cjb ,craske1 #bfi ,crawford1 #bbj ,cretans1 #dh ,croesus1 #dh ,crookes1 #bib ,cumberland1 ,u4 ,s4 ,s41 #bgj1 #bga1 #bgb ,cuneiform writing1 #bh ,curie1 #cad ,curtiss1 ,glenn1 #cbg ,curved stereoplates1 #bfi ,customs union1 #bfa ,cyanide process1 #cjc ,cyrus1 #ci ,d ,ddalus1 #eg ,daguerre1 #aha1 #ahb ,dalton1 #baj1 #baa ,daniell1 #bai ,daniels1 #cbh1 #ccj ,darius1 #ei ,davy1 #aha1 #ahb1 #ahc ,davy1 ,edmund1 #bai ,de ,chardonnet1 #cjd ,de ,grasse1 #agd1 #age ,de ,lesseps1 #bcg ,decimal system1 #cb ,deisel ,engine1 #bia ,della ,porta1 #aea ,dennison1 #bdb ,depth bomb1 #cci ,dewar1 #bja ,dias1 ,bartholomew1 #abe ,diet at ,spires1 #aca ,diet at ,worms1 #aca ,disc for polishing1 #dc ,divine ,right of kings1 #adf1 #adg ,dodge1 #bgd ,domestication of brutes1 #ac ,drager1 #cbg ,draper1 #bba ,drebel1 #adb ,dry-plate photography1 #bfe ,duodecimal system1 #ca1 #cb ,duplex telegraph1 #bhe ,dynamics1 #aei ,dynamite1 #bgg ,dynamo electric machine1 #bge ,e ,east ,india ,company1 #beg ,eastman1 #cjd ,eberth1 #bie ,eddy1 #bgg ,edison1 #abc1 #bib1 #caj1 #cbh1 #bhe ,egyptian religion1 #ch ,electric light1 #adi ,telegraph1 #bae ,cautery1 #bci ,locomotive1 #bde ,candle1 #bij ,railway1 first1 #bic ,welding1 #cjb ,furnace1 #cab ,motor1 #bag1 #bah ,electrically propelled boat1 #bba ,electricity1 #adh et seq ,electromagnetic theory of light1 #bhd ,electron1 #bic ,electroplating1 #ahb ,electrostatic induction1 #bdg ,elevator1 #bgb ,embalming1 #ce ,ericsson1 #aj1 #fh1 #bad1 #bbj1 #bgj1 #bga1 #bgb ,ether as an ansthetic1 #bba ,f ,fahrenheit1 #adb ,faraday1 #ach1 #aii1 #bad1 #bdg ,farmer1 #bdf ,faure storage battery1 #bid ,feudal system1 #ade1 #adf ,field1 ,cyrus1 #bff ,finlay1 #cbg ,finsen1 #cac ,fire alarm telegraph1 #bdg ,fire1 #e ,first ,american locomotive1 #bag ,first electric telegraph1 #bcb ,first successful aeroplane flight1 #cbf ,fiske1 #cab1 #cbf1 #cbh ,fitch1 #ahj ,flexner1 #cbh1 #cbi ,flute1 #di ,flying boat1 #cbg ,foucault1 #bce ,fox1 ,talbot1 #bdg ,foy1 #bid ,franklin1 #afh1 #afi1 #agj1 #bef ,frederick the ,great1 #aff et seq ,frederick ,william1 #afe1 #aff1 #bgi ,french ,revolution1 #bfj ,friction matches1 #bac ,fulton1 #ahj ,g ,galileo1 #ace1 #acf ,galvani1 #ach1 #bjj ,galvanization1 #bbj ,galvanometer1 #bjj ,gardner1 #bfe ,gas engine1 #bia ,gas mantle1 #cjb ,gatling gun1 #bgc ,gaul1 #hf to #ie ,gaza1 #gc ,ged1 #afd ,geometry1 #cg ,german ,confederation1 #bfa ,giffard1 #bfe ,gilbert1 #acg1 #ach ,gimlet1 #eg ,goldschmidt1 #cbg ,goodyear1 #bbj1 #bhd ,gorham1 #bhf ,gorrie1 #bde ,gramme1 #bhc ,graphophone1 #cjb ,gravitation1 ,law of1 #add ,great ,eastern1 #bff ,greece1 #de ,greek fire1 #if1 #ig ,green1 #bfi ,greener's hammerless gun1 #bid ,groves gas battery1 #bfg ,guericke1 #adb1 #adc1 #adh1 #adi1 #baf ,gun carriage1 #ajh ,gun-cotton1 #bdj ,gun director system1 #cab ,gun1 #aja to #aaj ,gunpowder1 #ci ,guthrie1 #bae ,guttenberg1 #g1 #aaa ,gyroscopic compass1 #cbf ,gyroscopic stabilizer1 #cbg ,h ,hadley1 #ade ,hales1 #ahd ,hall1 #cjh ,hammurabi1 #ch ,hanaman1 #cbg ,hand photographic camera1 #bih ,hannibal1 #hd1 #he ,hargreaves1 #agb ,harvey1 #adj1 #ada ,harveyized armor1 #cjd ,heat1 a measure of work1 #bab ,hebrews1 #de ,hellenistic civilization1 #gf1 #gg ,helmholtz1 #bdf ,henry1 #bad1 #baf1 #beb ,herman1 #bdg ,hero1 #adi1 #aej1 #aea ,hertz1 #cjd1 #cje ,hewitt1 #cbf ,hibbert1 #bdd ,high speed printing press1 #cbg ,hoe1 #bce1 #bdb ,holy ,alliance1 #bfj ,homer1 #bje ,hooke1 #ade1 #afb ,horseshoe machine1 #bah ,howe1 #bcf ,huygens1 #afb ,hyatt1 #bhd ,hydraulic dredge1 #cjb ,hydraulic jack1 #agf ,i ,ice machine1 #bde1 #bhg ,illuminating water-gas1 #bhf ,image making1 #aag1 #aah ,incandescent lamp1 #bib ,induced currents1 #bad ,induction transmitter1 #bic ,ingersoll1 #bhd ,internal combustion engine1 #bia ,interrupted thread screw1 #bdb ,invasion of ,england1 #aic1 #aid ,ironclads1 #bdh ,j ,jablochkoff1 #bij ,jacobi1 #bah1 #bba ,james1 #bag ,janney1 #bhe ,jansen1 #ace ,jewish religion1 #de1 #df ,joly1 #cbg ,judaism1 #bfc ,k ,kaleidoscope1 #ahf1 #ahg ,kepler1 #acd ,kinetograph and kinetoscope1 #caj1 #cbh ,kingsland1 #bfe ,kirchoff1 #bff ,knitting machine1 #ahd ,koch1 #bie1 #bih ,kodak camera1 #cjd ,knig1 #ahf ,kniggratz1 #bhj ,krag-,jorgensen rifle1 #cji ,krupp1 #bdc ,kuno1 #bih ,l ,la ,gloire1 #bfe ,laennec1 #aig ,laplace1 #bji ,laughing gas1 #bcd ,lavoisier1 #aga1 #agb1 #bjh1 #baa ,laws of electrolysis1 #bdg ,laws of electromagnetic induction1 #bdg ,laws of electrostatic induction1 #bdg ,league of ,armed ,neutrality1 #aib ,lee magazine rifle1 #bid ,leges ,juli1 #he ,legion1 #hc ,leibig1 #bae1 #bag ,leupold1 #aec ,leyden jar1 #afh1 #afi ,liberal government1 #bee et seq ,light1 #bce ,linde1 #cab ,link motion1 #bag ,linotype machine1 #cja ,lippman1 #cbg ,liquefaction of air1 #cab ,liquefaction of gases1 #bja ,lister1 #bgd ,lithography1 #agg ,locomotive1 #ahe ,loeffler1 #bih ,long1 #bba ,loom1 positive motion weaving1 #bhd ,lowe1 #bhf ,lumire1 #cbg ,lundstrom1 #bdg ,luther1 #acj et seq ,lyall1 #bhd ,m ,machine for making barbed-wire1 #bhf ,mack1 #aid ,maddox1 #bhd ,magazine gun1 #bdc ,magellan1 #abh ,magneto electric machine1 #baf1 #bag ,malleable iron castings1 #ahd ,marathon1 #ei1 #fj ,marble1 #cjb ,marconi1 #cjf1 #cac ,martel1 ,charles1 #aaj ,martin's steel process1 #bgd ,match-making machine1 #bdb ,matteson1 #cjb ,maxim1 #cbg ,mc,cormick ,reaper1 #bah ,mc,mahon1 #bha ,melhuish1 #bdg ,merchant adventurers1 #beg ,mercury-vapor light1 #cbf ,mergenthaler1 #cja1 #cjh ,merkle1 #agg ,merrimac1 ,c4 ,s4 ,s41 #fh1 #bgj1 #bga1 #bgb ,metternich1 #bfa1 #bfb ,michoux1 #bfe ,middlings purifier1 #bhg ,militarism1 #bhb ,military machine1 #bgi et seq ,miller1 #ahj ,miltiades1 #ei1 #fj ,milton1 #bje ,miners' safety lamp1 #ahc1 #ahd ,mohammedanism1 #bfc ,moltke1 #bgi ,moncrief's disappearing gun-carriage1 #bgf ,monitor1 #fh1 #bgj1 #bga1 #bgb ,monroe ,doctrine1 #bef ,montgolfier1 #age ,morse1 #bae1 #bcb1 #bcc1 #bcd ,morton1 #bae ,motion1 ,laws of1 #add ,multiphase currents1 #cjc ,mungo ,ponton1 #bba ,murdock1 #ahd ,muschenbroek1 #afh ,musical telephone1 #bfg ,muybridge1 #caj ,mythology1 #ec ,n ,napier1 #acf1 #acg ,napoleon1 #ahg et seq1 #beg ,nasmyth1 #bba ,needle telegraph1 #bbj ,nege1 #bgg ,neilson1 #bac ,nelson1 #aij1 #aib1 #aid1 #aig ,newcomer1 #aec ,newton1 ,isaac1 #adc1 #add1 #ade ,nicholson1 #ahf ,nickel steel1 #cjh ,nicolaier1 #bih ,niepce1 #aha ,nineveh1 #ci ,nitroglycerin1 #bda ,nobel1 #bgg ,o ,oersted1 #aih1 #aii1 #bjj ,ohm1 #bac ,oleomargarine1 #bgg ,omphalopsychites1 #cde ,open-hearth process for steel-making1 #bgd ,ophthalmoscope1 #bde ,otis1 #bgb ,otto1 #bia ,p ,pacinnotti1 #bag1 #bhc ,page1 #bde ,painting1 #ef ,paper1 #aja ,papin1 #aec ,papyrus1 #be1 #cc ,parson's steam turbine1 #cji ,pasteur1 #bih ,patent office1 #aaa ,paul1 #agb ,peloponnesian ,war1 #fc1 #ff ,pericles1 #fb ,perkins1 #bfe ,perry1 #cae ,persian ,gates1 #gd ,phalanx1 #fh1 #fi ,philip of ,macedon1 #ff1 #fg ,phoenicians1 #de ,phoenix1 #aha ,phonetic writing1 #bg ,phonograph1 #bia ,photographic roll films1 #bdg ,photography1 #aha1 #bba ,photometer1 #bab ,pictet1 #bhg ,picture-writing1 #bg ,pitt1 #bfa1 #bfb ,pixii1 #baf ,pizarro1 #abi ,plant1 #bff ,platinotype process1 #bhe ,plotz1 #cbi ,pneumatic caissons1 #bba ,pneumatic tire1 #bce ,pneumonia bacillus1 #bie ,poetry1 #fb ,portable fire engine1 #bad ,portland cement1 #bia ,porus1 #ge ,potassium1 #ahb ,power-loom1 #age ,prehistoric inventor1 #bc ,prescott1 #cjb ,priestley1 #aga ,primeval weapons1 #a to #bj ,princeton1 ,u4 ,s4 ,s41 #bbj ,principia1 #adc ,printing press1 #ahf ,printing telegraph1 #bcg ,printing1 #aaj to #aae ,pulmotor1 #cbg ,pump1 #bdc ,punic ,wars1 #hd1 #he ,pyramids1 #ce1 #cf ,q ,quadruplex telegraphy1 #bhe ,r ,radio activity1 #cad ,radio control of moving vessels1 #cbf ,radium1 #cad ,ramsay1 #ahj ,rear driven chain for bicycles1 #cjb ,reece1 #bih ,regenerative furnace1 #bfe ,reis1 #bfg ,renaissance1 #aab ,revolver1 #bai ,rock drill1 #bdg ,rocket1 #ahe ,rntgen1 #bic1 #cab ,rubicon1 #id ,ruhmkorff coil1 #bdf1 #bic ,ruin of the machine of civilization1 #bbf-bcj ,rumford1 #bab ,runge1 #bah ,russian campaign1 #aif1 #aig ,s ,sadowa1 #bhj ,safety matches1 #bdg ,sailing vessels1 #dg ,salamis1 #fa ,santos ,dumont1 #cbf ,sargon1 #da ,savage1 #bda ,savannah1 first ocean steamship1 #bjb ,savery1 #aeb1 #aec ,schmid1 #bih ,schneider1 #cjh ,schonbein1 #bdj ,schultz1 #cjb ,schultze1 #bgc ,schweigg1 #bjj ,scott ,archer1 #bde ,screw propeller1 #bbj ,sculpture1 #fb ,secondary battery1 #bff ,seebeck1 #bjj ,self-binding reaper1 #bhf ,self-induction1 #bae ,selligne1 #bba ,senefelder1 #agg ,sennacherib1 #da ,sewing-machine1 #bcf ,sextant1 #ade ,seymour1 #bde ,seytre1 #bba ,shakespeare1 #bje ,shell ejector1 #bgd ,shintoism1 #bfc ,shoemaking machine1 #bfi ,sholes1 #bgf ,siemens1 #baf1 #bfe1 #bge1 #bid ,silencer for fire arms1 #cbg ,sleeping-car1 #bfe ,smeaton1 #aec ,smith and ,wesson revolver1 #bdg ,smokeless gunpowder1 #bgc ,sobrero1 #bda ,sodium1 #ahb ,soubeiran1 #bae ,sparta1 #fb ,spectroscope1 #bff ,sperry1 #cbf ,spinning machine1 #agb ,sprague electric railway and motor1 #cjc ,st4 ,vincent1 #aij ,statuary1 #ef ,steam engine1 #aej et seq ,steam hammer1 #bba ,steam plough1 #bid ,steam presser gauge1 #bdd ,steam saw-mill1 #bia ,steam whistle1 #bah ,steel pen1 #ahd ,stephenson1 #ahe1 #bah ,stereoscope1 #bdd ,stereotyping1 #afd ,sternberg1 #bie ,stethoscope1 #aig1 #bdf ,stevens1 #aha ,sturgeon1 #bag ,suez ,canal1 #bcg ,sulphite process1 #bgf ,syphon1 #bhf ,syria1 #de ,t ,tainter1 #cjb ,talbot1 #bba ,talleyrand1 #bfa1 #bfb ,taoism1 #ci1 #bfc ,taupenot1 #bfe ,telephone1 #bhg ,telescope sight for ships' guns1 #cab ,telescope1 #ace1 #acf ,tesla1 #cjc ,themistocles1 #fa ,thermit welding1 #cbg ,thermometer1 #adb ,thermopile1 #bjj1 #bja ,thermos bottle1 #bja ,thompson1 ,elihu1 #cjb ,thomson1 ,benjamin1 #bab ,thomson1 ,sir ,william1 #bhf ,thorium1 #cad ,threshing-machine1 #agg ,thurber1 #bca ,tilghman1 #bgf ,time-lock1 #bda ,torpedoplane1 #cbh ,torricelli1 #adb ,toulon1 #agg ,trafalgar1 #aie ,triger1 #bba ,tubular boiler1 #bad ,tungsten electric light1 #cbg ,turtle for printing presses1 #bde ,twine-binder1 #bhf ,typewriter1 #bca1 #bgf ,typhoid bacillus1 #bie ,tyre1 #gb1 #gc ,tyrian ,dyes1 #dh ,u ,ulm1 #aid ,uranium1 #cad ,use of collodion in photography1 #bde ,uxian pass1 #gd ,v ,van ,depoele1 #cjb ,vasco da ,gama1 #abh ,veneti1 #ij ,vercingetorix1 #ic1 #id ,vieille1 #bgc ,villeneuve1 #aic1 #aid ,visibility of objects1 #aaf1 #aag ,volta1 #ach1 #agj1 #aga ,voltaic arc1 #ahb1 #ahc ,vulcanizing rubber1 #bbj ,w ,walker1 #bac ,walkers1 #cjd ,war-chariot1 #db ,washington1 #agc et seq ,watch1 #afb ,watch-making machine1 #bde ,water-gas1 #bba ,watt1 #aed et seq ,webb-feeding printing press1 #bgd ,wedgwood1 #aha ,wegmann1 #bhf ,wells1 #bcd ,welsbach1 #cjb ,westinghouse1 #bgh1 #bhe ,wheatstone bridge1 #bhe ,wheatstone1 #bbj ,wheel1 #db1 #dc ,whitehead torpedo1 #bge ,whitney1 #agg ,wilde1 #bge ,willis1 #bhe ,wireless telegraph1 #cje1 #cjf ,whler1 #bac ,wood pulp1 #bdg ,wood1 ,henry ,a4 ,wise1 #cah1 #cbg ,woodruff1 #bfe ,worm1 #bde ,wright1 ,orville and ,wilbur1 #cbf ,x ,x-,rays1 #bic1 #cab1 #cac ,xerxes1 #fj ,z ,zankerode1 #bic ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book2 otherwise they were not changed4 ,simple typographical errors were corrected2 occasional unbalanced quotation marks retained4 ,inconsistent hyphenation1 e4g41 co-operation and cooperation1 has been retained unless one form predominated4 ,ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained4 ,page #agd3 and sheet force of will is misprint for sheer4 ,page #bdi3 ,several colons would be semi-colons in modern practice4 ,index was not well-alphabetized2 corrected here4 ,diacriticals and ligatures have been alphabetized as plain letters4