OTHER INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS OF TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
In attempting to suggest the importance of science in its relation to modern industries, I have thought it better to cite three or four illustrative cases in some detail rather than to attempt a comprehensive summary of the almost numberless lines of commercial activity that have a similar origin and dependence.
To attempt a full list of these would be virtually to give a catalogue of mechanical industries. It may be well, however, to point out a few familiar instances, in order to emphasize the economic importance of the subject; and to suggest a few of the lines along which present-day investigators are seeking further conquests.
Very briefly, then, consider how the application of scientific knowledge has changed the aspect of the productive industries. Thanks to science, farming is no longer a haphazard trade. The up-to-date farmer knows the chemical constitution of the soil; understands what constituents are needed by particular crops and what fertilizing methods to employ to keep his land from deteriorating. He knows how to select good seed according to the teaching of heredity; how to combat fungoid and insect pests by chemical means; how to meet the encroachments of the army of weeds. In the orchard, he can tell by the appearance of leaf and bark whether the soil needs more of nitrogen, of potash, or of humus; he uses sprays as a surgeon uses antiseptics; he introduces friendly insects to prey on insect pests; he irrigates or surface-tills or grows cover crops in accordance with a good understanding of the laws of capillarity as applied to water in the earth's crust. In barnyard and dairy he applies a knowledge of the chemistry of foods in his treatment of flock and herd; he ventilates his stables that the stock may have an adequate supply of oxygen; he milks his cows with a mechanical apparatus, extracts the cream with a centrifugal "separator," and churns by steam or by electric power.
In the affairs of manufacturer and transporter of commodities, methods are no less revolutionary. Steam power and electric dynamo everywhere hold sway; trolley and electric light and telephone have found their way to the most distant hamlet; electricians and experimental chemists are searching for new methods in the factories; artificial stone is competing with the product of the quarries; artificial dyes have sounded the doom of the madder and indigo industries.
And yet it requires no great gift of prophecy to see that what has been accomplished is only an earnest of what is to come in the not distant future. In every direction eager experimenters are on the track of new discoveries. Any day a chance observation may open new and important fields of exploration, just as Hall's observation about the power of cryolite to absorb aluminum pointed the way to the new aluminum industry; and as Birkeland's chance observation of the electric arc in a magnetic field unlocked the secret of the unresponsive nitrogen. It will probably not be long, for example, before a way will be found to produce electric light without heat—in imitation of the wonderful lamp of the glow-worm.
Then in due course we must learn to use fuel without the appalling waste that at present seems unavoidable. A modern steam-engine makes available only five to ten per cent. of the energy that the burning fuel gives out as heat—the rest is dissipated without serving man the slightest useful purpose. Moreover, the new studies in radio-activity have taught us that every molecule of matter locks up among its whirling atoms and corpuscles a store of energy compared with which the energy of heat is but a bagatelle. It is estimated that a little pea-sized fragment of radium has energy enough in store—could we but learn to use it—to drive the largest steamship across the ocean—taking the place of hundreds of tons of coal as now employed. The mechanics of the future must learn how to unlock this treasury of the molecule; how to get at these atomic and corpuscular forces, the very existence of which was unknown to science until yesterday. The generation that has learned that secret will look back upon the fuel problems of our day somewhat as we regard the flint and steel and the open fire of the barbarian.
If problems of energy offer such alluring possibilities as this, problems of matter are even more inspiring. The new synthetic chemistry sets no bounds to its ambitions. It has succeeded in manufacturing madder, indigo, and a multitude of minor compounds. It hopes some day to manufacture rubber, starch, sugar—even albumen itself, the very basis of life. Rubber is a relatively simple compound of hydrogen and carbon; starch and sugar are composed of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen; albumen has the same constituents, plus nitrogen. The raw materials for building up these substances lie everywhere about us in abundance. A lump of coal, a glass of water, and a whiff of atmosphere contain all the nutritive elements, could we properly mix them, of a loaf of bread or a beefsteak. And science will never rest content until it has learned how to make the combination. It is a long road to travel, even from the relatively advanced standpoint of to-day; but sooner or later science will surely travel it.
And then—who can imagine, who dare predict, the social and economic revolution that must follow? Our social and business life to-day differs more widely from that of our grandfathers than theirs differed from the life of the Egyptian and Babylonian of three thousand years ago; but this gap is as ditch to cañon compared with the gap that separates us from the life of that generation of our descendants which shall have learned the secret of making food-stuffs from inorganic matter in the laboratory and factory. It is a long road to travel, I repeat; but modern science travels swiftly and with many short-cuts, and it may reach this goal more quickly than any conservative dreamer of to-day would dare to predict.
All speed to the ambitious voyager!
[APPENDIX]
REFERENCE LIST AND NOTES
CHAPTER I
MAN AND NATURE
For a general discussion of primitive conditions of labor and prehistoric man's civilization, it will be of interest in connection with this chapter to consult volume I., chapter I., which deals with prehistoric science. The appendix notes on that chapter (vol. I., pp. 302, 303) refer to some books which may be consulted for fuller information along the same lines.
CHAPTER II
HOW WORK IS DONE
(p. 31). For study of Archimedes, giving a detailed account of his discoveries, see vol. I., p. 196 seq. It will be of interest also to review, in connection with this chapter, the story of the growth of knowledge of mechanics in the time of Galileo, Descartes, and Newton as told in the chapters entitled "Galileo and the New Physics," vol. II. (p. 93 seq.), and "The Success of Galileo in Physical Science," vol. II., p. 204 seq.
CHAPTER III
THE ANIMAL MACHINE
For further insight into the activities of the animal machine, the reader may refer to various chapters on the progress of physiology and anatomy in earlier volumes. The following references will guide to the accounts of the successive advances from the earliest time:
Vol. I., pp. 194, 195 describe briefly the earlier anatomical studies of the Alexandrian physicians, Herophilus and Erasistratus; and pp. 282, 283, outline the studies of the famous physician, Galen.
Vol. II., "From Paracelsus to Harvey," in particular, p. 163 seq.; and chapters IV. (p. 173 seq.) and V. (p. 202 seq.) dealing with the progress of anatomy and physiology in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries respectively. The chapter on "Experimental Psychology" (p. 245 seq.) may also be consulted.
Vol. V., chapter V., dealing with the Marine Biological Laboratory at Naples (p. 113 seq.) and chapter VI., "Ernst Haeckel and the New Zoology" (p. 144 seq.) present other aspects of physiological problems.
CHAPTER IV
THE WORK OF AIR AND WATER
On [page 63] reference is made to the work of the old Greeks, Archimedes and Ctesibius. An account of Archimedes' discovery of the laws of buoyancy of solids and liquids will be found in vol. I., p. 208.
[(p. 64)]. The machines of Ctesibius and Hero. See vol. I., p. 242 seq., for a full account of these mechanisms.
[(p. 65)]. Toricelli, the pupil of Galileo, and his discovery of atmospheric pressure. For a fuller account of his discovery and what came of it see vol. II., p. 120 seq.
[(p. 66)]. Boyle's experiments on atmospheric pressure. See vol. II., p. 204 seq.
[(p. 66)]. Mariotte and Von Guericke. See vol. II., p. 210 seq.
[(p. 71)]. Roman mills. A scholarly discussion of the subject of Roman mills, based on a comprehensive study of the references in classical literature, is given in Beckmann's History of Inventions, London, 1846.
[(p. 73)]. Recent advances in water wheels. As stated in the text, the quotation is from an article on Motive Power Appliances, by Mr. Edward H. Sanborn, in the Twelfth Census Report of the United States.
CHAPTER V
CAPTIVE MOLECULES; THE STORY OF THE STEAM-ENGINE
[(p. 82)]. The experiments of Hero of Alexandria. For a full account of the experiments see vol. I., pp. 249, 250.
[(p. 84)]. The Marquis of Worcester's steam engine. The original account appeared, as stated, in the Marquis of Worcester's Century of Inventions, published in 1663.
[(p. 92)]. Newcomen's engine. As stated in the text, the account of Newcomen's engine is quoted from the report of the Department of Science and Arts of the South Kensington Museum, now officially known as the Victoria and Albert Museum.
[(pp. 107-109)]. James Watt. The characterization of Watt here given is taken from an article in an early edition of the Edinburgh Encyclopædia published about the year 1815.
CHAPTER VI
THE MASTER WORKER
[(p. 112)]. High-pressure steam. The work referred to is Leupold's Theatrum Machinarum, 1725.
[(p. 122)]. Rotary Engines. The quotation is from the report of the Victoria and Albert Museum above cited.
[(pp. 127, 128)]. Turbine engines. The quotation is from an anonymous article in the London Times, August 14, 1907.
[(pp. 129, 130)]. Turbine engines. The quotation is from an article on Motive Power Appliances in the Twelfth Census Report of the United States, vol. X., part IV., by Mr. Edward H. Sanborn.
CHAPTER VII
GAS AND OIL ENGINES
[(pp. 135, 136, 137)]. Gas engines. Quoted from the report of the Victoria and Albert Museum above cited.
[(pp. 141-144)]. Gas engines and steam engines in the United States. Quoted from the report of the Special Agents of the Twelfth Census of the United States, 1902.
[(pp. 146, 147)]. The Svea heater. From an article by Mr. G. Emil Hesse in The American Inventor for April 15, 1905.
CHAPTER VIII
THE SMALLEST WORKERS
In connection with this chapter the reader will do well to review various earlier portions of the work outlining the general history of the growth of knowledge of electricity and magnetism. For example:
Vol. II., p. 111 seq., for an account of William Gilbert's study of magnetism; pp. 213, 215 describing first electrical machine; and chapter XIV., "The Progress of Electricity from Gilbert and Von Guericke to Franklin," p. 259 seq.
Vol. III., chapter VII., "The Modern Development of Electricity and Magnetism," p. 229 seq.
Vol. V., p. 92 seq., the section on Prof. J. J. Thompson and the nature of electricity.
Other chapters that may be advantageously reviewed in connection with the present one are the following:
Vol. III., chapter VI., "Modern Theories of Heat and Light," p. 206 seq.; chapter VIII., "The Conservation of Energy," p. 253 seq.; and chapter IX., "The Ether and Ponderable Matter," p. 283 seq.
CHAPTER IX
MAN'S NEWEST CO-LABORER: THE DYNAMO
The references just given for chapter VIII. apply equally here.
The experiments of Oersted and Faraday are detailed in vol. III., p. 236 seq.
CHAPTER X
NIAGARA IN HARNESS
Same references as for chapters VIII. and IX.
CHAPTER XI
THE BANISHMENT OF NIGHT
[(p. 221)]. Davy and the electric light. The quotation here given is reproduced from vol. III., pp. 234, 235. The very great importance and general interest of the subject seem to justify the repetition, descriptive of this first electric light. Davy's original paper was given at the Royal Institution in 1810.
[(p. 237)]. "Peter Cooper Hewitt—Inventor," by Ray Stannard Baker, in McClure's Magazine, June, 1903, p. 172.
In connection with the problem of color of the light emitted by Mr. Hewitt's mercury-vapor tube, the chapter on "Newton and the Composition of Light" (vol. II., p. 225 seq.) may be consulted. Also "Modern Theories of Heat and Light," vol. III., p. 206 seq.
CHAPTER XII
THE MINERAL DEPTHS
The chapter on "The Origin and Development of Modern Geology," vol. III., p. 116 seq., may be read in connection with the allied subjects here treated.
In preparing the section on the use of electricity in mining, the article by Thomas Commerford Martin, entitled Electricity in Mining, in the United States Census Report of 1905, has been freely drawn upon. The quotations on pp. [262], [266], [268], and [270] are from that source.
CHAPTER XIII
THE AGE OF STEEL
See note under chapter XII.
CHAPTER XIV
SOME RECENT TRIUMPHS OF APPLIED SCIENCE
In connection with various portions of this chapter the reader will find much that is of interest in the story of chemical development in general as detailed in volume III., pp. 3-72 inclusive.
Also various chapters on electricity as outlined under chapter VII. above.
[(p. 310)]. Nitrogen from the air. The quotation is from the Engineering Supplement of the London Times, January 22, 1908.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
Obvious typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.
Except for those changes noted below, inconsistent or archaic spelling of a word or word-pair within the text has been retained. For example: horseshoe horse-shoe; superheated super-heated; intrusted; incased.
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p [iii.] 'Friction, p. 35' changed to 'Friction, p. 39'.
p [iii.] 'muscular action, p. 45' changed to '... action, p. 49'.
p [iv.] 'Ctesibus' changed to 'Ctesibius'.
p [iv.] 'wind-mill' changed to 'windmill'.
p [93.] 'was done is' changed to 'was done in'.
p [115] (Illustration caption). 'Trevethick' changed to 'Trevithick'.
p [122.] 'drlving' changed to 'driving'.
p [181] (Illustration caption). 'pull pieces' left unchanged (probably
meant to be 'pole pieces').
p [191.] 'Horsehoe' changed to 'Horseshoe'.
p [264.] 'Liége' changed to 'Liège'.
p [298.] 'repellant' changed to 'repellent'.