From the conception of mechanical force as coming in from Nature to the service of man, a conception the Utopian proposal of a coinage based on energy units would emphasise¹, arise profound contrasts between the modern and the classical Utopias. Except for a meagre use of water power for milling, and the wind for sailing — so meagre in the latter case that the classical world never contrived² to do without the galley³ slave — and a certain restricted help from oxen in ploughing, and from horses in locomotion⁴, all the energy that sustained the old-fashioned State was derived⁵ from the muscular exertion⁶ of toiling⁷ men. They ran their world by hand. Continual bodily labour was a condition of social existence. It is only with the coming of coal burning, of abundant iron and steel, and of scientific knowledge that this condition has been changed. To-day, I suppose, if it were possible to indicate, in units of energy, the grand total of work upon which the social fabric⁹ of the United States or England rests, it would be found that a vastly preponderating¹⁰ moiety¹¹ is derived from non-human sources, from coal and liquid fuel, and explosives and wind and water. There is every indication of a steady increase in this proportion of mechanical energy, in this emancipation¹² of men from the necessity of physical labour. There appears no limit to the invasion of life by the machine.

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