THE WORLD SET FREE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 31 October 1925, Page 13

THE WORLD SET FREE.

DREAMS OF A WONDERFUL TO-MORROW.

WHAT are the ultimate possibilities of science? Readers of the delightful scientific romances of Mr 11. G. Wells may perhaps imagine themselves competent to supply an answer to this question—and yet, in reality, their prophecies would be tame and uninteresting compared with the dreams.with which an imaginative scientist might be assailed (writes J. S. Bainbridge in Overseas). For in reality, there is no limit to the ultimate possibilities of science. Think for one moment of the enormous changes which have taken place during the last few centuries for the betterment of humanity. The educated man of Queen Elizabeth’s time, as regards his material life, Avas little better than a savage. With no mechanical transport, no lighting systems, no knoAvledge of bacteria or disease, no neAvspapers or Avireless, and so on, his life. Viewed from ' present-day standards, could hardly have been eirviable. If he became ill, the chances Avere that he Avould die. If he Avas Avounded —a frequent occurrence—the chances of his recovery Avere slight. It Avas far more probable that the AA r ound Avould become gangrenous, Avith terrible and fatal results. Contrast this Avith the marvels of presentday antiseptic surgery and the control of virulent disease, the amazing metallurgical and electrical developments Avliich have taken place, the almost unbelie\ T able manner in which the forces of Nature have been harnessed and the mysteries of the human body have been explored, the conquest of the air, and numerous other examples; and the changes Avhich have taken place within a comparatively short infeiwal Avill be obA'ious. Assuming that progress continues at the same pace, Avhat might Ave reasonably expect conditions on the earth to be, say, three or four hundred years hence? To-day Ave knoAv that it is possible to arrange the diet specifically to improve the growth of muscle or to strengthen the repair of a broken bone, Avhile tentative experiments with vitamins, sunlight cures ,and glands, suggest that Ihe body may be brought to such a state of perfection that all insurance companies Avonld have to go out of business. Bernard Shaw’s suggested span of 300 years as an average life might be a hopeless under-estimate. Death is, practically, a A’ery simple process, inasmuch as death from old age results from hardening of the arteries. The progress AAdiieh man has already made in the conquest and abolition of disease suggests that a time Avill come when disease will be unknown. If, at the same time, some simple method is discovered of preventing arterial hardening, the only possible deaths Avill be deaths by violent means. Unless the community decides that at a giA r en age e\ r ery one must hand in his or her resignation and go through a State lethal chamber, life might be eternal. It is far more likely that, once the earth is fully populated, people Avill simply cease to be .born, and the Avorld will be the home of a permanent and unchanging population. It must not be forgotten, of course, that science Avill make the earth infinitely more fertile than it is at present, and capable of supporting an immensely larger population. Not only might a man really become a Methusaleh, but he might reasonably expect to become a far more efficient machine than he is at present, The twenty-four hours of to-day are divided roughly into three equal parts, one of AAdiieh is spent in sleep, and part of another 1 m eating. If sleep Avere unnecessary, then the - living or active day Avould immediately be increased from sixteen hours to twenty-four hours. The possibility of the discovery. of some material AAdiieh, taken into the system, Avill have the restful and revivifying effect of eight hours’ sleep, must not be overlooked, Avhile the study of dietetics and the metabolism of the human body is certain to result, eventually, in the discovery of the ideal diet and the elimination of all digestive troubles, Avith an enormous increase in both physical and mental efficiency. Abolish sleep, of course, and extraordinary changes Avould automatically enter the daily life. Houses Avould be smaller, but infinitely more comfortable, for bedrooms, and, possibly, even kitchens, Avould not be required. It is difficult to imagine Avliat living conditions Avould be for a human being AAdio might never die, Avho need never sleep, and Avould certainly have a more perfect body and a more certain memory than any of us has to-day. Thev would naturally depend upon the mechanical state of the Avorld. so that it will be profitable

WHAT SCIENCE MAY DO FOR US. NO SHEEP: NO SLEEP: NO DISEASE.

to make one or lavo suggestions as regards possible developments in this direction. A friend Avith Avhom I Avas discussing- this question of the Avorld’s tremendous future Avas more than sceptical. His .estimate of human nature leads him to think that civilisation Avill commit suicide long- before my suggested millennium can arrive. He pointed out that any advance in invention, as applied to peaceful processes, lias always been accompanied by an equal advance in the destructive powers of mankind, a conclusion Avitli Avhich many readers Avill agree. In -other Avords, man builds but to destroy, and ultimately this little failing of his Avill lead to the earth finally becoming unsuitable for any form of human life. But such a vieAV is surely unduly pessimistic? To Avhat has the progress so far made been due? The popular manner of describing various epochs as the Stone Age, the Iron Age, and so on, gives a clue to the answer to this qnes--lion. All adA r ance has simply resulted from an increase in mechanical and chemical skill. When a Avood fire Avas the only heating process knoAvn, complicated metallurgy, eA r en Avith the aid of the belloAvs, Avas impossible, and the Copper and Bronze Ages resulted. The discovery of coal led to the Iron Age, Avhile to-day has seen the beginning- of the Aluminium Age,

the metallurgy of aluminium being more complicated than that of iron, etc. Any housewife knoAvs the increase in the number of household utensils and appliances made of aluminium AAdiieh have been placed on the market Avithin the last feAv years, but feAv people realise, firstly, the extraordinary usefulness of aluminium in industry, and. secondly, the fact that in nature aluminium is, by Aveight, at least tAvice as common as its great competitor iron. Or, to use chemical terms, at least four times as common, since for each atom of iron in or on the earth, there are at least four atoms of aluminium.

Aluminium is light, non-poisonous, and can be alloyed Avith almost any other metal to produce light alloys fulfilling practically any prescribed requirements of ductility and strength, etc. Its progress has been accompanied by a similar increase in the use of silica —the most common material known. A few years ago a small opaque silica dish Avas almost worth its Aveight in gold. To-day silica A r essels as transparent as glass are reasonably cheap, and the Admiralty research laboratories can produce a Avireless valve three feet high made of the same clear silica, and almost unbreakable. Might not the solution of the housing problem be found in the use of silica and aluminium for building operations? What'will happen Avhen the forces stored in the atom are available as a source of energy? Mr Wells suggests one result in “The World Set Free.” With the plot of the book itself Ave need haA r e no concern ; the title suggests quite enough. The Avorld Avould really be set free. Enormous stores of energy, are locked up in the atom. Could these but. be released, the efficiency of our present-day steam and oil engines Avould be left far behind. Atoms do break doAvii spontaneously—the work of Rutherford and other brilliant English chemists has that—and although the process cannot, as yet, be either guided or controlled, the possibilities exist. Only a feAv Aveeks ago, by atomic degradation, mercury Avas transformed to gold;, a chance result, it must be admitted, but one Avhich holds out a reasonable hope that the process might some day be controlled. Speculation about the future of science can be prolonged into an endless discussion. What is going to happen Avhen the coal and oil supplies of the Avorld ha\ r e been exhausted? ObAdously, light, and heat must be produced by Other means. Possibly , the sun Avill be used as an inexhaustible reservoir of both, or atomic energy might be used to produce infinitely cheap light and poAver.

Synthetic wool, warm and light in weight, will take the place of that supplied by the sheep, which, being no longer necessary, will become as extinct as the dodo—or as the horse —which will have preceded the sheep into the museums. The possibility of living in such a world as has been described does not, in many ways, sound attractive. At present I should be sorry to lose either my bed or my roast pork, but human beings are Avonderfully successful at adapting and grafting on new conditions. The change would probably not be so great as that <1 o which an ancient Briton who died 2000 years ago would have to submit, were he to revisit the world of A.D. 1925. knowing no more thati when lie left it in B.C. 75.