The Ascent of Man 179 



Factors in Human Progress 



Many, we believe, were the gains that rewarded the arboreal 

 apprenticeship of man's ancestors. Many, likewise, were the 



results of leaving the trees and coming down to the solid earth a 



transition which marked the emergence of more than tentative 

 men. What great steps followed? 



Some of the greatest were the working out of a spoken 

 language and of external methods of registration ; the invention 

 of tools; the discovery of the use of fire; the utilisation of iron 

 and other metals; the taming of wild animals such as dog and 

 sheep, horses and cattle; the cultivation of wild plants such as 

 wheat and rice; and the irrigation of fields. All through the ages 

 necessity has been the mother of invention and curiosity its father; 

 but perhaps we miss the heart of the matter if we forget the 

 importance of some leisure time wherein to observe and think. 

 If our earth had been so clouded that the stars were hidden from 

 men's eyes the whole history of our race would have been differ- 

 ent. For it was through his leisure-time observations of the stars 

 that early man discovered the regularity of the year and got his 

 fundamental impressions of the order of Nature on which all 

 his science is founded. 



If we are to think clearly of the factors of human progress 

 we must recall the three great biological ideas the living organ- 

 ism, its environment, and its functioning. For man these mean 

 (1) the living creature, the outcome of parents and ancestors, a 

 fresh expression of a bodily and mental inheritance; (2) the 

 surroundings, including climate and soil, the plants and animals 

 these allow; and (3) the activities of all sorts, occupations and 

 habits, all the actions and reactions between man and his milieu. 

 In short, we have to deal with FOLK, PLACE, WORK ; the Famille, 

 Lieu, Travail of the LePlay school. 



As to FOLK, human progress depends on intrinsic racial 

 qualities notably health and vigour of body, clearness and alert- 

 ness of mind, and an indispensable sociality. The most powerful 



