From Adam to Atom (Excerpt, ca. 1947)

you know I'm quite surprised bet you are say let me try that one H go the queen gentl just a moment [Music] sweet Edison took out a thousand patents in his lifetime his inventions and his improvements on the inventions of others made their Mark in the homes of the nation the achievements of men of science pyramided laying the foundations for new and greater Industries and a Prosperity that reached to every town and Village and farm at the turn of a century an infant giant the internal combustion engine reached for new worlds to conquer a lighter car I keep asking you why in the name of common sense why go into a new model when our old model is going over like like like like Niagara it's insane Henry's got new ideas he's going to cast four cylinders in one block what why that's too heavy and what if one cylinder cracks you've got to buy all four to replace it well Henry's going to produce in such quantity that a four cylinder block will be cheaper Heavens man we're producing 10,000 cars a year now besides you'd have to spend a million dollars just in retooling well why not ridiculous exactly what I intend to do oh but good Heavens Henry what do you hope to gain by it listen to me Flanders I'd rather put out 25,000 cars at 5% profit than a few high price cars at 200% prop look here you the best for the greatest number of people will always win out in the end what are you a businessman or a philanthropist why take the risk it's insane to scrap our tools and plow on our profets on one of your scatter brain Hunters our old model is good but not good enough and not cheap enough well there's no sense arguing with you you're a stubborn mule you don't no business I'm through I don't know business just blame Common Sense Jim what is our balance sheet show well you want the exact figures Mr oh never mind never mind uh just put it in to R tooling it we will put out a new model in quantities bigger than men ever dreamed of before each part be machined to exact size no supplemental fittings no wasted motion and every cent that I can save in construction Factory Management in the purchase of materials even if I have to own the source of Supply that's a good idea will be deducted from the selling price the price is going down Jim let's announce well what are you going to say well uh let me think I'm going to put out a motor car car for the oral you put this out I'm going to put out a motor car for the multitude I'll call it uh my Model T it'll be large enough for the family and simple enough for the individual to take care of it'll be made of the best materials by the best men that I can hire and from the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise but it'll be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one and with his family enjoy hours of pleasure out in God's wide open space I don't know bus why it's just plain Common Sense common sense and good business principles working together brought the fruits of invention to every citizen automobiles were made cheap enough and good enough to become no longer the pleasure of the few but a necessity used by millions the benefits of Edison's Pearl Street Power Station flowed across the land and electric power became the basic motive Force for the new industrial nation bringing life into the lives of millions and providing power for an never growing Myriad of tools that continue to build America and this great force ever growing made accessible the power of the atom the giant of the future the forms of entertainment were changed gas light and candle light gave way to electric light and New Media Rose based on the new kind of Light and Power Media of entertainment that could bring joy and relaxation to thousands upon thousands in their Leisure [Music] Time and the growth of America taking its spring from the inventions of Gutenberg with his basic idea of mass production has brought forth generation after generation of student Engineers to learn more to build more in this land of America and the future of new things the creation of new wonders rests on the shoulders of the youth the young men and women who will learn to build on the buildings of the Past new structures for the betterment of the life of America and the world America's growth has been great with but 7% of the world's population working on but 6% of the world's surface America now produces more than half the the world's Goods it is a far cry from the Primitive tools of farming that dig neither wide nor deep today America's Engineers have built great machines that turn the Earth and cultivate better crops Old forms of watercraft that took much labor and gave little transport have been transformed by the skill and Imagination of a American engineers and the use of new sources of power and design into great chips that push thousands and thousands of tons from port to port 15,000 tons of coal in one load on an inland Waterway even the earlier forms of our own American buildings simple water Mills and quaint covered [Music] bridges have changed their structure in a brief span and great Bridges have been [Music] built crops cannot be grown without water life cannot survive without it but the carrying of water from source to farm has worried man for centuries and inefficient means were devised until today's American Engineers creating new wonders have provided new Lakes New Rivers new streams to Water Aid land and make green the desert the human back has done the world's work from primitive days till the time when power could be harnessed power efficient enough and portable enough to do the work wherever it might be found no longer need the backs of men carry the goods of the Earth [Music] this tremendous fruitfulness of American industry is largely the creation of American Engineers American Engineers who have held one goal before them to produce more Goods better made of newer and better material at lower and lower prices so that what is a luxury today may be the universal necessity of tomorrow to this end across our land new modes of transportation larger faster stronger have Arisen to carry the goods of our factories new tools bigger tools more exact tools tool tools to make other tools have been devised so that new kinds of goods can be produced better and old kinds of goods produced in New Waves the steam engine of one has long since superseded his most ambitious dreams and new sources of power undreamed of have been harnessed new materials countless in their numbers and variety have been created to provide the many Goods that now make a America great and still the need for further development marches on the need to devise new means of doing greater labor than man's back is capable of tools to produce more Goods to provide more comfort and Leisure for the people of America and the world ideas invention initiative will with these America builds m maches tools research skills with the America build mass production thorn of Liberty giving to all the fruit of Industry with the America build the skies look down on a land whose Engineers have found the boundaries of their own territory have conquered its vast resources from sea to Sea today American Engineers have not yet found any boundaries to space space the project of the [Music] future of your all cre [Applause] [Music]