1
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
II. THE PROBABLE DIFFUSION OF GREAT CITIES
III. DEVELOPING SOCIAL ELEMENTS
IV. CERTAIN SOCIAL REACTIONS
V. THE LIFE-HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY
VI. WAR IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
VII. THE CONFLICT OF LANGUAGES
VIII. THE LARGER SYNTHESIS
IX. FAITH, MORALS, AND PUBLIC POLICY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
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