so you anticipate a nuclear war in the middle of the 21st century thanks to cold fusion? harry
----- Original Message ----- From: Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> Date: Sunday, May 31, 2009 12:00 pm Subject: [Vo]:H. G. Wells describes our predicament in 1913 > H. G. Wells described the situation with cold fusion in his 1913 > S.F. novel > "The World Set Free" which is about nuclear energy. A character > describesthe world as it was before the coming of ultra-cheap, > plentiful nuclear > energy and a nuclear war: > > ". . . Everywhere there were obsolete organisations seizing upon > all the new > fine things that science was giving to the world, nationalities, > all sorts > of political bodies, the churches and sects, proprietorship, > seizing upon > those treat powers and limitless possibilities and turning them to > eviluses. And they would not suffer open speech, they would not > permit of > education, they would let no one be educated to the needs of the new > time.... You who are younger cannot imagine the mixture of > desperate hope > and protesting despair in which we who could believe in the > possibilities of > science lived in those years before atomic energy came.... > > 'It was not only that the mass of people would not attend, would not > understand, but that those who did understand lacked the power of real > belief. They said the things, they saw the things, and the things > meantnothing to them.... > 'I have been reading some old papers lately. It is wonderful how > our fathers > bore themselves towards science. They hated it. They feared it. They > permitted a few scientific men to exist and work—a pitiful handful.... > 'Don't find out anything about us,' they said to them; 'don't > inflict vision > upon us, spare our little ways of life from the fearful shaft of > understanding. But do tricks for us, little limited tricks. Give us > cheaplighting. And cure us of certain disagreeable things, cure us > of cancer, > cure us of consumption, cure our colds and relieve us after > repletion....'" > http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1059/1059-h/1059-h.htm > > Chapter 1, Section 3 of this book reads like my book. No > coincidentally; I > read this years ago, before it was converted to e-text. So did Arthur > Clarke, of course, and it was one of the inspirations for "Profiles > of the > Future." To find this section look for this text: > > "Holsten, before he died, was destined to see atomic energy > dominating every > other source of power, but for some years yet a vast network of > difficultiesin detail and application kept the new discovery from > any effective invasion > of ordinary life. . . ." > > - Jed >
