Could _you_ make a radio set? Don’t answer rashly. Don’t say that you
have already built several. For note that we did not ask whether you
could assemble a set from parts already manufactured by others, but
rather whether you could build the entire set yourself—from the ground
up. That means making every part you require, including the vacuum
tubes, the acid in the batteries, the wires, the insulation.
If you think that you could do this, let us ask you one further
question. Put yourself in the place of the hero of the following story,
and imagine yourself stranded amid intelligent savages who have not
progressed beyond the wood age. Under such circumstances, with nothing
to guide you but your scientific memory, with no tools except those of
your own creation, and with no materials save those furnished by nature,
could you, though the lives and happiness of your dear ones depended
upon it—could _you_ make a radio set?
—_R. M. F._, 1926.