One pacificist pamphlet, in 1947, jested that, entering the "atomic age", we should look to the enduring roach for lessons in longevity. Either we are "wise" and educate ourselves concerning the evils of weaponising "atomic energy", or our species won"t "last even as long as 10 or 20 more years", let alone the "billions" which physics had recently started forecasting as the time ahead within which Earth could remain habitable.