They can never, as it were, lead independent lives, or 'rule the world' by making decisions of their own.
Sir Leon said that in the future, computers would be developed which would be small enough to carry in the pocket.
Ordinary people would then be able to use them to obtain valuable information.
Computers could be plugged into a national network and be used like radios.
For instance, people going on holiday could be informed about weather conditions; car drivers could be given alternative routes when there are traffic jams.
It will also be possible to make tiny translating machines.
This will enable people who do not share a common language to talk to each other without any difficulty or to read foreign publications.
It is impossible to assess the importance of a machine of this sort, for many international misunderstandings are caused simply through our failure to understand each other.
Computers will also be used in hospitals.
By providing a machine with a patient's symptoms, a doctor will be able to diagnose the nature of his illness.
Similarly, machines could be used to keep a check on a patient's health record and bring it up to date.
Doctors will therefore have immediate access to a great many facts which will help them in their work.
Book-keepers and accountants, too, could be relieved of dull clerical work, forthe tedious task of compiling and checking lists of figures could be done entirely by machines.
Computers are the most efficient servants man has ever had and there is no limit to the way they can be used to improve our lives.
Book III Lesson 52
Mud is mudMy cousin, Harry, keeps a large curiously shaped bottle on permanent display in his study.
Despite the fact that the bottle is tinted a delicate shade of green, an observant visitor would soon notice that it is filled with what looks like a thick greyish substance.
If you were to ask Harry what was in the bottle, he would tell you that it contained perfumed mud.
If you expressed doubt or surprise, he would immediately invite you to smell it and then to rub some into your skin.
This brief experiment would dispel any further doubts you might entertain.
The bottle really does contain perfumed mud.
How Harry came into the possession of this outlandish stuff makes an interesting story which he is fond of relating.
Further- more, the acquisition of this bottle cured him of a bad habit he had been developing for years.
Harry used to consider it a great joke to go into expensive cosmetic shops and make outrageous requests for goods that do not exist.
He would invent fanciful names on the spot.
On entering a shop, he would ask for a new perfume called 'Scented Shadow' or for 'insoluble bath cubes'.
If a shop girl told him she had not heard of it, he would pretend to be considerably put out.
He loved to be told that one of his imaginary products was temporarily out of stock and he would faithfully promise to call again at some future date, but of course he never did.
How Harry managed to keep a straight face during these performances is quite beyond me.
Harry does not need to be prompted to explain how he bought his precious bottle of mud.
One day, he went to an exclusive shop in London and asked for 'Myrolite'.
The shop assistant looked puzzled and Harry repeated the word, slowly stressing each syllable.
When the girl shook her head in bewilderment, Harry went on to explain that 'myrolite' was a hard, amber-like substance which could be used to remove freckles.
This explanation evidently conveyed something to the girl who searched shelf after shelf.
She produced all sorts of weird concoctions, but none of them met with Harry's requirements.
When Harry put on his act of being mildly annoyed, the girl promised to order some for him.
Intoxicated by his success, Harry then asked for perfumed mud.
He expected the girl to look at him in blank astonishment.
However, it was his turn to be surprised, for the girl's eyes immediately lit up and she 'fetched several botties which she placed on the counter for Harry to inspect.
For once, Harry had to admit defeat.
He picked up what seemed to be the smallest bottle and discreetly asked the price.
He was glad to get away with a mere five guineas and he beat a hasty retreat, clutching the precious bottle under his arm.
From then on, Harry decided that this little game he had invented might prove to be expensive.
The curious bottle which now adorns the bookcase in his study was his first and last purchase of rare cosmetics.
Book III Lesson 53
In the public interestThe Scandinavian countries are much admired all over the world for their enlightened social policies.
Sweden has evolved an excellent system for protecting the individual citizen from high-handed or incompetent public officers.
The system has worked so well, that it has been adopted in other countries like Denmark, Norway, Finland, and New Zealand.
Even countries with large populations like Britain and the United States are seriously considering imitating the Swedes.
The Swedes were the first to recognize that public officials like civil servants, collectors can make mistakes or act over-zealously in the belief that they are serving the public.
As long ago as 1809, the Swedish Parliament introduced a scheme to safeguard the interest of the individual.
A parliamentary committee representing all political parties appoints a person who is suitably qualified to investigate private grievances against the State.
The official title of the person is 'Justiteombudsman', but the Swedes commonly refer to him as the 'J.
O.'
or 'Ombudsman'.
The Ombudsman is not subject to political pressure.
He investigates complaints large and small that come to him from all levels of society.
As complaints must be made in writing, the Ombudsman receives an average of 1200 letters a year.
He has eight lawyer assistants to help him and he examines every single letter in detail.
There is nothing secretive about the Ombudsman's work, for his correspondence is open to public inspection.
If a citizen's complaint is justified, the Ombudsman will act on his behalf.
The action he takes varies according to the nature of the complaint.
He may gently reprimand an official or even suggest to parliament that a law be altered.
The following case is a typical example of the Ombudsman's work.
A foreigner living in a Swedish village wrote to the Ombudsman complaining that he had been ill-treated by the police, simply because he was a foreigner.
The Ombudsman immediately wrote to the Chief of Police in the district asking him to send a record of the case.
There was nothing in the record to show that the foreigner's complaint was justified and the Chief of Police stoutly denied the accusation.
It was impossible for the Ombudsman to take action, but when he received a similar complaint from another foreigner in the same village, he immediately sent one of his lawyers to investigate the matter.
The lawyer ascertained that a policeman had indeed dealt roughly with foreigners on several occasions.
The fact that the policeman was prejudiced against foreigners could not be recorded in he official files.
It was only possible for the Ombudsman to find this out by sending one of his representatives to check the facts.
The policeman in question was severely reprimanded and was informed that if any further complaints were lodged against him, he would be prosecuted.
The Ombudsman's prompt action at once put an end to an unpleasant practice which might have gone unnoticed.
Book III Lesson 54
Instinct or cleverness?
We have been brought up to fear insects.
We regard them as unnecessary creatures that do more harm than good.
Man continually wages war on item, for they contaminate his food, carry diseases, or devour his crops.
They sting or bite without provocation; they fly uninvited into our rooms on summer nights, or beat against our lighted windows.
We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths.
Reading about them increases our understanding with out dispelling our fears.
Knowing that the industrious ant lives in a highlyorganized society does nothing to prevent us from being filled with revulsion when we find hordes of them crawling over a carefully prepared picnic lunch.
No matter how much we like honey, or how much we have read about the uncanny sense of direction which bees possess, we have a horror of being stung.
Most of our fears are unreasonable, but they are impossible to erase.
At the same time, however, insects are strangely fascinaing.
We enjoy reading about them, especially when we find that, like the praying mantis, they lead perfectly horrible lives.
We enjoy staring at them entranced as they go about their business, unaware (we hope) of our presence.
Who has not stood in awe at the sight of a spider pouncing on a fly, or a column of ants triumphantly bearing home an enormous dead beetle ?
Last summer I spent days in the garden watching thousands of ants crawling up the trunk of my prize peach tree.
The tree has grown against a warm wall on a sheltered side of the house.
I am especially proud of it, not only because it has survived several severe winters, but because it occasionally produces luscious peaches.
During the summer, I noticed that the leaves of the tree were beginning to wither.
Clusters of tiny insects called aphides were to be found on the underside of the leaves.
They were visited by a laop colony of ants which obtained a sort of honey from them.
I immediately embarked on an experiment which, even though it failed to get rid of the ants, kept me fascinated for twenty-four hours.
I bound the base of the tree with sticky tape , making it impossible for the ants to reach the aphides.
The tape was so sticky that they did not dare to cross it.
For a long time, I watched them scurrying around the base of the tree in bewilderment.
I even went out at midnight with a torch and noted with satisfaction (and surprise) that the ants were still swarming around the sticky tape without being able to do anything about it.
I got up early next morning hoping to find that the ants had given up in despair.
Instead, I saw that they had discovered a new route.
They were climbing up the wall of the house and then on to the leaves ofthe tree.
I realized sadly that I had been completely defeated by their ingenuity.
The ants had been quick to find an answer to my thoroughly unscientific methods!
Book III Lesson 55
From the earth: greatingsRadio astronomy has greatly increased our understanding of the universe.
Radio telescopes have one big advantage over conventional telescopes in that they can operate in all weather conditions and can pick up signals coming from very distant stars.
These signals are produced by colliding stars or nuclear reactions in outer space.
The most powerful signals that have been received have been emitted by what seem to be truly colossal stars which scientists have named 'quasars'.
A better understanding of these phenomena may completely alter our conception of the nature of the universe.
The radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in England was for many years the largest in the world.
A new telescope, over twice the size, was recently built at Sugar Grove in West Virginia.
Astronomers no longer regard as fanciful the idea that they may one day pick up signals which have been sent by intelligent beings on other worlds.
This possibility gives rise to interesting speculations.
Highly advanced civilizations may have existed on other planets long before intelligent forms of life evolved on the earth.
Conversely, intelligent being which are just beginning to develop on remote worlds may be ready to pick up our signals in thousands of years' time, or when life on earth has become extinct.
Such speculations no longer belong to the realm of science fiction, for astronomers are now exploring the chances of communicating with living creatures (if they exist) on distant planets.
This undertaking which has been named Project Ozma was begun in 1960, but it may take a great many years before results are obtained.
Aware of the fact that it would be impossible to wait thousands or millions of years to receive an answer from a distant planet, scientists engaged in Project Ozma are concentrating their attention on stars which are relatively close.
One of the most likely stars is Tau Ceti which is eleven light years away.
If signals from the earth were received by intelligent creatures on a planet circling thisstar, we would have to wait twenty-two years for an answer.
The Green Bank telescope in West Virginia has been specially designed to distinguish between random signals and signals which might be in code.
Even if contact were eventually established, astronomers would not be able to rely on language to communicate with other beings.
They would use mathematics as this is theonly truly universal language.
Numbers have the same value anywhere.
For this reason, intelligent creatures in any part of the universe would be able to understand a simple arithmetical sequence.
They would be able to reply to our signals using similar methods.
The next step would be to try to develop means for sending television pictures.
A single picture would tell us more than thousands of words.
In an age when anything seems to be possible, it would be narrow-minded in the extreme to ridicule these attempts to find out if there is life in other parts of the universe.
Book III Lesson 56
The river beside our farmThe river which forms the eastern boundary of our farm has always played an important part in our lives.
Without it we could not make a living.
There is only enough spring water to supply the needs of the house, so we have to pump from the river for farm use.
We tell the river all our secrets.
We know instinctively, just as beekeepers with their bees, that misfortune might overtake us if the important events of our lives were not related to it.
We have special river birthday parties in the summer.
Sometimes we go up-stream to a favourite backwater, some- times we have our party at the boathouse, which a predecessor of ours at the farm built in the meadow hard by the deepest pool for swimming and diving.
In a heat-wave we choose a midnight birthday party and that is the most exciting of all.
We welcome the seasons by the river- side, crowning the youngest girl with flowers in the spring, holding a summer festival on Midsummer Eve, giving thanks for the harvest in the autumn, and throwing a holly wreath into the current in the winter.
