Chile mine rescue no miracle.

After sixty nine days trapped underground the Chilean miners are finally rescued and returned to their families and we can but heave a sigh of relief and wish them well. Hours of TV coverage and acres of newsprint have reported the drama in detail but one word keeps cropping up again and again, "miracle". The rescue was fantastic and thrilling and heartening and much more, but it was not a miracle. Instead it was a triumph of scientific knowledge and engineering skill. It was a triumph as well for that part of human nature that cares about the welfare of others. It's a pity of course that all that knowledge,skill and empathy was not used to prevent the accident in the first place. Now that would have been a miracle.