ATributetoLucy

Itwasbeautiful,thewingsflutteringinthesun,
thewingsofKLM.
Itcouldnthavebeeneasy,gettingtowherewe
were.Wewereflyingperhaps33,000feetabove
ground (10 km), almost at the speed of sound
andthewingsweremanmade.Itwasntalways
that way. There was a time when we were
confined to the ground. The monkeys leaping
throughthetreeswerethestarsandthebirdsawonder.Butoneday,someonethought:Whycant
webelikethebirds?Whycantwetakeintotheskies?WhatifIcouldbuildwings?Youprobably
know the legend, Icarus flew too close to the sun, and Icarus died. But Homo Sapiens Sapiens is
indefatigable,hedoesntknowwhentostop.TheWrightbrothersfinallycrackedthecode.12seconds
wasalltheyneededandLucybecameanangel.
Today,oneofmygreatestpleasuresiswatchingplanestakeoffandland.Theconcept,theideabehind
itisamazing.ItshardtoimaginetheamountofpowerneededtoliftthosejuggernautsaBoeing
747,anAirbusA380,aConcorde...Andtokeepthemfromfallingapartinthesky,sheergenius.Next
timeyoufly,sitbythewindowandwatchthebeautifulwings.Lookforthecracks,checkforsome
stress,youllfindnone.Theenginesseemidleandthewings,thosebeautifulwings,havenotacare
intheworld.
Andyetthesearenotthemostamazing.Have
you seen pictures of the earth from space?
Canyouimaginewalkingonthemoon?What
oftheblastrequiredbyaSaturnVrocketto
send an Apollo module into space? By the
timetherocketescapesthepullofgravity
that thing that pulls you down when you
jumpupandleavestheearthsatmosphere,
it is travelling at about 11km per second,
more than 30 times the speed of sound!
Wow, is that even possible? All it takes is a
wrongnut,aloosebolt,anditshastalavista
baby.Yetwefindthecouragetoboardthem
and head for the new frontier. Even the
moon, we conquered in one giant leap for
mankind.

Lucy has built her heaven on earth. There was a time

when all her hope was centred on Olympus.
Stonehenge,thepyramidsofGiza,thegreatIncacities,
Solomonstemple,allattesttothis.Butfinallyhergaze
changed,thebeginningofanapotheosis.Thewallsof
Chinawerejustthestart,thereweregranderthingsto
follow.HaveyoulookeddownfromthetopoftheBurj
Khalifa? The earth stretches before you beyond what
theeyescansee.An830mmonolithofglass,steeland
concrete,anditstands.Itsbeenmanyyearssincewe
leftthecaves,butourtimehasnotbeenwasted.Burjal
Arab,theShard,theSixBridgesPlan,theSochipalace,
EkoAtlanticCitybeautiful,allofthem.Therewereno
visionsofthenight.Mendreamedthemduringtheday,
andbuiltthem.Theirdreamswerebeautiful,pleasing
to the eyes. But if you look further, you will discover
anotherkindofbeautyunderneath.Thebeautyofthe
soulsofthemenwhocommittedtheirwealthtoturn
thosedreamsintoreality,thebeautyofthesoulsofthe
menwhogavetheirlivestogivethedreamssubstance.
Somemensaybeautyisintheeyesofthebeholder.I
saydamnthebeholder,beautyisbeauty!
TheconceptofflightandthebeautyofstructuresareamongthemorevisibleachievementsofHomo
SapiensSapiens.ButwemustntforgetprecisionliketheprecisionofaRolexorSkagenwristwatch.
EverymorningasIapproachmytemporarydutypostatBonnyIsland,thesixLNGTrainsriseupto
greetme.12billiondollarsworthofsteel,andtheresultisaglowinglampinJapan.Haveyouseen
liquefiednaturalgasbefore?Haveyoutastedit?Canyousmellit?Ihavent.YetIknowthatallIhave
todoistoensurethatthosepipesareconnectedliketheywerefromthebeginning,withthepumps
running, the compressors humming and the GE Frame 7 turbines burning at over 600 degC and
spinningatthoseinfernalspeeds3,600rpmandachildwillhavelighttoreadinChina,yourmum
wouldhavegastocookinLagos.Whatthehelldoes3,600rpmmean?Picturethis:Inthetimeittakes
toreadthissentence(say7seconds),thatmassivepieceofmetalhasturnedaroundandaroundover
400times!Utterlyincredible!Thisitdoeshourafterhour,dayafterday,withoutturningtopieces.
Andthatisthebeautyofprecision,theprecisionofengineering.
Precision,everythinginitsexactplaceattheexactmoment.Onehairsbreadthoff,andsomeonedies.
Wegoaboutdailyinthosecars,onthebridges,thoseplanes,thetallstructures,theamusementpark
rides,andwedontthinkabouttheprecisionourlivesdependon.Howcanwe?Theyaresoprecise
thatwedontevenseethethreat.Andwhenthebaserinstinctstakeover,whenwemusttakelives,
we can and will land missiles and warheads thousands of kilometres away with the accuracy of a
pinhead,wewillsplitatomsandsendLucyintooblivion.
Manhasindeedcomealongway.Perhapsjusttwohundredyearsago,thisfivehourridefromLondon
to Edinburgh would have been on horseback or in a horsedrawn carriage and would have taken
nothinglessthan10days.Therattlingofthewheelswouldhavemadeitnighimpossibletothink,

much less write. But this train hurtles at over 140 km per hour and yet is comfortable, quiet and
smoothenoughformetousemylaptop.Ilookatthesimplebuildingswepassby,thecarswespeed
past,thebridgeswepassunder,andthelights thatareonatthestations.Allthesebeganwith a
dream,arekeptalivebydreams,andwillbemadeobsoletebydreams.AndwhendreamerLucywakes
up,themenofcapitalwillriseup.Thearchitects,theengineers,thebuilders,allwillplaytheirpartto
givelifetothedream,thatdreamthatbeganinthecrystalcave.Andintributetothem,Isay:
Anodetothedreamersandinventors,
Anodetotheengineersandmenofmeans,
AnodetoHomoSapiensSapiens,
AnodetoLucy!

Beecroft,JohnO.
Edinburgh
November2014