SCIENCE OF THE FUTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14299, 19 February 1910, Page 6 (Supplement)

SCIENCE OF THE FUTURE.

< , ME. EDISON'S FORECAST. - Mr. T. A. f. Edison has beon expressing I oracular "dews, reminiscent j of 'i : Mother Shipton, and predicting, that; within - 200 years., the world , will witness wonders surpassing all imagination, when man, who will.by. means of science have learnt how to extract all the power he needs for the purposes ;of ■ life from the "earth, wind, and tide, and when living will be so cheap that an ordinary labourer/ will live just as well. as a man of the present' day with £40,000 annual . income. . v Mr. , Edison /Relieves not only <in the wonderful : resources of radium, but even that steam- volcanoes will be exploited for the "uses of civilisation. So ' far, he declares, we have only been groping in the dark, and this despite the - many learned statements of -i many learned scientists. • - ■ ■ ~ v . "How ignorant we are! " : We- don't know what gravity is/neither do we know the nature of ; heat, light, and electricity, though we handle them a little. h'W© are only animals. f We are 'i , just ; ; coming out of : the dog stage, and getting a glimpse of our environment. -We don't know.; ■we just • suspect a., few > things, ',:'. and ; it will take an. enormous evolution '-pi our brains to bring us anywhere. . Our practice of shooting one another in war is .a proof that we are ■still animals. ''[ The make-up of ; our society' is hideous."';; ; ;,> ; -; ; '.•;' 'i : :--' ■■:■ '* Incidentally Mr. Edison declared f' that the clothes of the future will-be so cheap that every ' young:'woman will be able to follow the fashions promptly. " Artificial silk : that \A is superior : . v- to natural silk is now made of wood pulp. It shines better than silk, and' I ■ think _that the ■ silk-worm' barbarism will' go in . fifty years, just <as the indigo of ' India ;. went with; the production of ;f indigo in 'modern labora;torie3/~