XII The prcceeding chapters of this anthology have

dealt with those mr.tcrialistic philosophies which

have made the world what it is today.

However,

the bulk of these volumcr, is not so much preoccu-

pied with theories

as their practical results. The present chapter has been compiled with the conviction that there is no better way to attain knowledge of the true spirit of a civilization than to study the biographies of its great men in all fields of life. My choice of Edison and Kafka as most representative of the spirit of our age is not arbitrary or by chance but because of my com·iction that a comparison of the lives of these two

men will most effectively enlighten the rea\<ler

about the modern industrial civilization that pro-

duced them both.

Although exact contemporaries, nQ two men could

be more striking contrasts than Thomas . Edisonthe scientist and

inventor, a happy, healthy extrovert who bad unquestioning faith in material

Progress and enjoyed every worldly success,

living to a ripe old age from Franz Kafka, the artist, devoted to Jiterar.v pursuits, whose works

Were never published during his lifetime and received no recognition until

long after bis death - a frail sickly introvert who endured the·