Preece, Lodge, and, above all, Branly, have devised the
arrangements necessary for their transmission. But he might then
recall what Voltaire wrote in the _Philosophical Dictionary_:
"What! We wish to know what was the exact theology of Thot, of
Zerdust, of Sanchuniathon, of the first Brahmins, and we are ignorant
of the inventor of the shuttle! The first weaver, the first mason, the
first smith, were no doubt great geniuses, but they were disregarded.
Why? Because none of them invented a perfected art. The one who
hollowed out an oak to cross a river never made a galley; those who
piled up rough stones with girders of wood did not plan the Pyramids.
Everything is made by degrees and the glory belongs to no one."
To-day, more than ever, the words of Voltaire are true: science
becomes more and more impersonal, and she teaches us that progress is
nearly always due to the united efforts of a crowd of workers, and is
thus the best school of social solidarity.
CHAPTER VIII
THE CONDUCTIVITY OF GASES AND THE IONS
Sec.
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