Invention: The Master-key to Progress
CHAPTER XVI
THE FUTURE
The fact that invention has not only been increasing during the past one hundred years, but that its speed of increase has been increasing and is still increasing, is well recognized. There seems to be a constant force behind invention that imparts to it an acceleration, comparable to that of gravity in accelerating the descent of a falling stone. Such a phenomenon would be thoroughly conformable to modern theories; and that there is a force, impelling people to invent, must be a fact; for otherwise, they would not invent. If that force be constant, the acceleration imparted to invention will be constant. If the force be variable, the acceleration imparted to invention will be variable. In other words, the future speed of invention, like that of every moving body, must be governed by the force behind it and the resistances opposed.
At the present moment, the resistance to invention is being gradually lessened because the benefits coming from invention are being realized. Simultaneously, the facilities for inventing are being increased.
These facilities are mainly in instruments of measurements and research. So many of these are there now, that it would only complicate matters to enumerate them and describe their spheres. Two of the most important are the spectroscope and the photographic camera. By means of the spectroscope, the astronomer can ascertain the chemical elements of far distant stars, the temperature and pressure under which they exist, the stage of progress of the star, and its speed and direction of movement, whether toward us or away. By means of the photographic camera, not only can records be made of stars so far away and faint that light-waves from them cannot be noted by the eye, even with the assistance of the most powerful telescope,--but a virtually unlimited number of permanent records can be made.
All fields of research now feel the assistance imparted by new instruments and methods. Even the chemist realizes the aid of instruments invented by the physicist; while every physicist welcomes the aid that comes to him from chemists. The chemists and the physicist are now working together in harmony and with enthusiasm, engaged in a friendly rivalry as to which shall help the other most. And, as discovery succeeds discovery, and invention succeeds invention, they find themselves--although the domain of each is widening--not drifting farther apart, but drawing closer together. For it seems to be coming more and more assured that the Laws of Nature are simpler than we thought, that chemistry and physics are more alike than we supposed. Many startling generalizations have been suggested, with much reason; such as, that matter and energy are one, that space and time are one, and that even the mind of man may be subjected to physical methods and analysis. In fact, some of the greatest advances made during the past twenty-five years have been in psychology, and achieved largely by the use of physical apparatus. Many subjects, formerly included with alchemy and astrology in the class of occult if not deceitful arts, are now being developed apparently toward more or less exact sciences; as alchemy was developed into chemistry, and astrology into astronomy. Efforts are even being made to communicate with distant planets and with the spirits of the dead.
That much is being attempted that may not be realized is true. But if we realize that the universe is now supposed to be many millions of years old, it seems only yesterday that the phenomena of electrical and magnetic attraction and repulsion were confusing the minds of even the wisest: and now electricity and magnetism are harnessed together, and working together in perfect harmony and marvelous effectiveness, for the good of man.
That the future of invention is to be as brilliant as its past, every omen indicates. In what direction will it proceed? Probably in all directions. But the line of direction that will occur the first to many, is probably in aerial flight. Doubtless it is in aerial flight that the greatest advance has been made since flight was first successfully accomplished in 1903; and doubtless it is in that line that the greatest progress is being made now. The enormous speeds already achieved; the growing size of both aeroplanes and dirigibles; their increasing speed, safety and convenience; the fact that roads are not needed for aerial transportation as they are for carriages and railway trains, or deep water channels as for water craft; and the comparative cheapness with which people and light packages can be carried swiftly and far, all point to a vast increase in aerial transportation, and a great modification in all our modes of living in consequence.
Akin to transportation is communication:--but in communication, one may reasonably feel that we have arrived almost at the boundary line, not only of the possible but even the desirable. For we have almost instantaneous communication all over the surface of the earth and under almost all the ocean, by the telegraph and telephone, using wires and cables; and nearly equally good communication by radio telegraph, using no material connection whatever. The wireless telephone is following fast on the heels of the wireless telegraph; and by it we can already telephone hundreds of miles between stations on land and sea, and carry on conversation for several miles between fast moving aeroplanes.
But progress is going on rapidly also in the older fields of invention. The ocean steamship, especially the battleship, is growing in size, speed and safety; so is the locomotive, so is the automobile. Because of the progress in all the useful arts and sciences, buildings of all kinds are being constructed higher and larger, and more commodious and safe; civil engineering works of all description--roads, canals, bridges and tunnels are setting their durable marks of progress all over the earth; the uses of electricity are growing, and showing every indication that they will continue so to do; and so are the uses of chemistry and light and heat. And through all the industrial world, in manufactures of every kind, we see the same unmistakable signs of progress, increasing progress and increasing rate of progress.
In the field of pure science, we note the same signs of progress, increasing progress, and increasing speed of progress. Naturally, however, it is far more difficult to predict with confidence the direction which future progress will take in this field than in the field of the practical application of pure science, in which invention usually bestirs itself. The fact, however, that any actual advance has begun in any new science gives the best possible reason for expecting that the advance is going to continue. Therefore, we may expect continuing progress in all branches of pure science: for the near future, for instance, in biology, psychology and what is loosely called "psychics," which seems to be a virtual excursion of psychology into the hazy realms of telepathy, clairvoyance, spiritualism, and so forth.
That invention and research are concerning themselves more and more with immaterial subjects is a fact that is not only noticeable but of vital importance to us, for signs are not lacking that man's material comfort is already sufficiently well-assured; in fact, that perhaps he is already too comfortable for his physical well-being. Already we see that labor saving and comfort-producing appliances are impairing the physical strength of men and women, and to such a degree that artificial exercises are prescribed by doctors. Inasmuch as "the mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven," it seems probable that the direction of effort in which the greatest real benefit can be attained is in research and consequent invention concerning the mind itself. But, for the reason that this is probably the most difficult road, it seems probable that success in it may come the latest. It seems probable also that even in that road, progress will be achieved by means analogous to those by which it has been achieved in other roads; that is by the use of physical and chemical instruments and methods. Much has been done already by their aid in psychology, and much more is promised in the not distant future.
The idea of influencing the mind directly to states of happiness, and guarding it from unhappiness, is far from new; for what were the epicureans, stoics, and others trying to do but that? Such attempts, many systems of philosophy and many mystic sects distinctly made. Of these sects, one of the most interesting was that of the omphalopsychites, who were able to raise themselves to high states of happiness by the simple and inexpensive process of gazing at their navels. Some advantages of their system are obvious. Certainly it was less costly than other means of gaining happiness, such as wearing narrow-toed shoes, chewing tobacco, smoking cigarettes and drinking whiskey; and there is no evidence that it ever caused ingrowing toe-nails, delirium tremens, or Bright's disease.
That invention and progress have produced and may be relied upon to continue to produce prosperity, may reasonably be predicted. But will they together produce happiness?
The author respectfully begs to be excused from answering this question. He requests attention, however, to the manifest facts that invention is a natural gift, that the impetus to invention has always been the desire to achieve prosperity of some kind, and that to employ our natural gifts to satisfy our natural instincts can reasonably be expected to further our happiness; unless, indeed, we suspect Nature of playing tricks upon us.
That Nature sometimes seems to do this, and that it is dangerous to follow our instincts blindly is of course a fact. But it seems to be a fact also that the danger in following our instincts seems to come only when we follow them blindly; and that, though there may be danger sometimes in following them even under the guidance of our reason, yet the only way in which we have ever progressed at all has been by following our instincts under reason's guidance, and invention's inspiration.
And since the civilized world is in virtual agreement that civilization is a happier state than savagery, and since we have been impelled toward civilization by invention mainly, there seems no escape from the conclusion that it is to invention mainly that we must look for increase of happiness in the future.
It may be, of course, that happiness does not come so much from a condition or state attained as from the act of striving to attain it. It may be suggested also by some one that life is merely a game, and that happiness comes from playing the game and not from winning it, just as children delight more in constructing a toy building with their blocks than in the building when completed: for they no sooner complete the building than they knock it down, and begin to build it up again. But, even from this point of view, the desirability of fostering invention would be apparent; because it would continually supply us with new games to play, and new toys with which to play them.
But that any thoughtful person could really think life a game is an impossibility. No man with a mind to reason and a soul to feel can contemplate the awful suffering that has always existed in the world, and think life a mere game. No man can think life a mere game, who with an eye to see and an imagination to conceive, gazes upon the infinite sea of stars visible to his unaided vision, realizes how many thousands upon thousands of stars there are besides, that the photographic camera records, and realizes also that, though light travels even through air at a rate exceeding 186,000 miles per second, yet that some stars are so distant that the light now reaching us from them started ages before the dawn of history. And no man who is able to follow the teachings of science, even superficially, can note the enormous development of civilization during the last few thousand years, and realize that a development similar though infinitely grander, must have been going on in all the universe for countless centuries, without realizing also that "through the ages an increasing purpose runs." He may even note a likeness between it and the development on an infinitely smaller scale, of the conception of a merely human inventor. Possibly, his fancy may even soar still higher: possibly he may even wonder if all this great creation may not be in effect a great invention, and God its Great Creator, because its Great Inventor.
So, whether we fix our thought on what the scientists tell us of the probable course of development of the universe during the countless ages of the past, or consider merely the development of man since the dawn of recorded history, we seem to find as the initiating cause of both--invention.
Let us therefore utilize all means possible to develop this Godgiven faculty, the chiefest of the talents committed to our keeping. That way lie progress, prosperity and happiness. How far and how high it may lead us, God only knows; for the resources of invention are infinite.
The End.
INDEX
A
Abel, 240
Acetylene gas, 219
Acheson, 312
Ægeans, 55, 56
Aerial Age, 326
Age of Bronze, 15
Age of Copper, 15
Age of Iron, 19
Age of Steam, 179 _et seq_
Air-brake, 278
Air-pump, 142, 143
Airships, 326
Alchemy, 208
Alexander, 69 to 97
Alexandria, 77
Alphabet, 58
Aluminum, 213, 302
Ampère, 198, 199
Analine dyes, 265
Antipyrene, 298
Antiseptic surgery, 274
Antitoxin, 328
Appleby, 292
Application of hot air to furnaces, 213
Arago, 198
Arc-light, 183, 235
Archimedes, 78, 79, 149, 176
Aristotle, 139
Arithmetic, 35
Arkwright, 172
Artificial limbs, 239
Artificial silk, 304
Assur, 38
Assyria, 39, 40
Astrology, 31
Astronomy, 24, 29
Atlantic cable, 266
Atomic Theory, 210
Atwood's machine, 163
Automatic arc-light, 235
Automatic car-coupler, 285
Automatic grain-binder, 273, 292
Automatic piano, 221
Autoplate, 318
B
Babbage, 201
Babbitt metal, 220
Babylonian measures, 32
Babylonian religion, 38
Bacillus of cholera, 298
Bacillus of diphtheria, 298
Bacillus of hydrophobia, 298
Bacillus of infantile paralysis, 329
Bacillus of lockjaw, 298
Bacillus of tuberculosis, 298
Bacillus of typhus fever, 329
Bacon, Francis, 139, 140, 162
Bacon, Roger, 124
Baldwin, 217
Balista, 44
Band wood-saw, 184, 302
Barbed-wire fence, 273
Barometer, 142
Battle of the Nile, 189, 190
Bazaine, 281
Bémont, 314
Becquerel Rays, 313, 314
Behel, 273
Bell, 287, 302
Berliner, 292
Bernoulli, 164
Bessemer's process, 248
Bicycle, 265
Bismarck, 283
Black, 171, 175
Blake telephone-transmitter, 294
Bonaparte, 177, 178
Bourdon, 244
Bow and arrow, 4, 5
Bowers, 302
Boyle, 141
Braithwaite, 214
Branca, 152
Brandenburg, 164
Branly's coherer, 305
Brewster, 186, 244
Britain, 91, 92
Brugnatelli, 182
Buddhism, 39, 263
Bullock, 274
Bunsen, 266
Burden, 218
Burleigh, 275
C
Cable-car, 265
Cæsar, 7, 85 to 95, 279
Calculating machine, 201
Carbide of calcium, 273
Carbolic acid, 218
Carbon telephone-transmitter, 292
Carborundum, 312
Carré, 269
Carthage, 83, 84, 85
Cartwright, 175
Cash-carrier, 286
Cash-register, 286
Catapult, 44
Cathode rays, 292
Caus, 151
Cavallo, 175
Cavendish, 170, 171, 175
Cawley, 153
Celluloid, 284
Cerebro-spinal meningitis antitoxin, 328
Channing, 246
Charlotte Dundas, 180
Chemistry, 208
Chloral hydrate, 217
Chloroform, 215
Christian Science, 277
Christianity, 50, 263
Chrome process of tanning, 302
Cigarette machine, 291
Circulation of blood, 140
Civil War in America, 269 _et seq_
Clay tablets, 24
Clerk Maxwell, 284, 285
Clermont, 180
Clock, 162
Coal-gas, 184
Cocaine, 248
Coins, 48
Color photography, 327
Colt, 219
Columbus, 125 _et seq_
Compressed-air rock drill, 275, 284
Confucianism, 39
Congress of Vienna, 260
Congress, U. S. S., 270, 271, 272
Constant battery, 219
Constantinople, 96, 97, 113
Constitution of the United States, 263
Cooke, 220
Copenhagen, 192
Copernicus, 132, 133, 134
Corliss cut-off, 244
Cornwallis, 174, 175
Cortez, 128, 129
Corvus, 84, 85
Cowles, 302
Craske, 269
Crawford, 220
Cretans, 48
Croesus, 48
Crookes, 292
Cumberland, U. S. S., 270, 271, 272
Cuneiform writing, 28
Curie, 314
Curtiss, Glenn, 327
Curved stereoplates, 269
Customs union, 261
Cyanide process, 303
Cyrus, 39
D
Dædalus, 57
Daguerre, 181, 182
Dalton, 210, 211
Daniell, 219
Daniels, 328, 330
Darius, 59
Davy, 181, 182, 183
Davy, Edmund, 219
De Chardonnet, 304
De Grasse, 174, 175
De Lesseps, 237
Decimal system, 32
Deisel Engine, 291
Della Porta, 151
Dennison, 242
Depth bomb, 339
Dewar, 201
Dias, Bartholomew, 125
Diet at Spires, 131
Diet at Worms, 131
Disc for polishing, 43
Divine Right of kings, 146, 147
Dodge, 274
Domestication of brutes, 13
Drager, 327
Draper, 221
Drebel, 142
Dry-plate photography, 265
Duodecimal system, 31, 32
Duplex telegraph, 285
Dynamics, 159
Dynamite, 277
Dynamo electric machine, 275
E
East India Company, 257
Eastman, 304
Eberth, 295
Eddy, 277
Edison, 123, 292, 310, 328, 285
Egyptian religion, 38
Electric light, 149 Telegraph, 215 Cautery, 239 Locomotive, 245 Candle, 290 Railway, first, 293 Welding, 302 Furnace, 312 Motor, 217, 218
Electrically propelled boat, 221
Electricity, 148 _et seq_
Electromagnetic theory of light, 284
Electron, 293
Electroplating, 182
Electrostatic induction, 247
Elevator, 272
Embalming, 35
Ericsson, 10, 68, 214, 220, 270, 271, 272
Ether as an anæsthetic, 221
F
Fahrenheit, 142
Faraday, 138, 199, 214, 247
Farmer, 246
Faure storage battery, 294
Feudal system, 145, 146
Field, Cyrus, 266
Finlay, 327
Finsen, 313
Fire alarm telegraph, 247
Fire, 5
First American locomotive, 217
First electric telegraph, 232
First successful aeroplane flight, 326
Fiske, 312, 326, 328
Fitch, 180
Flexner, 328, 329
Flute, 49
Flying boat, 327
Foucault, 235
Fox, Talbot, 247
Foy, 294
Franklin, 168, 169, 170, 256
Frederick the Great, 166 _et seq_
Frederick William, 165, 166, 279
French Revolution, 260
Friction matches, 213
Fulton, 180
G
Galileo, 135, 136
Galvani, 138, 200
Galvanization, 220
Galvanometer, 200
Gardner, 265
Gas engine, 291
Gas mantle, 302
Gatling gun, 273
Gaul, 86 to 95
Gaza, 73
Ged, 164
Geometry, 37
German Confederation, 261
Giffard, 265
Gilbert, 137, 138
Gimlet, 57
Goldschmidt, 327
Goodyear, 220, 284
Gorham, 286
Gorrie, 245
Gramme, 283
Graphophone, 302
Gravitation, Law of, 144
Great Eastern, 266
Greece, 45
Greek fire, 96, 97
Green, 269
Greener's hammerless gun, 294
Groves gas battery, 267
Guericke, 142, 143, 148, 149, 216
Gun carriage, 108
Gun-cotton, 240
Gun director system, 312
Gun, 101 to 110
Gunpowder, 39
Guthrie, 215
Guttenberg, 7, 111
Gyroscopic compass, 326
Gyroscopic stabilizer, 327
H
Hadley, 145
Hales, 184
Hall, 308
Hammurabi, 38
Hanaman, 327
Hand photographic camera, 298
Hannibal, 84, 85
Hargreaves, 172
Harvey, 140, 141
Harveyized armor, 304
Heat, a measure of work, 212
Hebrews, 45
Hellenistic civilization, 76, 77
Helmholtz, 246
Henry, 214, 216, 252
Herman, 247
Hero, 149, 150, 151
Hertz, 304, 305
Hewitt, 326
Hibbert, 244
High speed printing press, 327
Hoe, 235, 242
Holy Alliance, 260
Homer, 205
Hooke, 145, 162
Horseshoe machine, 218
Howe, 236
Huygens, 162
Hyatt, 284
Hydraulic dredge, 302
Hydraulic jack, 176
I
Ice machine, 245, 287
Illuminating water-gas, 286
Image making, 117, 118
Incandescent lamp, 292
Induced currents, 214
Induction transmitter, 293
Ingersoll, 284
Internal combustion engine, 291
Interrupted thread screw, 242
Invasion of England, 193, 194
Ironclads, 248
J
Jablochkoff, 290
Jacobi, 218, 221
James, 217
Janney, 285
Jansen, 135
Jewish religion, 45, 46
Joly, 327
Judaism, 263
K
Kaleidoscope, 186, 187
Kepler, 134
Kinetograph and kinetoscope, 310, 328
Kingsland, 265
Kirchoff, 266
Knitting machine, 184
Koch, 295, 298
Kodak camera, 304
König, 186
Königgratz, 280
Krag-Jorgensen rifle, 309
Krupp, 243
Kuno, 298
L
La Gloire, 265
Laennec, 197
Laplace, 209
Laughing gas, 234
Lavoisier, 171, 172, 208, 211
Laws of electrolysis, 247
Laws of electromagnetic induction, 247
Laws of electrostatic induction, 247
League of Armed Neutrality, 192
Lee magazine rifle, 294
Leges Juliæ, 85
Legion, 83
Leibig, 215, 217
Leupold, 153
Leyden jar, 168, 169
Liberal government, 255 _et seq_
Light, 235
Linde, 312
Link motion, 217
Linotype machine, 301
Lippman, 327
Liquefaction of air, 312
Liquefaction of gases, 201
Lister, 274
Lithography, 177
Locomotive, 185
Loeffler, 298
Long, 221
Loom, positive motion weaving, 284
Lowe, 286
Lumière, 327
Lundstrom, 247
Luther, 130 _et seq_
Lyall, 284
M
Machine for making barbed-wire, 286
Mack, 194
Maddox, 284
Magazine gun, 243
Magellan, 128
Magneto electric machine, 216, 217
Malleable iron castings, 184
Marathon, 59, 60
Marble, 302
Marconi, 306, 313
Martel, Charles, 110
Martin's steel process, 274
Match-making machine, 242
Matteson, 302
Maxim, 327
McCormick Reaper, 218
McMahon, 281
Melhuish, 247
Merchant adventurers, 257
Mercury-vapor light, 326
Mergenthaler, 301, 308
Merkle, 177
Merrimac, C. S. S., 68, 270, 271, 272
Metternich, 261, 262
Michoux, 265
Middlings purifier, 287
Militarism, 282
Military machine, 279 _et seq_
Miller, 180
Miltiades, 59, 60
Milton, 205
Miners' safety lamp, 183, 184
Mohammedanism, 263
Moltke, 279
Moncrief's disappearing gun-carriage, 276
Monitor, 68, 270, 271, 272
Monroe Doctrine, 256
Montgolfier, 175
Morse, 215, 232, 233, 234
Morton, 215
Motion, Laws of, 144
Multiphase currents, 303
Mungo Ponton, 221
Murdock, 184
Muschenbroek, 168
Musical telephone, 267
Muybridge, 310
Mythology, 53
N
Napier, 136, 137
Napoleon, 187 _et seq_, 257
Nasmyth, 221
Needle telegraph, 220
Nege, 277
Neilson, 213
Nelson, 190, 192, 194, 197
Newcomer, 153
Newton, Isaac, 143, 144, 145
Nicholson, 186
Nickel steel, 308
Nicolaier, 298
Niepce, 181
Nineveh, 39
Nitroglycerin, 241
Nobel, 277
O
Oersted, 198, 199, 200
Ohm, 213
Oleomargarine, 277
Omphalopsychites, 345
Open-hearth process for steel-making, 274
Ophthalmoscope, 245
Otis, 272
Otto, 291
P
Pacinnotti, 217, 283
Page, 245
Painting, 56
Paper, 101
Papin, 153
Papyrus, 25, 33
Parson's steam turbine, 309
Pasteur, 298
Patent office, 111
Paul, 172
Peloponnesian War, 63, 66
Pericles, 62
Perkins, 265
Perry, 315
Persian Gates, 74
Phalanx, 68, 69
Philip of Macedon, 66, 67
Phoenicians, 45
Phoenix, 181
Phonetic writing, 27
Phonograph, 291
Photographic roll films, 247
Photography, 181, 221
Photometer, 212
Pictet, 287
Picture-writing, 27
Pitt, 261, 262
Pixii, 216
Pizarro, 129
Planté, 266
Platinotype process, 285
Plotz, 329
Pneumatic caissons, 221
Pneumatic tire, 235
Pneumonia bacillus, 295
Poetry, 62
Portable fire engine, 214
Portland cement, 291
Porus, 75
Potassium, 182
Power-loom, 175
Prehistoric inventor, 23
Prescott, 302
Priestley, 171
Primeval weapons, 1 to 20
Princeton, U. S. S., 220
Principia, 143
Printing press, 186
Printing telegraph, 237
Printing, 110 to 115
Pulmotor, 327
Pump, 243
Punic Wars, 84, 85
Pyramids, 35, 36
Q
Quadruplex telegraphy, 285
R
Radio activity, 314
Radio control of moving vessels, 326
Radium, 314
Ramsay, 180
Rear driven chain for bicycles, 302
Reece, 298
Regenerative furnace, 265
Reis, 267
Renaissance, 112
Revolver, 219
Rock drill, 247
Rocket, 185
Röntgen, 293, 312
Rubicon, 94
Ruhmkorff coil, 246, 293
Ruin of the machine of civilization, 226-230
Rumford, 212
Runge, 218
Russian campaign, 196, 197
S
Sadowa, 280
Safety matches, 247
Sailing vessels, 47
Salamis, 61
Santos Dumont, 326
Sargon, 41
Savage, 241
Savannah, first ocean steamship, 202
Savery, 152, 153
Schmid, 298
Schneider, 308
Schonbein, 240
Schultz, 302
Schultze, 273
Schweigg, 200
Scott Archer, 245
Screw propeller, 220
Sculpture, 62
Secondary battery, 266
Seebeck, 200
Self-binding reaper, 286
Self-induction, 215
Selligne, 221
Senefelder, 177
Sennacherib, 41
Sewing-machine, 236
Sextant, 145
Seymour, 245
Seytre, 221
Shakespeare, 205
Shell ejector, 274
Shintoism, 263
Shoemaking machine, 269
Sholes, 276
Siemens, 216, 265, 275, 294
Silencer for fire arms, 327
Sleeping-car, 265
Smeaton, 153
Smith and Wesson revolver, 247
Smokeless gunpowder, 273
Sobrero, 241
Sodium, 182
Soubeiran, 215
Sparta, 62
Spectroscope, 266
Sperry, 326
Spinning machine, 172
Sprague electric railway and motor, 303
St. Vincent, 190
Statuary, 56
Steam engine, 150 _et seq_
Steam hammer, 221
Steam plough, 294
Steam presser gauge, 244
Steam saw-mill, 291
Steam whistle, 218
Steel pen, 184
Stephenson, 185, 218
Stereoscope, 244
Stereotyping, 164
Sternberg, 295
Stethoscope, 197, 246
Stevens, 181
Sturgeon, 217
Suez Canal, 237
Sulphite process, 276
Syphon, 286
Syria, 45
T
Tainter, 302
Talbot, 221
Talleyrand, 261, 262
Taoism, 39, 263
Taupenot, 265
Telephone, 287
Telescope sight for ships' guns, 312
Telescope, 135, 136
Tesla, 303
Themistocles, 61
Thermit welding, 327
Thermometer, 142
Thermopile, 200, 201
Thermos bottle, 201
Thompson, Elihu, 302
Thomson, Benjamin, 212
Thomson, Sir William, 286
Thorium, 314
Threshing-machine, 177
Thurber, 231
Tilghman, 276
Time-lock, 241
Torpedoplane, 328
Torricelli, 142
Toulon, 177
Trafalgar, 195
Triger, 221
Tubular boiler, 214
Tungsten electric light, 327
Turtle for printing presses, 245
Twine-binder, 286
Typewriter, 231, 276
Typhoid bacillus, 295
Tyre, 72, 73
Tyrian Dyes, 48
U
Ulm, 194
Uranium, 314
Use of collodion in photography, 245
Uxian pass, 74
V
Van Depoele, 302
Vasco da Gama, 128
Veneti, 90
Vercingetorix, 93, 94
Vieille, 273
Villeneuve, 193, 194
Visibility of objects, 116, 117
Volta, 138, 170, 171
Voltaic arc, 182, 183
Vulcanizing rubber, 220
W
Walker, 213
Walkers, 304
War-chariot, 42
Washington, 173 _et seq_
Watch, 162
Watch-making machine, 245
Water-gas, 221
Watt, 154 _et seq_
Webb-feeding printing press, 274
Wedgwood, 181
Wegmann, 286
Wells, 234
Welsbach, 302
Westinghouse, 278, 285
Wheatstone bridge, 285
Wheatstone, 220
Wheel, 42, 43
Whitehead torpedo, 275
Whitney, 177
Wilde, 275
Willis, 285
Wireless telegraph, 305, 306
Wöhler, 213
Wood pulp, 247
Wood, Henry A. Wise, 318, 327
Woodruff, 265
Worm, 245
Wright, Orville and Wilbur, 326
X
X-Rays, 293, 312, 313
Xerxes, 60
Z
Zankerode, 293
Transcriber's Notes:
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced quotation marks retained.
Inconsistent hyphenation, e.g., "co-operation" and "cooperation", has been retained unless one form predominated.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
Page 174: "and sheet force of will" is misprint for "sheer".
Page 249: Several colons would be semi-colons in modern practice.
Index was not well-alphabetized; corrected here. Diacriticals and ligatures have been alphabetized as plain letters.