CHAPTER I

THE STARTING-POINT


It is an old saying that "Order is Heaven's First Law," and like many other
old sayings it contains a much deeper philosophy than appears immediately
on the surface. Getting things into a better order is the great secret of
progress, and we are now able to fly through the air, not because the laws
of Nature have altered, but because we have learnt to arrange things in the
right order to produce this result--the things themselves had existed from
the beginning of the world, but what was wanting was the introduction of a
Personal Factor which, by an intelligent perception of the possibilities
contained in the laws of Nature, should be able to bring into working
reality ideas which previous generations would have laughed at as the
absurd fancies of an unbalanced mind. The lesson to be learnt from the
practical aviation of the present day is that of the triumph of principle
over precedent, of the working out of an _idea_ to its logical conclusions
in spite of the accumulated testimony of all past experience to the
contrary; and with such a notable example before us can we say that it is
futile to enquire whether by the same method we may not unlock still more
important secrets and gain some knowledge of the unseen causes which are at
the back of external and visible conditions, and then by bringing these
unseen causes into a better order make practical working realities of
possibilities which at present seem but fantastic dreams? It is at least
worth while taking a preliminary canter over the course, and this is all
that this little volume professes to attempt; yet this may be sufficient to
show the lay of the ground.