Part II.
|
1 . The Body
2 . Food 3 . Work 4 . The Weather 5 . The Family 6 . A Building 7 . Fire 8 . The Country 9 . The Sea 10. Time |
11. The Machine
12. Business 13. Money 14. Noise 15. News 16. Amusement 17. Education 18. Reading 19. The Earth 20. History |
21 . Invention
22 . Feeling 23 . Art 24 . Trade 25 . Transport 26 . Peace 27 . Language 28 . Society 29 . Government 30 . Science |
| Notes for the Teacher | -- 40 pages | |
|---|---|---|
21 . INVENTION1
| - - - Things - - - | Qualities | ||
| instrument
(invention) |
angle
camera chance crack experience fight glass measure plane |
ray
screw spring steam watch wax whistle wire view | hollow -- solid
able delicate electric |
- machine ;
apparatus , control , discovery
21 . INVENTION
From the earliest times men have been seeing new uses for the substances which the earth gives them, and making new sorts of things for work or pleasure. Every such thing is an invention. Not only the great machines of our time, but things like a knife and a screw and a spring are inventions. The burning of wax for light was no less an invention than electric light. though it was not such a good one.
These early inventions do not seem as surprising as those which are nearer to us, but without their help we would not have had the later ones. Without the spring the invention of the watch would not have been possible, and so on. One of the most important of the older inventions was glass. To this delicate substance, which at the start was used only for making beautiful things, we are in debt for a great part of our present knowledge.
Men early got the knowledge that when a ray of light went through glass, the direction in which it went into the substance sometimes made an angle with the direction in which it came out, and that with a bit of glass which was thin at the edges and thick in the middle, rays might be bent in such a way that they came together at one point. But it was not till much later that they got a way of taking the measure of these angles, and saw clearly what surprising uses this quality of glass might have. Able men were were hot slow in profiting by this knowledge. One of the first of the new inventions was an instrument for getting a better view of things which are a great distance away, such as the moon and stars Almost at the same time another instrument was made for seeing very small things clearly. It will readily be seen how important these inventions were for making additions to our knowledge.
Another invention which was based on the knowledge of light rays was the camera. The little bit of glass at the front sends the rays to the right points on the plate at the back.
The bulb which is part of some cameras is another invention. When it is crushed in the hand, it sends a current of air through a pipe to a delicate spring which is in the box. When this spring is moved, the light is let in through the glass. The bulb is hollow like the pipe. If it was solid, it would have no air in it. When there is a crack in the bulb, it will not do the necessary work, because the air gets out and does not go through the pipe.
Another sort of bulb is the glass electric light bulb. In these electric bulbs we may see the delicate wire through which the electric current goes.
Electric machines are now taking the place of some which are worked by steam, but steam is still one of the most valued servants of man. One of the most Important inventions based on the use of steam is the steamboat. One of the less Important is the steam whistle.
The plane which is used to make wood smooth is one of the oldest inventions. The airplane in which we may take a flight through the air is one of the newest and most surprising.
It is sometimes said that chance has given us some of the most important Inventions, but without the help of experience chance would have done little for us.
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1 . See Notes on this Step.
Questions
- 1 . What is an invention?
2 . What were five early inventions?
3 . What quality of glass made possible the invention of instruments for seeing very small things and things a great distance away?
4 . For what are these instruments important?
5 . What does the bulb of a camera do when it is crushed in the hand?
6 . Why is it hollow?
7 . Give an example of another sort of bulb.
8 . What is inside an electric bulb.
9 . What two sorts of power are named here as used for working machines?
10. What is the use of a plane?
Answers
- 1 . Any new sort of thing which is made by man.
2 . Knives, Screws. springs. wax-lights, and glass.
3 . The quality of getting rays of light bent when they go through it.
4 . For making additions to our knowledge.
5 . It sends a current of air to a delicate spring which is in the box.
6 . Because if it was solid it Would have no air in it.
7 . An electric-light bulb.
8 . A delicate wire Through which the electric current goes.
9 . Electric (current) and steam.
10. A plane is used for making wood smooth.
22 . FEELING
| - - - Things - - - | Qualities | |
| belief
comfort disgust doubt fear (feeling) hope humour impulse interest nerve regret sense shame | balance
heart horn insect reaction shock | normal -— strange
angry conscious second |
- amusement, approval, desire, hate, hearing, love,
pain, pleasure, respect, smell, sound, surprise, taste ;
care (e), touch (e)
art, colour, harmony, heat, religion;
agreement (e), attraction (e).
22 . FEELING
Fear sometimes makes us do very surprising things. One night the nerve of one of my teeth was giving me a feeling of pain, and it was certain that I would not be able to go to sleep till the pain was stopped. But I had nothing in the house which would be of use, and the only way of getting anything was by going to the house of a friend. The distance was not long, but the road went through a wood, and there was a story going about that a strange animal with a great horn had been seen there some days earlier.
I had no belief that there was such an annual, and no doubt that I would be quite safe in the wood, so I made a start without any fear. But before I had gone very far a strange sound came to my ears It was not like the normal cry of any animal of which I had had experience, and it sent a wave of fear through me. My reason was quite certain that there was no danger, but I was not as happy as I had been before I even had an impulse to go back, but shame and the hope of stopping the pain in my tooth kept me from doing so, though not from having a feeling of regret that I had come.
I went forward more quickly, with every sense awake. The touch of an insect on my face was enough to make my blood go cold. Suddenly a second cry came, much nearer than the first. This time my reaction was to make a complete stop. My heart seemed to come into my throat and my feet to be fixed to the earth. A minute later I was going back as quickly as my legs would take me.
The wood was dark, and after only two or three steps I put my foot into a hole. I was unable to keep my balance, and I came down on my face. The shock of the fall sent all the breath out of my body, and my senses went from me for a time.
When I was conscious again, my first feeling was a pain in my head. Then my fear came back and I got on my feet. But before I had taken a step, a sound came which sent all fear from me. It was the strange sound again, but this time it was clearly over my head, and there was no doubt that it was the cry of a night bird.
With a look of disgust at my trousers covered with wet earth, I went on again. I was angry because I had not had more sense, but when I got to the house of my friend, and was giving an account of my experience in comfort before a bright fire, amusement took the place of my bad humour. Everyone took a great interest In my story, and when they were certain that no serious damage had been done by my fall, they had a good laugh about it.
Questions
- 1 . What did the man in this story go to the house of his friend for?
2 . What was said to have been seen in the wood?
3 . Why did he have no fear at the start?
4 . Why did the sound which came to his ears put fear into him?
5 . What kept him from going back
6 . What made his blood go cold?
7 . What was his reaction to the second cry?
8 . Why did he have a fall when he put his foot into a hole.
9 . What was his feeling when he saw his dirty trousers
10. What were the feelings of has friends when he gave them an account of his experience?
Answers
- 1 . Something for stopping the pain in (the nerve of) his tooth.
2 . A strange animal With a great horn.
3 . Because he had no belief that there was such an animal.
4 . Because it was not like the normal cry of any animal of which he had had experience.
5 . Shame and the hope of stopping the pain in his tooth.
6 . The touch of an insect on his face.
7 . He made a complete stop.
8 . Because he was unable to keep his balance.
9 . Disgust.
10. Interest and amusement.
23 . ART
| - - - Things - - - | Qualities | ||
| (art)
ornament picture | arch
brass canvas chalk circle copper copy curve design | frame
hook jewel paint polish suggestion square vessel | black -— white
complex —- simple mixed |
- Music, song, verse
fiction (s), picture (s), Nay (e), stage (e,)
taste (e), touch (s), writing (e) ;
attraction, colour, form, line, pleasure,
science, value
feeling (s).
23 . ART
The art of early man was rooted in his physical needs. The first picture was probably a copy of the form of some animal necessary for food, and was made with chalk or paint on the rough stone wall of a hole in the side of a mountain. Such pictures were probably made, not only for pleasure, but because men had the belief that in some way these copies made the animals come when they were needed. Even the first design which was cut on a bit of metal, or painted on a cup or other vessel, was almost certainly not only an ornament, but an instrument for keeping the owner of it safe from danger, or helping him in some other way.
But the strange impulse to make copies of things which were needed for existence was the start of a new and very important experience. With it came the pleasure in making and doing beautiful things which has made the growth of art possible.
At the start, all the forms which were used by painters and designers in their work were copies of the forms which they saw in things about them, but it is surprising how early they put them together in new ways. They saw very quickly that even simple forms, such as the square and the circle, might be joined in a great number of complex designs to make pictures which were not copies of anything. The curve of a leaf might give the suggestion for a design which was not at all like leaves, but only a number of forms and colours put together in a way which was pleasing to the eye.
The earliest painting was done with only one or two colours. Red, black, and white were very common, because they were the colours of common substances which might be used as paints. The knowledge of more uncommon paints, and of the way to get them mixed so that they made new colours, did not come till later.
Metal-work was one of the earliest of the arts. The metals which have been most used in art are gold, silver, copper, and copper mixed with another metal to make it harder. The brass of which kettles and curtain rods are made, and which we keep bright with polish, is another mixed metal with copper in it, but the one used in art is different. It is brown, not yellow like brass.
The growth of the knowledge of building gave man a new sort of art, and at the same time gave a new interest to some of the other arts. Men made the lines of their structures beautiful, and the flat walls gave a chance for paintings and for designs in stone or wood. It was not till quite late in history that a picture was commonly something in a frame which might be put on a hook on a wall and moved from place to place. Before that it was a part of a building. The art of building has given us a number of beautiful forms. One of the most beautiful is the arch, which has been used most in the buildings of Europe.
From the start men have all the time been learning new processes of art. One very important invention was that of painting on canvas with paints mixed with oil. But that is only one of a great number of such inventions, not only in painting, but in all the other arts which make use of physical substances.
We sometimes give the name art, not only to the great arts, but to any expert way of doing or making anything. So we may say that cutting a jewel is an art, or that there is an art of cooking.
Questions
- 1 . Where were the earliest pictures made and with what substances
2 . What were they probably copies of?
3 . Why?
4 . Give examples of simple forms winch were early used for making complex designs.
5 . How may natural forms, like the form of a leaf, have been responsible for a new sort of picture?
6 . What were the commonest colours used in early paintings?
7 . What metals have been most used in the history of art?
8 . Why did the art of building give a new interest to the other arts?
9 . What was one of the most important inventions in the art of painting?
10. Give two examples of processes which are said to be arts in the second sense of the word.
Answers
- 1 . On the rough stone walls of holes in the mountains, with chalk or paint.
2 . The forms of animals necessary for food.
3 . Because early man had the belief that these copies made the animals come when they were needed.
4 . The square and the circle.
5 . They may have given suggestions for designs which were not copies of anything.
6 . Red, black, and white.
7 . Gold, silver, copper, and copper mixed with another metal.
8 . Because the walls gave a chance for paintings and designs in stone or wood.
9 . The invention of painting on canvas with paints mixed with oil.
10. Cutting a jewel and cooking.
24 . TRADE
| - - - Things - - - | Qualities | ||
| exchange
(trade) | band
coal competition cotton distribution industry insurance iron linen | mine
nut produce rice silk tin tray wine worm | chief
dependent elastic fertile hanging |
- market ;
business (e), country (e), industry (e), offer (s)
agreement, balance, company, credit, debt, government, harbour, loss, manager,
money,offer, organization, price, profit, secretary, station, tax, transport;
representative (e).
24 . TRADE
All business is based on trade, which is the exchange of goods. The simplest form of trade is the exchange of one sort of produce for another, but this sort of trade is not very common at the present time. In some parts of the earth men still give the skins of animals and other things it exchange for food, or cloth, or bright ornaments for their bodies but most countries make use of an instrument of exchange, that is, of money. The invention of money made trade a very much more complex thing.
Most countries have more than enough of some things for their needs, and not enough of others. In one part of the earth there may be great fields of rice for food but no iron for making machines. In another there may be a great amount of tin for cooking-vessels, but no leather for boots and shoes. So almost every country sends goods to other countries, and with the money which it gets in exchange for them, it makes payment for the goods Which other countries send to it. In this way distribution is made of the things of the earth.
In every great country today men and women are dependent on the industry of persons in other lands for some of the things most commonly used. If you are in England, your dress may be of silk which has been made by a small worm in China, or your shirt of cotton which has come from the cotton fields of India. You may keep papers together with a band of an elastic substance taken from a plant in South America, or keep your accounts on paper produced in Canada. You may have for your morning meal, on a tray from Japan, oranges which a shod time before were hanging on the trees in South Africa. If you are in Belgium, the coal you put on your fires may have come from a mine in Wales, and if you are in the United States, the wine which you have at a meal is probably the produce of France or Spain or Italy.
Almost all the produce of the earth has some use. A nut, or the root of a plant, or a small fish, may give substances which are most important to man. So even a country which is not very fertile, and has no mines of metal, may be the producer of something for which other countries will give money.
When the produce of one country is like that of another, there is competition between them for trade with other countries. Linen was at one time one of the chief things produced by Europe, but when cotton came into the markets of the West It took the place of linen, because it was cheaper and better for some uses, and the linen trade is now very small.
We are in debt to trade for a great Increase in the comforts of existence. One of the things which it has given us, which Is sometimes overlooked, is insurance. The first form of insurance was against the loss of goods on the sea, and it is said to have had its start among the traders of Phoenicia.
Questions
- 1 . What is the simplest form of trade ?
2 . What effect did the invention of money have on trade?
3 . What substances are used for making : (a) machines (b) cooking-vessels (c) boots and shoes
4 . How is money used in trade between countries?
5 . What is one outcome of trade between countries?
6 . Give the names of two substances used for clothing which England gets from other countries with the names of the countries from which they come.
7 . What do we get iron mines?
8 . What takes place between two countries when the produce of one is like that of the other
9 . What trade has been made less important by the coming of cotton into the markets of the West
10. Give the name of one thing for which we are in debt to trade.
Answers
- 1 . The exchange of one sort of produce for another.
2 . It made trade more complex.
3 . (a) Iron ; (b) tin ; (c) leather.
4 . A country sends goods to others and gets money in exchange for them ; then with that money it makes payment for goods which other countries send to it.
5 . A distribution of the things of the earth.
6 . Silk from China and cotton from India.
7 . Coal and metals.
8 . Competition.
9 . The linen trade.
10. Insurance.
25 . TRANSPORT
| - - - Things - - - | Qualities | |
| carriage
cart driving journey porter station train (transport) | brake
bridge change condition engine level power rate river slope ticket weight | same -— different
parallel possible waiting |
- boat, harbour, road, ship;
carriage (e), engine (s), line (e), rail (s), smash (s). vessel (e);
air, connection, distance,flight, foot. horse, map,
motion, move, parcel, sea, steam, trade, way.
25 . TRANSPORT
The transport of men and things over great distances in a very short time is common thing in our day. But this ha been made possible only by invention little more than a hundred years old. Not till 1801 was an engine used for sending a ship through the water, and this was quite a long time before the first train made its first journey. Up to then the quickest way of going from place to place on land was on horseback, and journey over the sea were made in sailing-ships These sorts of transport seem very slow to us now, in comparison with the rate of a train or a steamship. But they were much quicker and better ways of getting over the earth than men had had in earlier times.
The invention of the wheel was a great event in the history of transport. Before that, animals took men and things on their backs, but wheels gave an animal the power of moving a much greater weight. It may readily be seen how important this was for trade.
When man had made his first rough cart, he was on the way to the invention of the carriage, in which journeys Were commonly made before the coming of the train. The design of the carriage went on getting better and better. The addition of a brake for keeping it from rolling down slope, and of springs for making the motion less rough, were great comforts.
In most countries, carriages of great weight, pulled by four or even more horses, were used for going long distances A change of horses was made at different stopping-places on the road, and in this way a quicker journey was possible Experts were needed for driving Such carriages, and if the condition of the roads was bad this was very hard work. Some times, if it was necessary to get across a river and there was no bridge, the driver made his horses go through the water. Journeys in those days were frequently full of strange experiences.
But today even a long journey is very simple. A man goes to the station, gets ticket, and takes a seat in the waiting train. His bags and boxes are put in the railway carriage by a porter, and at a fixed time the train goes. Though the rate of motion is very great, the train goes smoothly, and he may have a sleep or do some reading while it is quickly taking him to the end his journey.
The two parallel rails of metal which are the road for the wheels of a train go through rough fields and across mountains where a carriage and horses would be unable to go. The power of the engine takes the train up long slopes at almost the same rate as over country which is on a level. There are no stops for rest or food, or because the roads are bad.
At present the only form of transport quicker than the train is the airplane. This the newest and quickest form of transport which we have. It does not seem possible now that anything will ever be quicker, but the history of transport has not come to an end, and it may still have some surprises for us.
Questions
- 1 . What makes the old forms of transport seem slow to us?
2 . What invention made a great change to transport
3 . Why was this invention important for trade
4 . By what two additions were carriages given greater comfort?
5 . What was done to make journeys by carriage quicker?
6 . Where do you go to get on a train, and what is it necessary to do before you take your seat?
7 . Who puts the bags and boxes in the carriage
8 . What sort of road is necessary for the wheels of a train?
9 . What power puts a train in motion
10. What is the quickest form of transport?
Answers
- 1 . The rate of trains and steamships.
2 . The wheel.
3 . Because wheels gave an animal the power of moving a much greater weight.
4 . By the addition of a brake for keeping the carriage from rolling down slopes, and of springs for making the motion less rough.
5 . A change of horses was made at different stopping-places on the road.
6 . To the station it is necessary to get ticket.
7 . A porter.
8 . Two parallel rails of metal.
9 . The power of the engine.
10. The airplane.