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ESSAYS 



HTDUSTRY AND BIODYNAMICS (Herbert G. Taylor, M.Sc.) 



The energy system of man, like that of an animal, is a system which relies 

 for its existence upon energy adjustments or industrial adaptations. In an 

 animal system the potential energy of foodstuffs becomes the kinetic energy 

 of locomotion. The biodynamical character of man-made systems is not so 

 easily stated, but in one corner of man's industrial field we see that coal 

 drives locomotives. In either man or animal, industry may be regarded as 

 a mechanism by and into which potential energy is gathered. The energy 

 runs down, drives the mechanism, and thereby expresses itself in that familiar 

 but complex phenomenon called life. But the animal is simplicity itself 

 when compared with the system which takes in hides, fleece, iron ore, and 

 turns out boots, cloth, and steel rails. And the influences of these industrial 

 powers upon life stand in similar contrast. When we reflect what is the 

 influence of modern industry upon the scheme of life called civilisation, it is 

 clearly evident that, over and above the said boots, cloth, and steel rails, 

 industry produces something which cannot be measured by the gross, the 

 mile, or the ton. It is quite unthinkable that such an influence could be a 

 modern attribute of industry, and yet the scheme of life of any animal is 

 not to be contained in the same category of thought. Our industry, some- 

 how, is as firmly rooted in the past as we are. It therefore remains not to 

 afiirm but to demonstrate that industrial organisation maintains, builds, and 

 extends the energy systems which are the biodynamical bases of life. That 

 I shall now proceed to do. 



First let us examine the energy system of an animal. Naturalists are 

 agreed that the potential energy of foodstuffs is converted into kinetic energy 

 of locomotion. Suppose we express the conversion mathematically thus : 

 Potential energy = kinetic energy, or 



P.E. = K.E (i). 



Does this fully meet the situation ? Let us examine some details. A swallow 

 darts rapidly through the air acquiring enough potential energy in the way 

 of insects to enable it to maintain the kinetic energy requisite for catching 

 insects ; and there the system ends. A fish obtains enough food to enable it 

 to migrate to another locality when the present supply is exhausted ; beyond 

 this it has no energial interest. In some senses, therefore, equation (i) may 

 be taken as true. 



Look at another aspect of the energy sjrstem in nature. The prime 

 function of all living things appears to be to maintain the species. This 

 operation absorbs energy. During the breeding season the potential energy 

 gathered exceeds the kinetic energy expended by an amount which is passed 

 forward to the coming generation. The biodynamical equation may then 

 be written : 



The quantity L.P., meaning life pressure, is a quantity fluctuating from 

 zero to a maximum. From this it is easy to see that (i) is a special cas« 



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