Abstract
Certain methods of divination enjoyed wide currency in the ancient world; for example, events were foretold by examining the entrails of sacrificed animals or humans, by drawing pebbles from a heap, by numbers, by dots made at random on paper,* and, of course, by interpreting oracles. Most methods of divination, however, have disappeared in the modern world. Yet because modern society requires extensive planning, auguring is now even more essential. And because energy is such an essential component of modern life, few fields of late have experienced more oracles generating numbers and dots on paper.
Prophecy is the most gratuitous form of error.
George Eliot Middlemarch (1871–1872)
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© 1981 Plenum Press, New York
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Gibbons, J.H., Chandler, W.U. (1981). A Chronicle of Forecasts. In: Energy. Modern Perspectives in Energy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9209-9_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9209-9_2
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