OUR WONDERFUL GENERATION 



of Egypt, the hanging gardens of Babylon, the tem- 

 ple of Diana at Ephesus, and the Colossus of Rhodes 

 were among them. The others were the Pharos of 

 Alexandria, which was a light house 400 feet high, 

 the statue of Jupiter by Phidias in the Parthenon at 

 Athens, and the mausoleum of Artemesia. All of 

 these so-called wonders, then, were examples of en- 

 gineering or architectural skill or of art on a colossal 

 scale. 



In our day gigantic engineering and architectural 

 enterprises have become so common that their re- 

 sults have for the most part ceased to cause wonder. 

 In other directions, however, the scientific workers 

 of our time have produced results which excite the 

 astonishment even of the initiated, and many of 

 which are brought constantly to the attention of the 

 man in the street as well. The publishers of "Pop- 

 ular Mechanics" recently desired to ascertain which 

 among modern achievements are best entitled, in the 

 opinion of experts, to rank as the seven most remark- 

 able of present-day wonders. Therefore, they made 

 out a list including 56 discoveries or inventions of 

 modern times, all of which might properly be de- 

 scribed as wonderful. The list was comprehensive in 

 its scope, including the results of great engineering 

 efforts such* as the Simplon Tunnel, the -Catskill 

 Aqueduct, Subway Transportation, and the Panama ! 

 Canal at one end of the scale, and such achievements 

 of theoretical science as have to do with ultra-violet 

 rays, the ultra-microscope, and synthetic chemistry 

 at the other. 



This comprehensive list of modern achievements 



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