WITH THE EDITOR
THE launching of a new magazine can fairly be compared to the opening of a new house. In it there are various rooms—which we call departments—to be opened and furnished.
Our house-warming was well attended. At our fireside were seen the faces of young folks from all parts of the United States, from Canada, England, and even far-off Hawaii. To please such a gathering it is necessary to meet many requirements.
Although gratified by the praise which we have received in good measure, and so encouraged to new ambitions, we, nevertheless, desire the guidance of earnest criticism. In the spirit of mutual helpfulness, then, we ask your opinion upon the departments already begun and your advice as to the opening of others.
Young people starting out with the ambition to accomplish something of importance in the world naturally place great stress upon the element of originality. To them, at first glance, the world’s great discoveries and inventions seem based upon a learning totally new—the sudden flash of genius rather than the natural growth of knowledge. But a closer study of each achievement, even of genius itself, will show that in reality it is but the finishing touch upon work already nearly accomplished.
For example, let us consider Darwin and Wallace. Important as were their services, their greatness does not rest upon the element of originality. The knowledge necessary for the construction of the theory of evolution had been accumulating in the minds of men for centuries. These two did but observe and utilize that knowledge. Others, whose names have been forgotten, have, doubtless, worked just as earnestly and just as intelligently. How many of us have ever heard of Lamarck, or even of Charles Darwin’s grandfather. Yet each of these men, separately, brought the theory of evolution almost to the threshold of public belief. Their lives were spent in building the foundation, while Darwin and Wallace, using their data, finished the work thus made possible. The men whom the world remembers are the ones who recognize these chances and make perfect use of the past.
To-day, we see several minds struggling to interpret the problem of wireless telegraphy. Their experiments are going on before the eyes of the world. It is no sudden stroke of genius. What is in its effect a decided originality, is largely the ability to make practical application of past labor. Our knowledge of electricity has been accumulating. The step is certain. The telegraph, the telephone, and the electric light have long since ripened. Soon we may know who will give wireless telegraphy its finishing touch.
Let us remember, therefore, that the great opportunities of the present lie, not so much in the shaping of new castles of imagination, as in patiently and carefully building upon the foundations already laid.