Ignoring the Physical Universe 55 



The struggle against the physical environment 

 is the most important labour which occupies our 

 species as well as all other species. Consider, 

 for example, the struggle against the physical 

 universe involved in maintaining the proper 

 difference of temperature between ourselves and 

 the surrounding atmosphere. We take infinite 

 pains to provide ourselves with clothing, dwellings, 

 and with complicated heating systems in cold 

 climates, and cooling systems in hot climates. 

 The necessity for providing air which is sufficiently 

 pure in a chemical sense constitutes an ever- 

 present problem, especially in large cities, where, 

 in the case of tenements, it is far from being 

 solved. To get air which is sufficiently pure in a 

 biological sense is a matter even more urgent and 

 gives rise to the whole system of modern sanita- 

 tion, from the extensive sewage systems of mod- 

 ern cities to the institutes for the research and 

 cure of tuberculosis. To get an abundant supply 

 of pure water for drinking purposes immense 

 aqueducts are built, at great cost, to the sources 

 of an adequate and pure supply in the springs 

 and watersheds of the mountains. The necessity 

 of struggle for an adequate food supply occupies 

 a large part of the energies of men. It gives rise 

 to the great industries of agriculture, stock- 

 raising, fishing, and hunting, as well as to the 

 derived industries and manufactures of all kinds, 

 such as meat-packers, butchers, bakeries. The 

 struggle against the physical environment gives 



