MAN'S CONQUEST OF NATURE 



507 



A study of the average length of life in various countries 

 during the nineteenth century showed that in several countries 

 the average length of life was increased (through the applica- 

 tion of the results of scientific study) by as much as from five 

 to twenty-nine years. In India, where alone the people refused 

 to adopt the modern methods, there was no improvement 

 whatever. The table below shows the death rates (number of 

 deaths per thousand of the population in the course of the 

 year) for several different countries. The extremely high death 

 rate of India, compared to that of other countries, or the fact 

 that the average length of life in India is only about twenty-four 

 years, compared to from forty to fifty years in the other coun- 

 tries, shows a measurable difference ; and all the evidence that 

 we have indicates that a large part of the difference lies in the 

 different attitudes of the people toward life. There are differences 

 in the theories that people have about the causes of sickness. 



DEATH RATES IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES 



Denmark (1906) 

 Sweden (1906) .... 

 England and Wales (1906) 

 United States (registration area, 

 Germany (1905) 

 France (1906) . . . 

 Italy (1906) .... 

 Japan (1905). . . . 

 India (males, 1 901) 



1907) 



13-5 

 14.4 

 15.4 

 16.5 

 19.8 

 19.9 

 20.8 

 21.9 

 42.3 



The diagram on page 389 shows the steady improvement 

 of health conditions in New York City as measured by the 

 declining death rate for a period of years. Such measurements 

 are constantly being made and are a fair indication of the 

 effectiveness of our ways of doing things. The study of 

 such measurements will tell us just how far it pays to knozu. 



525. The social nature of science. What we call knowledge 

 (or, in its organized forms, science) is never the result of an 



