Quo vadimus? : $b Some glimpses of the futureFournier d'Albe, E. E. (Edmund Edward)
Philosophy
Quo vadimus? : $b Some glimpses of the future
Fournier d'Albe, E. E. (Edmund Edward)
Civilization; Progress
The evolution of clothing will, therefore, be in the direction of
adaptability to climate and occupation. New fabrics will no doubt be
invented, combining the warmth of fur with the softness and flexibility
of silk and the strength of linen. Dress will be light, so that half a
dozen changes of costume can be carried in a handbag, and will be so
designed that each change will involve no more inconvenience than does
the removal of a raincoat. And so we shall eventually combine the Greek
ideal of expressive drapery with the exacting conditions of a strenuous
modern life.
_Housing._――Man is an animal with a cubical shell. If the earth were
reduced to the size of a football and its surface were examined with a
powerful microscope, we should see it studded with incrustations like
dried salt, especially about the river mouths. These incrustations
would be the cities, consisting of thousands of rectangular or
cube-shaped blocks. With a greater magnification we might see minute
specks swarming about these shell-like houses, elongated specks with
their longer axis vertical, and with a marked tendency to enter the
houses at nightfall and emerge again after daybreak.
If a giant had been watching the development of these incrustations
for several thousand years, he would have seen them spreading from the
Mediterranean and some parts of Asia till they studded the Atlantic
regions. Thence, after a time, they would spread to the other side
of the Atlantic, and become particularly numerous along its western
shores. Watching them again for several thousand years, he might see
these incrustations gradually dissolved, and the disease――he would
probably call it a disease――become “generalized” all over the planet,
the local incrustations giving way before a universal but only slightly
crusted condition of the earth’s entire land surface.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account