The Project Gutenberg eBook of How to become mentally superior
    
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.

Title: How to become mentally superior
        What makes one rise above the average

Author: Henry M. le Chatelier

Editor: E. Haldeman-Julius

Translator: Ralph E. Oesper


        
Release date: July 1, 2026 [eBook #78988]

Language: English

Original publication: Girard: Haldeman-Julius Publications, 1929

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78988

Credits: Tim Miller, Sam Lamb and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO BECOME MENTALLY SUPERIOR ***




 LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO. 1471
 Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius

 How to Become
 Mentally Superior

 What Makes One Rise Above
 the Average

 Henry M. Le Chatelier

 (Translated from the French by Ralph E. Oesper)

 HALDEMAN-JULIUS PUBLICATIONS
 GIRARD, KANSAS




 Copyright, 1929,
 Haldeman-Julius Company

 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA




HOW TO BECOME MENTALLY SUPERIOR


Every school gains renown not only through the scientific achievements
of its professors, but also because of the industrial successes of its
former students. Schools have been a potent factor in the development
of an intellectual elite, the class responsible for the progress of
civilization in any country. If Europe is superior to Africa, the
sole cause lies in the possession of leaders. The blacks of savage
countries may be good manual laborers, but they lack a select class to
direct them, either as governing officials, as officers in warfare,
as scholars, as engineers or as organizers of their industries. The
formation of an intellectual superior class should be the dominant
preoccupation of any country that expects to cut a figure in world
affairs.

The geologist, de Lapparent, in a didactic statement declared that
every terrain is, of necessity, divided into three strata; the
upper, the middle and the lower. The intellectuals likewise may be
placed on three levels; the men of genius, whose fame and influence
extend throughout the world for many centuries; the great men, whose
renown, however great at a given time, is finally eclipsed by that
of their successors, and lastly, the lower elite, who temporarily
exert a useful influence within rather narrow boundaries, but never
attain far-reaching notability. Each of these three categories of
intellectual superiors renders about the same value of service to
humanity; the men of genius are certainly the greatest benefactors, but
they also occur most seldom. In algebraic terms, the product of the
number in each class multiplied by each individual’s usefulness gives a
constant.

In a talk to the students of an American university Carnegie said:
“I am speaking only to those of you who are ambitious to become
millionaires; the others do not interest me.” The present speaker
wishes to emphasize a parallel thought: “I am speaking only to those
of you who have an ambition to raise yourselves above the average, and
I believe this will include all of you.” It would surely be folly for
anyone to deliberately set out to become a genius, because this goal
can only be reached through exceptional qualities, but we all can and
should strive to be numbered among the elite, to use this term in its
proper sense. With the exception of certain afflicted individuals,
fortunately not numerous, all of us from birth have the requisite
qualities. The rest is dependent on will power and on the method of
developing and applying our natural endowments.

Let us examine together, using the experimental method, the conditions
attendant upon the recruitment of the intellectual elite. For this
purpose we need not distinguish the levels of attainment, for they do
not differ in nature, but only in degree. We can then cite as examples
great men with whose lives you are more familiar, and from these we
may draw conclusions applicable to the formation of the ordinary elite.
What qualities are essential and how may these be developed?




ACTIVITY


The most striking characteristic of great men is their zeal for
work. None of them observed the eight-hour day, no matter what the
field of their activities. We may cite as examples great statesmen,
such as Napoleon or Louis XIV; great writers, such as Victor Hugo or
Lamartine; great artists, such as Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci;
great scientists, such as Lavoisier or Pasteur; great manufacturers,
such as Bessemer or Siemens. In truth, they often employed the most
varied ruses to protect their working periods from interruption.
Napoleon assembled his ministerial council during the soirees at the
Tuileries, leaving the reception of guests to the Empress Josephine.
Buffon took refuge in his country house and there peacefully wrote his
natural history. Descartes secreted himself in a little Dutch village
when he desired to cultivate his philosophical meditations. The labor
expended by celebrated men is sometimes greatly underestimated. Powers
of extemporaneous speaking far beyond reality are often ascribed to
great orators. As a matter of fact, the most successful of them write
out their addresses in full before delivering them. Mistaken notions
as to this have originated from false claims. Emile Zola pretended
that his voluminous literary output required only three hours’ daily
toil. Perhaps he did not actually keep the pen in his hand longer than
that, but the final wording comprises only a small part of literary
production.

Francisque Sarcey, while discussing the art of lecturing, very
judicially analyzed the importance of preliminary work. He said:

“The title of a lecture should be chosen a month in advance of the
delivery; then the subject matter should be considered for two weeks
during every free moment, especially while strolling about. By
degrees, new and interesting points of view will appear spontaneously;
these should be classified either in the memory or jotted down
systematically. During the third week, the material thus accumulated
should be gone over mentally, the less important points rejected or
suppressed, the others rearranged in their logical order and the
connecting thoughts brought to light. At last, during the fourth week,
the final wording is committed to paper and this requires no great
effort.”

Great men have not only labored much, but their efforts have been
confined to a few specialties, thus increasing the intensity of their
work. In hydrostatics a force is concentrated on a piston of small
area in order to produce great pressures. Saint Claire Deville devoted
half of his career to the study of dissociation. Berthelot worked
fifteen years on organic synthesis, fifteen years on thermo-chemistry
and fifteen years on agricultural chemistry. Many scientists owe
their fame to studies made in a single field as instanced by Pasteur
in microbiology, Fresnel with the theory of light, Ampere and the laws
of electrodynamics. The same holds true in industrial applications and
as examples we have Vicat and hydraulic cements or Fourneyron and the
turbine.

This concentration of effort cannot be recommended too highly to young
investigators, for they frequently exhibit an opposite tendency and
allow themselves to be enticed from one thing to another by topics
which appeal to them. Only men of exceptional endowments, like Leonardo
da Vinci or Lavoisier, can successfully distribute their efforts
without paralyzing their creative powers. Some scholars carry this
specialization of their endeavors to excess and pride themselves on
the extent to which they disregard the obligations of daily life. Many
stories in this vein are related of Ampere and of Henri Poincare. The
following actual occurrence illustrates the same point. I was invited
to dine with an illustrious foreigner and on arriving at the hotel
I was told by my host that his wife was ill and consequently she
could not dine with us. He said: “Under these conditions will you be
kind enough to order the dinner, for since I have never studied this
subject, I know nothing about such matters.”

It is not sufficient to work hard, but is also essential to work
efficiently, i. e., time must not be wasted on useless projects. A
plan of attack should be formulated in advance of starting the actual
work of writing, so that there need be no hesitation. Attempts to
do two things at the same time are usually fruitless, and it should
be matter of principle not to stop working until something definite
has been achieved. Learn to persevere and do not hesitate to adhere
to a decision made after proper reflection. It is this spirit of
organization, this convergence of efforts that is so highly manifested
by great political leaders such as Louvois, Napoleon, Cavour, Mussolini.

Much gain may accrue by organizing the vague, spontaneous thoughts
which the mind cannot suppress, even though they appear to have little
value. We are always thinking about something, and this involuntary
thought is much less fatiguing than mental effort consciously directed
toward definite production. This preparatory reflection is sometimes
erroneously regarded as being quite distinct from the real work, but
this opinion is quite wrong, for preliminary thought is an essential
forerunner of all creative achievement. In fact, it is just as
indispensable as the final effort and the latter will certainly be
of little avail if the way has not been properly prepared. If the
mind could be trained not to think useless thoughts, the productive
capacity would be enormously enhanced. When Newton was asked how he
had discovered the laws of universal attraction, he replied: “By
always thinking about them.” This may be the dominant reason for the
superiority of great men, but we really know very little about this
fugitive thinking, whose manifestations are not external. In fact,
the originators of such mental processes are sometimes not conscious
of their operation, or, as we say, we are here dealing with the
subconscious. Henri Poincare claimed that he thought during sleep, and
on waking would find at hand the solution of problems which had baffled
him the day before. However, this is not a commendable practice, for it
is opposed to the rest which each night’s sleep should bring.

How may a zeal for work be developed? Is it a natural gift or is it a
result of education? The greatest stimulant of activity is habit, which
proverbially becomes second nature. After leading an active life, it is
not possible to stop work without suffering. Idleness due to retirement
rapidly kills many men who previously had enjoyed excellent health.
After the habit of working is once formed, a man will work for the mere
joy of working just as we walk for the pleasure of the exercise. It has
become a necessity.

However, this habit is not easily acquired. Temperament plays some
part. Certain children, from birth on, exhibit more will power, have
more acute faculties of attention, are more persevering, all of which
are essential to the accomplishment of a protracted task. Yet these
predispositions are, in general, developed only to a slight degree and
play only a minor part in the differentiation of individuals. Other
factors seem to be of greater importance.

The example of the home and of companions exercises a preponderant
influence. A child who all his life has seen an industrious father will
merely through imitation be led to accept the law of the obligation to
work. Pascal, Lavoisier, Pasteur were raised in families in which honor
was paid to industry. Whether the latter is intellectual or manual
matters little. Very few, or perhaps no great men, have come from the
families of the idle rich.

A second very potent factor is ambition, that is the desire to acquire
riches or honors. Men not favored by the fortunes of birth sometimes
struggle with extreme energy to make a place for themselves. A
striking instance of the power of ambition is found in the career of
Senator Leopold Goirand, who died recently. He published some essays
on education which reveal curious points in his psychological makeup.
At the age of fifteen, he conceived the dual ambition to become very
rich and to attain a powerful political position. He succeeded in
both endeavors. For twenty years he forced himself to be content with
six hours of sleep each night in order to lengthen his working day.
Each morning on arising he spent two hours acquiring general culture,
the rest of the day was devoted to his business, and finally the
evenings were passed in attendance on social affairs, for the latter
are extremely useful in the prosecution of a career. Not until his
physician warned him that he was no longer fit to continue this program
did he consent to sleep eight hours nightly. Many similar examples may
be cited.

In Bessemer’s autobiography, which is a veritable romance, he tells of
his superhuman efforts, as a young man, to earn enough money to marry.
While Cavour was striving to create the Italian kingdom, he allowed
himself only five hours’ sleep each night so that he might have time
for the stupendous task whose realization had been the dream of his
whole life. He took over the direction of four ministries at one time.

A third stimulus, more noble than those already discussed, is the
attraction inherent in the fruits of labor, i. e., the joy of knowledge
and the pleasure of performance. The passion for knowledge or success
in a chosen field often arouses men who by temperament or habit might
have been inclined to loaf. A pertinent example is Mallard, one of the
scientific glories of France. Like many others who graduated from the
Ecole Polytechnique at the top of the class he seemed to be destined
for a standardized, peaceful career in the governmental service. As
engineer at Gueret and then as professor at Saint Etienne he divided
his activity between long journeys and everyday affairs, attending to
his ministrative duties and his teaching. At the age of forty he was
appointed professor of mineralogy in the School of Mines in Paris and
consequently because of his teaching duties he found himself obliged to
study this science. He became deeply interested in one of its branches,
crystallography, and for twenty years, until his death, all his efforts
were concentrated in this field. He succeeded in working out original
demonstrations of the laws of crystallography and he created a new
chapter in this field, the theory of crystalline groupings.

Many similar cases are found among scholars, for many of them are
motivated chiefly by the joy of knowledge. On the other hand, examples
of this disinterested activity are less frequent among industrialists.
However, the pleasure of achievement, rather than the mere love of
gain, has actuated the greatest of these. The optician Zeiss worked
for the glory of his country, Germany, and his native city, Jena.
The Danish brewer Jacobsen engaged in business only to gain the
means of endowing the museums and laboratories of Copenhagen, which
have become world famous. The American millionaire Carnegie while
a young man spent his free time in libraries solely because of his
desire to learn. He later devoted the major portion of his immense
wealth to the development of public libraries and to the founding of
an institute of scientific research. Henry Ford left the farm and
worked in a locksmith’s establishment because of a desire to learn
the use of tools, and even now he derives great pleasure from heading
a well-organized industry. I knew two contractors who had taken part
in the construction of the Suez Canal. They retired from business and
took up agriculture. One engaged in stock-raising, the other developed
a model farm. They devoted all their energies to the enterprises and
ran them so that the receipts and expenses balanced, neither profit nor
loss resulting. Their sole ambition was to do a good piece of work and
to turn out products of superior quality.

This joy in work may be developed by education and without difficulty.
Success is assured if less attention is given to preparing for
examinations and more stress laid on the intellectual molding of the
children. From their earliest years they have a wide-awake curiosity,
they continually ask why and how. Instead of eradicating this
disposition, it should be cultivated. Science courses lend themselves
wonderfully to this end. Emphasis should be placed on the linking
together of facts, which is the essence of the scientific method,
discarding the fastidious enumeration of isolated facts which so
overburden the memories of pupils today. Any child can be interested in
the consequences of Pascal’s laws of hydrostatics and made anxious to
work diligently to understand them. A study of Archimedes’ principle,
applied to floating bodies, of hydrometers, of water levels in
connecting vessels, of atmospheric pressure--all these may be grouped
around Pascal’s laws and thus made into an attractive ensemble. It
is wrong to treat each of these topics as a separate chapter as many
physics texts do, for then the intimate relationships disappear from
view and likewise all attractiveness is lost.

Manual exercises should be included in the secondary curriculum because
the formation of ideas in young people is rendered more easy and
pleasant by combining sight and touch. They love motion. For instance,
when teaching hydrostatics, the pupils may be directed to cut cubes
from various kinds of wood, to measure them, to weigh them and finally
to determine the loss in weight when the cubes are immersed in water.
An exercise of this kind makes the appreciation of Archimedes’
principle pleasurable. In the same way, preliminary exercises in
graphic plan-making lead to a much easier understanding of geometrical
reasoning. Much less intellectual effort is required to comprehend the
demonstration of a truth if actual experimentation has previously made
the reality familiar.

A final incentive to the ardor for work is good health. The thought
of working or still more of getting to work, i. e., the wish to do
something, involves, if not a true fatigue, at least a feeling of
fatigue which leads many to shrink back. A good digestion and restful
sleep make the thought of work much more agreeable. This does not imply
that a strong will cannot overcome the weakness arising from poor
health, for there are remarkable instances of such victories, but they
are rather exceptional. Pascal subdued his infirmities, but the strain
finally killed him. Health always is a great driving power, and the
truth of the axiom, “_mens sana in corpore sano_,” cannot be debated.
Physical culture should occupy an important place in the education of
the young; it is indispensable in the formation of the intellectual
elite of a nation. However, it must not be forgotten that muscular
fatigue renders all mental labor impossible for the time being. The
physical exercise should follow intellectual exertion, but should never
precede. While in Holland, Descartes devoted his mornings to philosophy
and cultivated his garden in the afternoons.




IMAGINATION


A useful member of society does not merely work hard and produce much
for his own benefit; he should add to the common fund of knowledge.
In other words, he must produce new ideas, discover scientific laws,
devise new literary or artistic presentations, perfect methods of
government; in short, he must play a creative role.

What is the mechanism by which this progress is realized? Contrary to
popular belief, our knowledge does not increase by leaps and bounds,
but the development is regular and very slow. Each step forward, in
the majority of cases, comes from the simple combination of facts
previously known. It is only necessary to delve in the storehouse of
knowledge and to bring new relations to light. This correlation is a
fruit of the mental faculty, imagination, whose functioning is rather
capricious. The solution of a problem may be sought unsuccessfully for
a long time, and then suddenly it may flash into the mind at a time
when the problem is no longer being consciously considered.

The work of all great men shows the employment of imagination; it
constitutes the beginning of all great discoveries. Pascal created
hydrostatics by connecting the limitation of the height of a
barometric column with the weight of the atmosphere; Newton discovered
universal gravitation by comparing the movement of the planets with the
fall of an apple; Pasteur founded microbiology by connecting the spread
of disease with the life processes of microscopic organisms. Likewise,
in the field of letters, we find writers dealing with ideas common to
all humanity and sending them forth in new attire. La Fontaine gave
life to Aesop’s fables by endowing the animals with speech; Corneille
introduced a sense of duty magnified almost to heroism into the Spanish
dramas. Artists sometimes slightly exaggerate certain features of
their models to produce a more striking representation. Michelangelo
accentuated the muscular development of heroic figures and Raphael the
grace of women.

The same is true in industry. Sir William Siemens applied the
theoretical reasoning of Sadi-Carnot to the heating of hearths, and
the regenerative furnace resulted. He invented neither thermo-dynamics
nor industrial heating, but by uniting these two sets of facts, he
brought about a great advance, which made possible the modern processes
of making steel in open hearths and of glass in tank furnaces. All
inventors possess this mental activity, sometimes to excess. It is
interesting to read Bessemer’s autobiography from this point of view.
We see his mind always in feverish agitation, trying each day to
produce something new, usually without success.

This first type of imagination is meditative. It acts slowly, and to
a certain degree may be governed by the will. There is a second type,
rather more delicate in nature, whose action is sudden and not preceded
by reflection. It is this type which enables us to see at a glance all
the correlations and distant consequences of a chance observation. The
predisposing factors are impressionability and nervous sensibility.
This quality varies greatly from individual to individual, certain
minds respond to the slightest external suggestion, while others feel
nothing, see nothing. In general, great scholars are characterized by
a highly developed aptitude for sensing and using facts presented to
them. The accidental observation that his determinations of the density
of nitrogen were discordant led Lord Rayleigh to the discovery of
argon. Other investigators had been faced with the same phenomenon, but
were not markedly impressed. While attempting to fuse platinum, Saint
Claire Deville was struck by the difference between the calculated
temperature of the oxy-hydrogen flame and the observed melting point
of platinum. This led him to suspect the dissociation of water vapor,
while his collaborators, possessed of the same facts, thought nothing
of them. Similarly, Bessemer was led to his process of producing steel
in a converter by the fortuitous observation of the formation of
malleable steel during an attempt to harden cast iron. Or better still,
Auer von Welsbach discovered the incandescent mantle through a chance
observation of the light emitted on calcination of precipitated thoria.
Numerous analytical chemists had doubtless seen the same thing, but
their attention was not arrested.

Great artists viewing nature, great generals before a battle, great
lawyers before a trial are sensible to instantaneous impressions which
escape the notice of ordinary men. The two types of intellectual
activity seem to be predominantly natural endowments. Some children
have wide-awake minds, others are more dull and remain thus throughout
life.

This quality may, however, be developed by education, and more
attention should be paid to this phase of education, than is usually
the case. Exercises in writing composition, problems in geometry,
afford excellent material from which to build up mental habits
of using accumulated knowledge or of seeking new correlations of
known facts. This type of training is doubtless the most useful
function of secondary education. On the other hand, education cannot
develop the second type of mental activity which is not dependent on
reflection, but which functions instantly in some way not known to us.
Nevertheless, there seems to be some possibility of perfecting this
natural endowment by suitable laboratory exercises.




JUDGMENT


The combining of imagination and work, i. e., intellectual activity
joined to bodily activity, does not entirely suffice for the making
of a great man. Excellent examples are inventors, who almost without
exception are possessed of active minds and an equal ardor for
work, and yet few of them become great. In fact, many of them have
difficulty in making both ends meet, and they remain mediocrities. The
two qualities can only be used efficiently if joined with a third;
namely, common sense. This latter, if developed to its highest degree,
becomes what Pascal has called the sense of finesse. Bodily and mental
activity are certainly powerful instruments, but like all aids they
must be used judiciously. Common sense should guide the choice of
problems to be studied.

One of the most potent reasons for the success of great men is that
they were wise enough to apply their efforts to worth-while problems.
Why will the names of Lavoisier, Sadi-Carnot, Ampere, Fresnel, Saint
Claire Deville, Berthelot always be famous? It is because of the
greatness of the topics they studied. The results of their discoveries
in chemistry, thermo-dynamics, electrodynamics, physical optics,
chemical mechanics, organic synthesis have echoed again and again, and
the reverberations are daily multiplied.

Many years ago Taine said that the systematic study of the dominant
features of his subject was the essential characteristic of the
work of a true artist. The same holds true in all realms of human
activity. There are dominant phenomena whose influence is felt under
most manifold circumstances. A knowledge of these favoring factors is
of inestimable value to the human race, and their discoveries merit
suitable recognition on the part of their fellowmen.

A second form of judgment is “critical sense,” indispensable to
both scholars and to those directing industries. This gift makes
possible the detection of errors in measurements or leads to a
premonition against erroneous interpretations of observations. It
is often lacking in inventors, who are prone to persist in their
notions despite self-evident failures. Lesser intellectual lights
also cannot bring themselves to abandon favorite hypotheses which are
not in agreement with the facts; they seek refuge in new additional
hypotheses and cling fast to the original notion. Ditte, a pupil of
Saint Claire Deville, furnished a striking example of this type of
mental gymnastics. While trying to extend the law of fixed dissociation
tensions to the decomposition of solutions of mercuric sulphate, he
found that the concentration of the liquid with respect to sulphuric
acid increased with increasing concentration of mercuric sulphate.
Instead of abandoning his hypothesis, which was obviously inaccurate,
he introduced a second, which today appears absurd, but for a time
it enjoyed a certain credence among chemists. He postulated that
the dissolved mercuric sulphate was present in two forms, part as
neutral salt and part as basic salt, dissolved in, but not combined
with, sulphuric acid. He calculated the proportion of the basic salt
supposedly thus dissolved which would leave a constant concentration
of sulphuric acid in solution, and he viewed the results of this
arbitrary calculation as experimental verification of his hypothesis.
This species of error is constantly perpetrated nowadays by those
who speculate as to the constitution of matter. Savants who, like
Lavoisier, Claud Bernard, Pasteur, combine an ever-watchful imagination
with a critical sense severe enough to lead them to discard hypotheses
found contrary to fact are extremely rare.

Finally, there is a still more refined form of common sense, namely,
the sense of subtle discrimination which enables us to guide our minds
directly into domains of thought which are not perfectly obvious. It
is often asserted that hypotheses are free to all, an investigator
may postulate what he pleases, provided he finally subjects his
notions to precise, experimental test. However, it is distinctly
worth-while not to set up too many inexact hypotheses, for time should
be economized to the end that production may be increased. A certain
instinctive discernment is necessary to set one rapidly on the best
line of procedure. Rules for this cannot be laid down; it is a matter
of feeling and not of reason. The remarkable productivity of Pasteur
was doubtless due to his ability, from the very first, to thoroughly
organize his researches. Sometimes this ability is ascribed to chance,
but this is not correct, for we see here the fruit of a very shrewd
form of common sense. Saint Claire Deville’s thought that there might
be a possible analogy between the phenomena of decomposition and those
of vaporization was an intuition of genius; it led him to the discovery
of chemical equilibrium, which he termed dissociation, and a new
science, chemical mechanics, has been erected on this idea.

Good common sense is often a gift of nature, but the more delicate
sense of subtle discrimination is principally a result of education.
It is very rarely observed among the children of the lower grades; it
is a product of classical education, and, above all, it springs from
that which is taught in the home. The English declare that thirty-six
years of education are necessary to make a gentleman, twelve for the
grandfather, twelve for the father and twelve for the son. The same
holds true for this sense of finesse. Pascal, Lavoisier, scholars of
the first rank, came from families of long-standing culture, and their
successes were due in large measure to the prolonged efforts of their
ancestors.

The study of classics and humanities aids in developing this trait.
Literary or historical criticism requires a constant evaluation of
opposing points of view to determine the part played by each in
domains not amenable to exact measurement. On the other hand, the
study of science develops the geometrical viewpoint, i. e., the use of
syllogism, which is utterly useless when comparing phenomena possessing
no common measure or such as are based on mere probabilities. The
exclusive use of rigorous reasoning and an absolute faith in his
conclusions are sometimes very dangerous to a savant. They hinder him
from taking account of the real value of the hypotheses which he has
made and from recognizing the possible errors in his experiments. These
modes of thought are not less hazardous to the industrialist to whom
they may impart an unwarranted confidence in the predictions as to the
advantages of a new business venture or of a new method of manufacture.




DOCUMENTATION


Many of the essentials for laying claim to a right to be numbered
among the intellectual elite have been discussed above, but not all.
Suppose that a savage has had from birth all the qualities which we
have just reviewed, but that he is entirely ignorant of the progress of
the science and industry of the civilized world. It would be extremely
difficult for him to advance our knowledge, for he knows nothing about
such matters. He can accomplish feats which to him seem extraordinarily
difficult, such as, cutting flint or extracting iron from ores, just as
his ancestors did. To us, however, he would seem ignorant and no one
would dream of classing him as a great man.

No one can make innovations or improve our knowledge unless he is
cognizant of actual conditions. There are several reasons why this is
so. In the first place, one can obviously improve only those things
which he really knows. A frequent cause of the failure of inventors
is that they knowingly venture into unfamiliar fields. Bessemer, the
son of a metallurgist, advanced the science of metallurgy, but made
a miserable failure when he attempted to build a large telescope and
also when he tried to construct a boat designed to prevent seasickness,
because he knew little or nothing about the theory of optical
instruments or of mechanical principles.

While serving on a commission appointed to investigate fire damp, I met
a physician, intelligent, possessed of a good practice, but obsessed by
the demon of invention. Much affected by an explosion in which several
hundred miners had been killed, he thought it would be a good thing
to send a current of air through the mine to sweep out the explosive
gases and thus obviate such disasters. He disclosed his plan to an
official in the Department of Public Works, and the latter warmly
congratulated him on his initiative. This unfortunate encouragement
led him to abandon his practice for a year and he devoted himself to
the construction of a ventilating system. We were obliged to inform
him that every coal mine in the world is ventilated. Furthermore,
twenty kilometers from his home he could have seen in action immense
installations which closely resembled the blowing apparatus which he
had worked out, and this device differed but slightly from the bellows
used for several thousands of years by savages for melting metals.

A second reason for being well acquainted with the field arises from
the fact that all creative advances, all discoveries are, for the
most part, the result of combining facts already known. The progress
achieved by a single individual is, in general, extremely little, but
among these short steps forward, one perhaps, like the last drop which
causes the vessel to overflow, may make an invention realizable or it
may alter the orientation of our scientific ideas.

Pasteur did not invent the communication of diseases, for this
was known to all physicians, nor did he discover the existence of
living microscopic organisms, which had been studied from the time
of Spallanzani. He merely compared these two sets of phenomena and
recognized their relations one to the other. Had he not known the
facts, he could not have made the discovery. Likewise, Lavoisier did
not invent the balance; it had often been used before. Every alchemist
who extracted metals from ores had checked the efficiency of his
procedures by weighing. On the other hand, all the physicists knew
that gases had weight. Lavoisier simply had to combine these facts to
recognize that the increase in weight of metals when calcined in the
air was due to the absorption of a gas, oxygen. The time was ripe for
this discovery, and Lavoisier had only to pluck the ripened fruit.

The same holds true in industry. The open hearth process of making
steel resulted from a combination of Reaumur’s century-old work on
the refining of cast iron and Siemens’ new method of heating. In his
invention of the incandescent gas mantle, von Welsbach started with
Clamond’s magnesia “basket” and perfected this device by substituting
thoria for the magnesia. This linkage of known facts is so common
that no industrial invention is so novel that the lawyers cannot find
authorities for prior claims. For the same reason, the defamers of
great scholars, great writers and great painters find great pleasure in
accusing them of plagiarism. Fontaine has been reproached with having
copied from Aesop, and Corneille is accused of servile imitation of
Guillen de Castro.

If the popular saying, “There is nothing new under the sun,” is surely
not strictly true, nevertheless it is quite accurate to state that
progress due to any one man is comparatively small. Humanity moves
forward at a slow pace, but the thousand-fold accumulation of short
steps forward has altered the face of the world. This progressive
revolution has only been possible because men have had a thorough
knowledge of the accomplishments of their predecessors.

A third reason for being well versed is that accomplishment of anything
new demands a knowledge of the technique of the field, and this has to
be learned. If Bessemer had not been a founder in his youth he would
never have invented his process of making steel. A thorough knowledge
of analytical chemistry is essential to the making of chemical
discoveries; success in literature is only possible to one who really
knows his own language; a painter must know how to draw. This assertion
may appear to be a step backward. Too many artists try to paint,
knowing neither drawing nor manipulation of colors; too many scientists
have no interest in methods involving actual measurements, but they are
content to construct their science with pencil and paper only. These
varieties of modern painting and science are very fruitful for their
devotees. However, who dares to assert that the cubists and similar
faddists will some day be classed as great painters or that much of
our present-day theories of the constitution of matter will be highly
regarded fifty years from now. In comparison, the men who discovered
new laws in chemistry, electricity, optics, etc., will be just as
honored thousands of years hence, as Pythagoras, Ptolemy and Archimedes
now are.

This knowledge of the field, essential to any worker who hopes to
advance human welfare, may be acquired through instruction furnished by
schools of all grades, from the highest to the lowest, or it may be a
result of observation of the facts, i. e., a fruit of the direct study
of the surroundings in which we live.

No one is born with a knowledge of the outer world; this must be
acquired solely from experience and toil. Certain natural endowments,
memory in particular, favor the acquisition of this necessary
knowledge. Many great men have had remarkable memories, Berthelot and
President Poincare are outstanding instances. The former knew the
titles of more than a thousand of his papers and the volume numbers of
the Annales de Chimie in which they were published. It is said that
Poincare needed only to write a speech once to know it by heart. He
amazed his audience at the Sorbonne by his delivery of a eulogy of the
scientific achievements of Berthelot. He spoke more than an hour and a
quarter, using no notes or memoranda, and yet with such precision that
any one might have thought him an exceptionally well-informed chemist.

The sense of observation is no less valuable; it is essential to the
completion of the fragmentary knowledge acquired by the memory during
the years of schooling. As we go through life, we are confronted by
a multiplicity of facts which demand our attention and efforts. They
are so numerous that we cannot expect to learn them from books, and,
furthermore, many of them are not common knowledge and consequently
cannot be found in courses of instruction. Our knowledge of the world
is constantly augmented by the labor of every one of us, but the
contributions are extremely unequal varying with aptitude and training.
In military instruction, observation is taught by assignments in
scouting. The pupil is sent to a given point and on his return he is
questioned as to what he saw. Usually, he has seen nothing. He is sent
back and told what to look for; the undulations of the ground, the kind
of vegetation, isolated trees, hedgerows, roads, houses, the contour of
the horizon, and little by little the pupil improves.

High-school exercises in science should be largely planned to develop
observational powers. Actual handling of apparatus and materials lends
itself excellently to this end. A student is told to heat a material,
say iodine, in a test tube, or to dissolve a substance, mercuric
sulphate, for instance, in water, and then asked to describe all that
he has seen. After he has completed his report, the instructor should
point out all that actually can be observed in the experiment.




CONCLUSION


To sum up, we find that the formation of an intellectual elite entails
the union of four qualities--industry, imagination, judgment, training.
Unfortunately, these qualities are, in a certain degree, contradictory
among themselves. The toiler, bound to his task like an ox to a cart,
often forgets to pause and meditate; his intellectual activity slows
down. The dreamer, the inventor lets himself be guided by his fancies
and often lacks common sense. Finally, the abuse of book learning and
memory tends to paralyze all the intellectual faculties.

It is extremely difficult to produce a perfect balancing of these
diverse faculties. This fact alone is sufficient to explain the
infrequency of great men and, _a fortiori_, of men of genius. It
is useless to suppose, as many do, that men of genius owe their
accomplishments solely to exceptional natural endowments which raise
them above the common level. They have qualities which taken singly are
not extraordinary, but it is the occurrence of all these qualities in a
single mind that is rare.

Most men do not like to work. The suburbs of Paris are filled with
small houses inhabited by renters, who perhaps in the beginning
worked hard, but only in the hope of soon being able to stop working.
Unfortunately, this feeling is all too general in the Latin countries.
In 1918, during the Armistice, a party of American engineers who had
served as officers were taken for a boat ride down the Seine from Paris
to Rouen to see the bridges, locks, etc. To them, the most striking
sight was the number of fishermen lining the banks of the river. They
could not believe that there were so many Frenchmen content to spend
their days watching a cork float on the water, thinking nothing, doing
nothing.

Intellectual industry is not much more common than bodily industry.
One needs only to scan the interminable lists of candidates for petty
government positions which require little if any, mental exertion. The
holders of such offices are content to repeat each day exactly what was
done the day before. This apathy is apparent from childhood on. How
many college students have a horror of real effort? They are satisfied
to learn assigned lessons by rote, and never do more than the required
amount. Indeed, they often do not try to understand what they learn.

Common sense is perhaps rarer still. In proof of this, consider the
results of popular elections. The voters work painfully to make their
livings and then cast their ballots for the worst wasters of the
public wealth. Industrial conflicts lead to mutual ruination; efforts
to squeeze the consumer, who is the goose that produces the golden
eggs, bear witness to this same stupidity. Each side devotes itself
to efforts to bring about a redistribution of wealth, each hoping
to get the bigger share. Neither party comprehends the real problem,
which should be its sole interest, i. e., they should both strive for
increased production, which would benefit the world at large.

Finally, the question of learning what has been done and the matter
of instruction and training is still in a precarious condition. The
number of illiterates is still very large. Schools are often more
concerned with politics and large enrollments than with the pupils.
Unfortunately, this is one of the habitual wastes of democracies. In
the higher schools, students obtain cheapened degrees, and higher
culture is regarded with more and more contempt. The fetish of equality
means a leveling on a lower plane.

Admitting what has been said, let us make a calculation. Suppose one
man in ten has a love of industry; one in ten a certain intellectual
activity; one in ten common sense; one in ten has been well taught. The
probability that these four qualities will be found in one individual
will be equal to the fraction 1 over 10 raised to the 4th power, or 1
over 10,000, meaning one in ten thousand--i. e., one in ten thousand
may be expected to belong to the intellectual elite. This is not
many. The production of a great man requires the union of these same
qualities, but each in full bloom. If each quality, developed to this
high degree, occurs in one man in a hundred, the probability of their
being thus present in a single individual is one in a hundred million.
Consequently, we can explain why men of genius are so rare, without
seeking the reason in the realms of wonder.

It is a very noble task to aid in the creation of an intellectual
aristocracy. The prosperity and lasting glory of any country, all its
future welfare, depend on the success of these efforts. Above all,
this is a work of education, and no effort should be spared to realize
this common good. The family should set a good example to the younger
children and inculcate a taste for toil; the secondary school must
develop imagination and common sense; and finally the colleges and
universities must impart training.

However, an intellectual elite is not the only thing required to make
a great nation. There must also be a moral elite, a great class which
knows respect for the rights of others, a class to whom the Golden Rule
is law, and last but not least, this class also respects and demands
respect for real liberty. I do not wish to discuss this last point in
detail, for it lies outside my province, and especially because we have
a right to expect that the educated classes will have both a highly
developed sense of duty and a profound appreciation of independence. It
is their duty and privilege to set a noble example to others.




Transcriber’s Note:

- Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).

- Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.

- Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice.

- Spelling was retained as in the original except for the following
changes:

  Page 15: “by which this prog ress” to “by which this progress”
  Page 23: “new method of manufactutre” to “new method of manufacture”
  Page 24: “his plan to an offical” to “his plan to an official”
  Page 25: “The same Holds true” to “The same holds true”
  Page 25: “of cast iron and Siemen’s” to “of cast iron and Siemens’”


*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO BECOME MENTALLY SUPERIOR ***


    

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.


START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg
electronic works

1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg License when
you share it without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
    other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
    whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
    of the Project Gutenberg™ License included with this eBook or online
    at www.gutenberg.org. If you
    are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
    of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
  
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg electronic works
provided that:

    • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
        the use of Project Gutenberg works calculated using the method
        you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
        to the owner of the Project Gutenberg trademark, but he has
        agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
        Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
        within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
        legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
        payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
        Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
        Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
        Literary Archive Foundation.”
    
    • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
        you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
        does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
        License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
        copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
        all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
        works.
    
    • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
        any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
        electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
        receipt of the work.
    
    • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
        distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
    

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 41 Watchung Plaza #516,
Montclair NJ 07042, USA, +1 (862) 621-9288. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg electronic works

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.