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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  It 
  thus 
  becomes 
  evident 
  that 
  all 
  life 
  on 
  the 
  planet 
  depends 
  upon 
  

   the 
  energy 
  derived 
  from 
  the 
  sun 
  through 
  the 
  intermediary 
  of 
  the 
  

   plant 
  — 
  i. 
  e., 
  through 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  photosynthesis. 
  Mankind 
  lives 
  

   entirely 
  on 
  the 
  energy 
  derived 
  from 
  the 
  sun 
  through 
  the 
  pursuits 
  of 
  

   agriculture. 
  

  

  WASTE 
  OP 
  SOLAR 
  ENERGY. 
  

  

  But 
  in 
  addition 
  to 
  this, 
  we 
  are 
  squandering 
  the 
  principal 
  of 
  an 
  

   enormous 
  legacy 
  of 
  solar 
  energy 
  accumulated 
  during 
  the 
  past 
  ages. 
  

   The 
  plants, 
  which 
  alone 
  are 
  capable 
  of 
  utilizing 
  the 
  enormous 
  floods 
  

   of 
  solar 
  energy 
  pouring 
  upon 
  the 
  earth, 
  have 
  been 
  at 
  work 
  for 
  many 
  

   ages 
  prior 
  to 
  man's 
  appearance 
  upon 
  the 
  earth 
  and 
  have, 
  during 
  

   time 
  which 
  would 
  make 
  the 
  total 
  span 
  of 
  human 
  history 
  appear 
  

   as 
  but 
  a 
  moment, 
  built 
  the 
  foundations 
  upon 
  which 
  all 
  his 
  present 
  

   eminence 
  rests. 
  This 
  fossil 
  vegetation, 
  preserved 
  as 
  coal 
  and 
  oil, 
  

   represents 
  a 
  very 
  small 
  fraction 
  of 
  the 
  energy 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  fall- 
  

   ing 
  on 
  the 
  earth 
  and 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  conserved 
  for 
  man. 
  It 
  is 
  kin- 
  

   dled, 
  its 
  energy 
  liberated 
  and 
  used 
  in 
  a 
  thousand 
  ways, 
  and 
  the 
  rays 
  

   of 
  sunlight 
  stored 
  beneath 
  the 
  earth 
  for 
  millions 
  of 
  years 
  give 
  birth 
  

   to 
  a 
  civilization 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  world 
  has 
  never 
  known. 
  It 
  is 
  this 
  

   source 
  of 
  energy 
  which 
  has 
  made 
  possible 
  the 
  habitation 
  of 
  the 
  tem- 
  

   perate 
  zones 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  extent, 
  and 
  on 
  it 
  depend 
  our 
  various 
  

   modes 
  of 
  rapid 
  transportation 
  and 
  our 
  multifarious 
  industrial 
  ac- 
  

   tivity. 
  What 
  may 
  be 
  called 
  fossil 
  solar 
  energy, 
  coal, 
  made 
  possible 
  

   the 
  reversal 
  of 
  the 
  natural 
  course 
  by 
  the 
  smelting 
  of 
  ores 
  for 
  the 
  

   production 
  of 
  metals. 
  In 
  fact, 
  it 
  is 
  solar 
  energy 
  which 
  counteracts 
  

   the 
  tendency 
  of 
  our 
  earth 
  to 
  attain 
  its 
  maximum 
  entropy. 
  

  

  But 
  this 
  great 
  civilization 
  of 
  coal 
  and 
  steel 
  is 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  a 
  

   most 
  squandrous 
  and 
  profligate 
  one; 
  it 
  is 
  using 
  the 
  principal 
  of 
  

   its 
  legacy 
  in 
  numberless 
  new 
  ways. 
  Modern 
  man's 
  greatness 
  de- 
  

   pends 
  upon 
  his 
  being 
  essentially 
  a 
  tool-using 
  animal. 
  To 
  increase 
  

   the 
  efficiency 
  of 
  one-man 
  power 
  has 
  been 
  his 
  object 
  for 
  centuries. 
  

   It 
  is 
  the 
  power-driven 
  machine 
  that 
  has 
  done 
  most 
  of 
  his 
  work. 
  

   But 
  the 
  source 
  of 
  energy 
  which 
  drives 
  these 
  machines 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  steady 
  

   stream, 
  it 
  is 
  being 
  drawn 
  from 
  the 
  accumulation 
  of 
  centuries. 
  A 
  

   year's 
  consumption 
  of 
  coal 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  rate 
  represents 
  the 
  accu- 
  

   mulation 
  of 
  hundreds 
  of 
  years. 
  The 
  power 
  of 
  man 
  to 
  do 
  work, 
  

   physical 
  work, 
  the 
  unit 
  one-man 
  power, 
  is 
  now 
  an 
  almost 
  insignifi- 
  

   cant 
  factor. 
  A 
  return 
  to 
  such 
  a 
  physical 
  standard 
  would 
  almost 
  cer- 
  

   tainly 
  follow 
  the 
  failure 
  of 
  such 
  sources 
  of 
  energy 
  as 
  man 
  now 
  has 
  

   at 
  his 
  disposal. 
  The 
  quest 
  of 
  these 
  sources 
  of 
  energy, 
  coal 
  and 
  oil, 
  

   is 
  at 
  present 
  being 
  pushed 
  with 
  a 
  feverish 
  intensity 
  that 
  has 
  never 
  

   been 
  known 
  before, 
  and 
  the 
  competition 
  for 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  these 
  

   stores 
  recognizes 
  no 
  principles. 
  The 
  destiny 
  of 
  civilization 
  is 
  guided 
  

   by 
  and 
  reflects 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  available 
  energy. 
  When 
  coal 
  and 
  oil 
  

  

  