Heat is motion, and the Universe is motion. Men
will soon cease lighting tiny bonfires to obtain crude heat in a
crude way. Electricity or the sun's own rays, concentrated for
heating purposes, will do the work without any digging in mines
by men, or delving in ashes and clinkers by women.
The story of antiquity, more or less fictitious, of the burning
of a fleet with the aid of a glass and the sunbeams, will be
matter-of-fact reality long before the coal shall have been
exhausted.
HOW THE OTHER PLANETS WILL TALK TO US
We talk of civilization as though it necessarily implied
improvement.
Civilization means the school and the library, but it also means
the prison and the poorhouse.
Two short stories illustrate different views of what we call
civilization:
Aristippus was a young Greek gentleman of large means, genuine
intellectual power, a sense of humor and a reputation as a
philosopher.
He was on his way to Corinth with a young lady named Lais, or
possibly he was coming from Corinth with her. Anyhow, he was
wrecked on the voyage. If you know anything about the reputation
of Lais, you know that the philosopher was badly employed, and
that the Greek gods doubtless wrecked his vessel to impress upon
his mind the importance of morality.
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