Science from an Easy Chair

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book Science from an Easy Chair by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester, Library of Alexandria
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sir Edwin Ray Lankester ISBN: 9781465621603
Publisher: Library of Alexandria Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
ISBN: 9781465621603
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English

The delight which is experienced by those who discover new things in the various branches of science is, no doubt, very great. To reveal to other men processes, properties, existences in the natural world hitherto unsuspected, or, if suspected, yet eluding the grasp of man, is to do something which gives to him who does it a sense that he is of value in the world—a sense which will uphold him and enable him to endure adversity, and even persecution, with equanimity. But there is, perhaps, a greater and more vivid satisfaction for those who do or make great and splendid things which all men can see, and for which all men are grateful. The great artist—poet, painter, builder, or musician—has this satisfaction, and so also has the man who, by a combination of personal energy and clearness of intellectual vision, applies scientific knowledge to the accomplishment of great public works, and to the acquirement of that control by mankind of the natural conditions hostile to human progress which we may call, as did Lord Bacon, “the establishing of the kingdom of man.” The men who have expelled yellow fever from Cuba and Panama have not merely done a piece of sanitary cleaning up; they have first imagined and then created, by the force of human will, directed and maintained by conviction of the reality of science, a new thing—the tropics without deadly fever, the tropics as a healthy and welcome home for the white man. That is comparable to the work of a great artist in the directness of its appeal; it is in its actual detail the result of the combination of the skill of the engineer with the foresight and absolute domination of his human agents of a military genius. For this magnificent work the highest credit is due to the United States chief sanitary officer, Colonel Gorgas. It is well known how the American Medical Commission in Cuba proved six years ago that yellow fever is conveyed from man to man solely and entirely by a gnat common in Central America, known asStegomyia, and further, how by carrying out measures for preventing the entrance of these gnats into dwelling-houses, and especially by keeping them away from yellow fever patients so that they fail to obtain and carry the yellow fever germ, even if they do bite healthy men, Colonel Gorgas and his associates practically eradicated yellow fever in Cuba. The bite of the Stegomyia gnat is the only way in which a man can acquire yellow fever, and the gnat which bites him must have taken up the germs of yellow fever from another man—twelve days (no less) previously.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The delight which is experienced by those who discover new things in the various branches of science is, no doubt, very great. To reveal to other men processes, properties, existences in the natural world hitherto unsuspected, or, if suspected, yet eluding the grasp of man, is to do something which gives to him who does it a sense that he is of value in the world—a sense which will uphold him and enable him to endure adversity, and even persecution, with equanimity. But there is, perhaps, a greater and more vivid satisfaction for those who do or make great and splendid things which all men can see, and for which all men are grateful. The great artist—poet, painter, builder, or musician—has this satisfaction, and so also has the man who, by a combination of personal energy and clearness of intellectual vision, applies scientific knowledge to the accomplishment of great public works, and to the acquirement of that control by mankind of the natural conditions hostile to human progress which we may call, as did Lord Bacon, “the establishing of the kingdom of man.” The men who have expelled yellow fever from Cuba and Panama have not merely done a piece of sanitary cleaning up; they have first imagined and then created, by the force of human will, directed and maintained by conviction of the reality of science, a new thing—the tropics without deadly fever, the tropics as a healthy and welcome home for the white man. That is comparable to the work of a great artist in the directness of its appeal; it is in its actual detail the result of the combination of the skill of the engineer with the foresight and absolute domination of his human agents of a military genius. For this magnificent work the highest credit is due to the United States chief sanitary officer, Colonel Gorgas. It is well known how the American Medical Commission in Cuba proved six years ago that yellow fever is conveyed from man to man solely and entirely by a gnat common in Central America, known asStegomyia, and further, how by carrying out measures for preventing the entrance of these gnats into dwelling-houses, and especially by keeping them away from yellow fever patients so that they fail to obtain and carry the yellow fever germ, even if they do bite healthy men, Colonel Gorgas and his associates practically eradicated yellow fever in Cuba. The bite of the Stegomyia gnat is the only way in which a man can acquire yellow fever, and the gnat which bites him must have taken up the germs of yellow fever from another man—twelve days (no less) previously.

More books from Library of Alexandria

Cover of the book Suma y narracion de los Incas, que los indios llamaron Capaccuna, que fueron señores de la ciudad del Cuzco y de todo lo á ella subjeto by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book Abington Abbey: A Novel by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book Prisons: A Social Crime and Failure by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book Storia Vecchia: Commedia in Due Atti by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book The City Of Pleasure: A Fantasia on Modern Themes by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book The Man-at-Arms: Henry De Cerons by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book Oriental Mysticism by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book The Life of the Spirit and the Life of To-day by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book Woman and Puppet: The New Pleasure; Byblis; Lêda; Immortal Love; The Artist Triumphant; The Hill of Horsel by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book The Interest of America in Sea Power, Present and Future by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book Christmas, a Happy Time: A Tale Calculated for the Amusement and Instruction of Young Persons by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects (Complete) by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book The Sylph, Volumes I and II by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book Peeps at Many Lands: Ireland by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
Cover of the book Castle Hohenwald: A Romance by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy