A CHAT ON SCIENCE

Hokitika Guardian, 1 August 1924, Page 4

A CHAT ON SCIENCE

TA AIK I> IX V E NITONS. (H.v Dr. Edw in E. Slosson. Director oi' Scic'iico Service. Washington). Coining inventions oast their slmclows holme. Some i f the most useful of the gifts of science were first revealed to j mankind in a malevolent rather than a j benevolent aspect. Hut even tlte most | destructive agencies may in the course j of time he brought into the cjiislrue- j ive service of the human race. As the* ■ wolf was tattled into the faithful dog, ■ and the wild elephant converted into a 1 beast of burden, so man may tamo the! engines of war and extract medicaments from the most baneful drugs. ! Steel, man's most useful nicTal. madn its appearance in the form of sworcts , and spear-heads for the killing oi man. ; Now we employ it for the skeleton ol .skyscrapers and steamships. • dot icilonni wtts first employed a' “Greek tire'’ Ini' setting ships on lire. ' Now it i ; employed as fuel lor the pro- ( pulsion of ships. 1 The horse was employed upon the field of battle long before l e was fiat ; to work upon the harvest licit!, lie was lirst hitched to a war chariut. and only later was he set ta the humble and useful task of pulling a plough, fudging h.v tlic Kgvptian and Assyrian inscriptions, the •chariot was tlm fust wheeled vehicle, hut tiiis developed in the course of c ctiltirivs into the cart, ti e carriage, and the ear. The mn.-t edit ieiit ol the ancient read builders, more ellicictit. indeed, than most modern peoples, were the Koniaus. and their famous system id' highways, connect in;; the frontiers of the empire with the funnel o! the capital, was designed for armies, not agrteull iirisls. j It. has oiic'ii hsippcuod in history that what was designed tn kill i-. retained l i i urc. Mane • f our modern medicines were employed lev savage's for pois ming their arrow points. Strychnine sc net aconite had this ill-omcni'i! origin. Another arrow poison, obtained by the savages from cnv.rsa juice, is hydrecyiini .'niil. which io th" hands ol tit: 1 model'll metallurgist, extracts ninetent 11s 111 the gold siionlv of the world. Arsenic, whi.di during th" llemtts,mice was the fashionable means el niiiscttiiig neotde, is ik;.v tt-.-tl for H-e.

more hitnlahlc purpnse of poiso’iiit}' plant pe'ls and the patisiles of man. Distilled alcohol, int mdiiced hv lit' ah iicinl-ls under t It" misleading mum* of the “elixir of life." has demo untold harm to the ra-e. Yd our gas >- line supply runs sin rt alenhol may prole to he oiir main t.'linnee for motors and airplanes. Once the world slope drinking it we* will have alcaiinl to hunt. \Ye owe our wireless to the late war. and the art of aviation, which played an important part in that conlliei. has not yet found a place of importance in c ivil lili*. Government itself i-. a war baby, horn from the need of tiiiift"d control in time ol danger. lie* earliest rulers were chiefs who defended their folk again-l attack of led them on predatory raids against, their neighbours l"f the prnctiretneiit of ho ity, especially wcnteii and childr ti. Government, once started as a war measure in cme'igc'intcs. proved mcfttl fur the nuiiutenancc' of order euti the promotion of the general wellare. and licne:' came t i he regarded as indispensable to c-ivili.-ation. lint war remain.; the principal function of government, even if the must pcnccnbh' ol na-

tions. Never before has the world seen such

I'evorish nefivity in si dent ilie ill \ i-sti•;:t----t ion :mil invention .is duiiiin the (irriil Wuv: never sueli lihernl jrtiviTii-! uii'iitul support. never sin'll enterprise, mill si'U'-siii'i'ilii'i' mi tin' part til tin 1 fit izi'iis. Ami s'i it Inis oleii Irt-i-n in tin* past. Mills Inis always hen n!.•!»■ In enlist tin* I'ln'l'j'ins nf limn wit 1 1 liuuv siieeiss than Minerva nr ll'n Muses. Shaw. who sometimes iissiimes tin* ri:!e nf (lie ilevil's iliseinle. las in liis ‘■Mini .••u l Superman” put inf the iiinuili ui Al npllist npllelc-' 1' fl list i • e:ilU!i!l'Ut nil ivnr ns stir, iiiliis I in . o'- inventive p.m els. "I li.nve :*v:i•:*ilii-i 1 Mini's v. i.mierl ul Jnveiiliuis. Ami I t"!l yen tlmt in t lie tivts cl' life nuui invents imtliintr; lint in the lifts nf (lentil lie nutilnes nature herself. mill produces liv chemistry inn! ninrhieerv nll tile sliunhter nf pln.nue. p'stilnneo. Ill'll fntililin. Tin* peasant I temnt in-day i-i'ts inn! drinks what was eaten and drunk hv tile peasants nl ten year. neu ; mul the luiuse lie lives in lia. 11l i all ere I 11. niueli in a linn: nul i t ur r i •; a- I lie fashion ul u lady’s houuet in a "*ere nf weeks. i* l *t wlr.ti lie •roes unt 1 n stay he i a fries a marvel el leeiha II inn that lets lnisi' at tie' leuih nf I.is lhi.'.:er all tin* hidden utn|e•i* 1: 11* euire 1 s. mill leave, the javelin, the arrn'.v. tile hhiwpipe nf Ins latlier's 1:,I- I elhiul. In the art -nf peace Man is e. lin tittle r. 1 have seen liis cnUoil fm turie, null tii.- like, with machinery Hint a pr a 'iy do" emill have invented if it had v.anted liuniev instead nf fund. | knew hi- eltnnsy tynnv. l iters and I-llli;.fline*; Inenlilnt ives and tedious tlleVeles; they life lev. f util | ill i'el! 11l ilia Maxim nun. the •uihmnrine. I,srjnii>l eal. There i. m thine in Man's inilu--trinl machinery Inti his erect! and slntli. hi. heart is in hi. weapons.” I'u!. as we have seen, the hrinhi idea' that Imre l eeu struck out of man's brain in the ehi-di of roulliel may persist tn enlifiltien the rnee. 1 hnu«ih we may reuret that siienc* shnuhl so often shew her sinister side, yet we must urroe that ei vi ii-at inn does sometimes no foniaril l.v riding ■ it n powdcr-enl't.