The Progress

Abstract

The history of man has often been taught as a succession of names and wars, of political groups and laws. Although these may have seemed to influence the course of history, they have never done so in any essential way because they were not causes but consequences. Progress is the only factor which has determined the destiny of mankind and the real reformers are therefore the many unknown or known, but seldom talked about, toolmakers and inventors, the men who explained the laws of nature and also the explorers who looked upon the blank space of the unknown with a thrill and an urge to discover. One may argue that their names are not important: if one of them had not lived to discover a particular law or to improve an existing tool, another one would have done it. However, it is not possible to ignore the importance of the continuous evolution which came about as a result of their innumerable individual actions and which, being the origin of all the material and social changes in the world, should be taught as the true history of mankind.