Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net ANTICIPATIONS OF THE REACTION OF MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS UPON HUMAN LIFE AND THOUGHT BY H. G. WELLS AUTHOR OF "LOVE AND MR. LEWISHAM," "THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU," AND "TALES OF SPACE AND TIME." _SECOND EDITION_ LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LD. 1902 CONTENTS I. LOCOMOTION IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 1 II. THE PROBABLE DIFFUSION OF GREAT CITIES 33 III. DEVELOPING SOCIAL ELEMENTS 66 IV. CERTAIN SOCIAL REACTIONS 103 V. THE LIFE-HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY 143 VI. WAR IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 176 VII. THE CONFLICT OF LANGUAGES 215 VIII. THE LARGER SYNTHESIS 245 IX. FAITH, MORALS, AND PUBLIC POLICY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 279 ANTICIPATIONS I LOCOMOTION IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY It is proposed in this book to present in as orderly an arrangement as the necessarily diffused nature of the subject admits, certain speculations about the trend of present forces, speculations which, taken all together, will build up an imperfect and very hypothetical, but sincerely intended forecast of the way things will probably go in this new century.[1] Necessarily diffidence will be one of the graces of the performance. Hitherto such forecasts have been presented almost invariably in the form of fiction, and commonly the provocation of the satirical opportunity has been too much for the writer;[2] the narrative form becomes more and more of a nuisance as the speculative inductions become sincerer, and here it will be abandoned altogether in favour of a texture of frank inquiries and arranged considerations. Our utmost aim is a rough sketch of the coming time, a prospectus, as it were, of the joint undertaking of mankind in facing these impending years. The reader is a prospective shareholder--he and his heirs--though whether he will find this anticipatory balance-sheet to his belief or liking is another matter.