The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c6.s2.5

c6.s2.5

Human memory, again, is very short. It does not go even so far back as one generation. It is impossible of course to call to one's mind the days of pre-steam industry. And the discoveries relating to the radium group are bidding fair to throw into the shade even the marvellous technological power of the energies that underlie contemporary life and efficiency. And yet how old are these achievements?¹ And scientifically speaking, how many are they in number? The "pragmatic" answer lies in the history of Japan. This Asian country did not take more than twenty-five years (1880—1905) to exploit the whole of western culture in order to triumph over a great European power and be invited by America to dictate terms to the vanquished foe.