Invention

t of Mohammedanism in the seventh century, the campaigns and governmental systems of Charlemagne in the ninth century, the invasion of England by William of Normandy in the eleventh century, and the C

ed guidance in seeking that relief

n invented, or at least the art of making it from rags. Pa

ne of the most important inventions ever made, the gun. It is often said that gunpowder was

irst to the western Asian nations, and afterwards to Europe by way of the Mediterranean. There can be little doubt that gunpowder was known

solute proof of this. It seems fairly well established that the Moors used artillery in Spain in the twelfth century; though some write

ure exploded and threw the pestle violently out of the mortar. From this incident, the man who was handling the pestle, or a bystander, is supposed to have conceived the idea that the powder could be used intentionally to throw projecti

It may be pointed out, however, that while the fact that gunpowder would blow a pestle out of a mortar might be truly called a discovery, yet the c

possible utilization of the facts disclosed by the incident; and if the man who invented the gun, after witnessing the expulsion of the pestle from the mortar, had not been endowed with both imagination and constructiveness, he would have treated it as most of us treat an incident-merely as an incident. But the imagination of this man must at o

its progress in detail; while the histories of all the nations blaze with stories of the battles in which guns have been employed. Of all the inventions ever made, it is doubtful if the development and improvement of any other has enlisted the services of a greater number of men and of more important men, than the gun. It is more than doubtful if a gr

ization should not perish, but survive; the issue of C?sar's wars in Gaul had decided that Roman civilization should extend north over Europe, and that the western incursion of the savage Germans should be stopped; the issue of the wars between the vigorous Goths and degenerate Rome had decided that Rome must die; and so forth, an

ist-hammer was invented, a man who was sagacious enough and industrious enough and skilful enough to make one, could gain the victory over many an

nfluenced the course of history in favor of men possessing sagacity, industry and skill, as against men not possessing those qualities. By doing this, it not only decided that such men (and trib

lized that, if there were two contiguous tribes about to go to war against each other, one of which was ruled by a sagacious, energetic and far-seeing chief, while the other was ruled by a dull, slothful and short-sighted chief, the former chief would probably provide his warriors with the newest weapon (s

one, or a stick used as a club; and each succeeding weapon has been more complicated than its predecessor,-needing additional parts with which to secure the additional results achieved. This increased complexity has entailed increased liability to derangement, because the failure of any one p

ins where his father did-and so does everything else on the earth; though human invention has recently made it possible for certain plants to be improved. No new invention ever dies as a man does, even if the material parts or immaterial parts that compose it are destroyed. On the contrary, it lives, in the sense that it exists as a definite usable entity, and also in the sense that it continues to propagate. And the things that it propagates do not begin as helpless and useless babies, but a

zation, civilization furthered the improvement of the gun. Nearly every step taken in the physical sciences, and afterward in engineering and general mechanics, has had a direct effect in

he points of fall from that spot are usually attributed to other causes than imperfection in the powder; and if we realize also that a variation of one per cent. in the initial velocity imparted to a projectile by its powder would result in a variation (practically speaking) of one per cent. in the range attained, we then may realize how perfectly

nt; countless minor inventions have been made; countless experiments have been conducted; countless books and articles have been written; countless millions of money have been expended. That the field has been large can readily be realized, when we remind ourselves of the numberless situations that gun-carriages have had to be adapted to, on the level plains of Central Europe, in the mountains, on the sands of the desert,-in cold and heat and wet; and on the ocean also, in small

ciences have been required and utilized; so that, while modern civilization was made possible by the gun, and could not have been

ng any metal or any compound has always been of assistance to every mechanism using that metal or that compound; and it seems impossible to name any mechanism or process whose invention has not helped some other mechanism or process. In the matter of the invention of immaterial things, the effect may not be quite so obvious; and yet it is plain that most of those inventions have contributed to the

lethargy of the Middle Ages; for it was the first great invention of all in the long line that have followed since. As it was the f

hen Rome fell, and not revived until the gun came into general use in the fourteenth century. During the interval of nearly nine hundred years, civilization indeed went backward with the advance of the barbarians into Europe, checked but not wholly stopped by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in 732, and later by Charlemagne, his grandson, in numerous campaigns. But the gun, being adopted and improved by peoples having the mentality needed to discern its usefulnes

yria, Greece, Rome, the Hellenistic countries and Italy. But the printing had been done from blocks on which were cut or carved many characters, that expressed whole w

r on each block, putting the blocks in forms so arranged that the blocks can be put in such sequence as may be de

not see that their invention there had any considerable influence on history. China was separated from western Asia and from Africa and Europe by the long stretch of the dry lands of Central Asia, across which little communicati

ntion of Gutenberg. It started almost immediately; and it increased with a rapidity and a certainty that are amazing. No invention made before

is required to "work" his invention, to make apparatus embodying it, and to put the apparatus to use. The underlying idea of the patent laws of all countries is that the good of the public is the end in view, and not the good of the inventor; that rewards are held out to the inventor, merely to induce him to put devices of practical value into the hands of the people. From this point of view, which seems to be the correct one, the

5. The types were of metal, and were cast from a matrix that had been stamped out by a steel punch, and could therefore be so accurately fashioned that the type had a beautiful sharpness and finish. In add

were, of course, the works of the ancient authors, beginning with three editions of Donatus. These were multiplied in great numbers, and gave the fi

to a search for old manuscripts; and so ardent did this search become that the libraries of cathedrals and monasteries in all the civilized countries were ransacked. Many new libraries were founded, especially in Italy, to hold the old manuscripts that

nting o

ands, they seized upon it as an undreamed-of blessing for bringing about that widespread study o

ure of printing presses and allied machinery, would require an enormous book of a wholly technical nature; to describe and point out the arts that have been made necessary, and the arts that have been made possible, by the invention of printing would entail a history of most of the i

y people, perhaps of most people, printing is considered the most important invention ever made. Maybe it is; but let us remind ourselves that the gun came before the printing-press, and that the civilization contributed to by the printing press w

arian, be he a savage under Attila or a Bolshevik in New York. It is true that civilization may be considered as more important than the means that makes it possible, but even this seems to be discussible; but that the gun constitutes more distinctly the preservative influence of modern civilization than any other one thin

without realizing the dangers that confront it, and have always confronted it, and will continue to confront it. Civilization is an artificial product, that some people think has more evil in it

e worked together hand in hand: that one guarded, and the other assisted, the first tottering steps of the Renaissance

d that the surroundings and early life of both were not those of courts or palaces, but those of a humble kind, it may be well to note how enormous are the results that have flowed from causes that seem to be very small. We have been told th

he strong resemblance between the impression made on us by actually seeing some friend and the impression received by imagining him receiving a letter which we are now writing to him. The first picture was an image of the external object that was physically made on the retina, as a picture or image is made by a camera on a screen; but that picture on

e rays of light pass through the crystalline lens of the eye and are focussed on the retina, as they pass through the lens of the camera, and are focussed on the sensitized paper. Assuming the distance from the crystalline lens to the retina to be about three-quarters of an inc

thinking of our friends and of past incidents and possible future incidents; and our thoughts of these things take the form of pictures. We see the man with whom we had a conversation yesterday, and we see him with a clearness that is proportional to the interest taken by the mind in the conversation and the circumstance

To call up an image voluntarily requires conscious effort; and to keep it in position while we gaze upon it requires effort that is great in proportion

he act gives pleasure, or the image suggests danger; in eac

the vague mental pictures passing through his mind, concentrates his attention on them, and gazes at each one for a while. We call the former an observant man and the other a thoughtful man. Sometimes an observant man learns a great deal from what he sees, in the same way that sometimes

time, while he fixes his attention on it. Usually, however, the thoughtful man memorizes his observations or his studies for some specific purpose; he moves the various images about in his mind; and arranges them in classes: for

e man who arranges a card-catalogue in such a way that it will be useful, not only notes isolated facts, but puts them into juxtaposition with each other, and sees what their relations are. The mental pictures that he finally fixes in his mind are of related things, seen in their correct perspective. They are like the pictures which are made on the mind of a

s in his mind. If his thoughtfulness takes him no further than simply forming pictures that enable him to see things as they are, and in their correct relations to each

itions, may be unable to suggest any way for utilizing its possible benefits, or warding off its possible dangers. That is, he may lack constructiveness. He is like a man who possesses any desirable

a weapon with which he can kill living animals at a considerable distance. With neither the pieces of wood nor the string could he do that; and he could not do it with all three, unless he were able to construct them i

ation. Thus history, while it is a narrative of things that have been done, is not a narrative of all the things that have been done, but only of the new and striking things. It is a narrative of wars, of the rise and fall of nations, o

ucted are according to former patterns and the lessons of experience. All the constructive and engineering arts and sciences are studied and practiced for the purpose of enabling men to build bridges

ditions of battle, he shall fire his musket and do his other acts automatically, undisturbed by the danger and excitement. Similarly, all our experience in life tends to automaticity. It is a very comfortable condition, for it demands the minimum amount of m

the most perfect automatic engine had to be started at some time, and it had to be invented before it could be started; and it had also to go throug

change. The gun did this, and so did the printing press. In every such case, a few men have welcomed the invention, but the majority have resented t

ited with some vision which he cannot or will not dismiss, and which compels him to try to embody it in some form, and to continue to try until he succeeds in doing so, or gives up, confess

at was done upon it: many a book and many an essay has succeeded almost wholly because of the skilful construction of the sentences; many a picture because of the accuracy of the perspective and the mixing of the colors; many a new mechanical device because of the excellent workmanship bestowed upon it. Conversely, many a grand and beautiful conception has failed of recognition because of the p

owner of the retina, unless a healthy optic nerve transmits it to his brain. Every mental picture must also be transmitted to the brain; and some mental pictures are very bright and clear. In some forms of insanity, the mental pictur

y to realize the small area of the brain that the vision must have covered. If a line 1/4000 of an inch wide made on the physical retina and afterwards transmitted to the bra

ct, a machine, a poem or a sonata, indicates that the essential processes of invention are wholly mental. This truth is illustrated by the work of every inventor, great or smal

Bacon has not been made, becaus