388 CONCLUSION. 



It was a lucky coincidence that my early "years were 

 passed in a time of rapid progress of physical science, 

 and that I devoted myself especially to electrical en- 

 gineering, when it was still quite undeveloped and 

 therefore formed a very fertile ground for inventions 

 and improvements. On the other hand however I have 

 also frequently had to contend with very unusual mis- 

 fortune. This continual struggle with altogether un- 

 expected difficulties and unlucky accidents, which in the 

 commencement usually hampered my undertakings, but 

 which I mostly by good hap succeeded in overcoming, 

 William Meyer, the dear friend of my youth and faithful 

 companion, very forcibly described in students' slang 

 as: Sau beim Peck" (bad luck coupled with astonishing 

 flukes).>j^-i must admit the correctness of this view, 

 but still do not believe that it was only blind fate, 

 when the wave of happiness and unhappiness, on 

 which our life is tossed, carried me so frequently to 

 the desired goals. Success and failure, victory and 

 defeat, often depend in human life entirely on the 

 timely and right use of the opportunities offered. The 

 quality of quickly making up one's mind in critical 

 moments, and of doing the right thing without long 

 reflection, has remained tolerably faithful to me during 

 my whole existence, in spite of the somewhat dreamy 

 life in which I frequently, I might almost say usually, 

 was plunged. In innumerable cases this quality has 

 preserved me from harm and rightly guided me in 

 difficult situations. Undoubtedly a certain stimulus 

 was always necessary to give me full control of my 



