Why does the idea of progress loom（可怕地出现） so large in the modern world? Surely because progress of a particular kind is actually taking place around us and is becoming more and more manifest（显然的）. Although mankind has undergone（经历） no general improvement in intelligence or morality（道德）, it has made extraordinary（非凡的） progress in the accumulation（积聚） of knowledge. Knowledge began to increase as soon as the thoughts of one individual could be communicated to another by means of speech. With the invention of writing, a great advance（进展） was made, for knowledge could then be not only communicated but also stored. Libraries made education possible, and education in its turn added to libraries.