TWENTIETH CENTURY INVENTIONS
TWENTIETH CENTURY
INVENTIONS
A Forecast
BY
GEORGE SUTHERLAND, M.A.
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1901
PREFACE.
Twenty years ago the author started a career in technologicaljournalism by writing descriptions of what he regarded as the mostpromising inventions which had been displayed in internationalexhibitions then recently held. From that time until the present ithas been his constant duty and practice to take note of the advance ofinventive science as applied to industrial improvement—to watch it asan organic growth, not only from a philosophical, but also from apractical, point of view. The advance towards the actual adoption ofany great industrial invention is generally a more or less collectivemovement; and, in the course of a practice such as that referred to,the habit of watching the signs of progress has been naturallyacquired.
Moreover, it has always been necessary to takea comprehensive, rather than a minute[Pg vi]or detailed, view of the progress of the great industrialarmy of nineteenth century civilisation towards certainobjectives. It is better, for some purposes of technologicaljournalism, to be attached to the staff than to march with anyindividual company—for the war correspondent must ever place himselfin a position from which a bird's-eye view is possible. The personalaspect of the campaign becomes merged in that which regards the armyas an organic unit.
It may, therefore, be claimed that, in some moderate degree, theauthor is fitted by training and opportunities for undertaking thenecessarily difficult task of foretelling the trend of invention andindustrial improvement during the twentieth century. He must, ofcourse, expect to be wrong in a certain proportion of hisprognostications; but, like the meteorologists, he will be content ifin a fair percentage of his forecasts it should be admitted that hehas reasoned correctly according to the available data.
The questions to be answered in an inquiry as to the chances offailure or success which lie before any invention or proposed[Pg vii]improvement are, first, whether it is really wanted; and, secondly,whether the environment in the midst of which it must make its débutis favourable. These requirements generally depend upon matters which,to a large extent, stand apart from the personal qualifications of anyindividual inventor.
In the course of a search through the vast accumulations of thepatent specifications of various countries, the thought is almostirresistibly forced upon the mind of the investigator that "there isnothing new under the sun". No matter how far back he may push hisinquiry in attempting to unveil the true source of any important idea,he will always find at some antecedent date the germ, either ofthe same inventive conception, or of something which is hardlydistinguishable from it. The habit of research into the origin ofimproved industrial method must therefore help to strengthen theimpression of the importance of gradual growth, and of generaltendencies, as being the prime factors in promoting social advancementthrough the success of invention.
The same habit will also generally have the effectof rendering the searcher more diffident[Pg viii]in any claims which he may entertain as tothe originality of his own ideas. Inventive thought has been soenormously stimulated during the past two or three generation