442 THE WORLD MACHINE 



Columbus and his followers found when the new Indias were 

 unveiled. A universe that is to all our human intents im- 

 measurably vast is likewise immeasurably old. The universal 

 effect of commerce is to obliterate differences and establish a 

 relative sameness, such as now obtains throughout our human 

 trading world. It cannot be otherwise with the commerce of 

 the stars. The cosmic exchange, operating through immeasurable 

 time, must likewise have traded the universe into a more or less 

 uniform mode. 



Cosmos is wide, cosmos is old, cosmos is kin. What holds it 

 together ? 



