for soluble poisons
capable of being produced in such quantities as to destroy the vegetation
of whole continents, or for breeds of disease germs immunized against all
possible antibodies; others strive to produce a vehicle that shall bore its
way under the soil like a submarine under the water, or an aeroplane as
independent of its base as a sailing-ship; others explore even remoter
possibilities such as focusing the sun's rays through lenses suspended
thousands of kilometres away in space, or producing artificial earthquakes
and tidal waves by tapping the heat at the earth's centre.
But none of these projects ever comes anywhere near realization, and
none of the three super-states ever gains a significant lead on the others.
What is more remarkable is that all three powers already possess, in the
atomic bomb, a weapon far more powerful than any that their present
researches are likely to discover. Although the Party, according to its
habit, claims the invention for itself, atomic bombs first appeared as
early as the nineteen-forties, and were first used on a large scale about
ten years later. At that time some hundreds of bombs were dropped on
industrial centres, chiefly in European Russia, Western Europe, and North
America. The effect was to convince the ruling groups of all countries that
a few more atomic bombs would mean the end of organized society, and hence
of their own power. Thereafter, although no formal agreement was ever made
or hinted at, no more bombs were dropped. All three powers merely continue
to produce atomic bombs and store them up against the decisive opportunity
which they a