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long-range rocket as a
weapon
for
the Third Reich. The V1 and Y2
rockets were in a few short years
targeted on Britain.
A fter that, the U.S. and Soviet
Union developed intercontinental
ballistic missiles ( ICBMs) th at
cou ld travel thousands of miles,
land on target and, carrying a ther–
monuclear warhead, do unimagina–
ble damage.
Yon Br au n 's explanation?
" Rockct energy may be used for
peaceful purposes of exploring
space, or it may be used for war. lt
does not make sense to ask a scien–
tist whether his [discovery] is good
or bad for mankind."
When American physicist Leo
Szilard patented the formula for
c reat ing a chain reaction between
uranium atoms and neutrons in
1934, he tried desperately to keep
the patent secret. He wanted to
prevent technology from being mis–
used. But as World War 11 become
more and more threatening, Dr.
Szilard's efforts were futile. The
formula leaked.
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n 1939 Albert Einstein sent a
letter to U.S. President Franklin
Roosevelt sayi ng, "Nuclear energy
is here. War is inevitable." Six
years later, at 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6,
1945, thc atomic bomb was
dropped on the Japanese city of
Hiroshima. So much for "peaceful
purposes."
Since then, the Pandora' s box of
scientific technology has precipi–
tated the ghastly fear of nuclear
war that now grips government
leaders the world over. In addition
to bringing mankind to the brink of
nuclear anni hilation, scienti fic and
technological know-how has left a
trail of burdensome environmental
and social ills.
A Misguided 50 Years?
Look at the path of indust rializa–
tion. Urbanized populations dur–
ing the past 50 years have been
plagued with serious air and water
pollution, the accumulation of
nondisposable wastes, noise a t
threatening levels, shortages of
power and the imminent exhaus–
tion of numerous irreplaceable
natural resources.
Forming earth's air surfaces are
extremely complex and delicate
balances of water vapor, fr esh
Feb ruary 1984
water and ice, factored by ocean
currents, salt content, evaporation,
rainfall, snowfall, oxygen supply
and the activities of living organ–
isms. Man-often through igno–
rance--clearly has interfered with
th is balance in the 20th century.
Fluorocarbons a nd pesticide
sprays have deteriorated the ozone
!ayer. Industrial was tes and domes–
tic detergents are killing rivers.
Pills and drugs for everything from
supposedl y making sex safe to
fighting myriad bodily dysfunc–
tions complicate health. All stand
as testimonies to man's myopia in
technological endeavor. Out of the
promising fruits of science and
technology have indeed emerged
"hidden worms," as put by one
newsmagazine.
"Science and technology's
dreamy wonders sometimes turn
out to be nightmarish blunders."
Besi des the environment, the
same is occurr ing in the social
realm. Herein lie the big problems.
The Plain Truth
asked 13 years
ago: "Can science provide the key
that will unlock the solutions to the
problems of delinquency, of unhap–
py marriages, of mental illness, of
crime, of financia! worry-of all
the big world and personal prob–
lems that plague our society?"
reduce its inequities," said author
Isaac Asimov.
True, the discovery of antibiot–
ics, vitamins and hormones, not to
mention modern s urgical tech–
niques and the use of
X
rays, elec–
trocardiograms and biochemical
diagnosis a nd treatment, has caused
the life expectancy of t he average
person living in the industrial world
to jump from about 40 in 1900 to
about 74 today. In less developed
areas also, for example Puerto
Rico, from 1941 to 1955 the life
expectancy of t he average baby
shot up 22 years.
But we are beginning to realize
that along with longer life expec–
tancy, lower infant mortality and
better nutr ition, have also come
massive populat ions and worldwide
starvation .
Many insist that science and
technology can provide the an–
swers to all these problems. " I f
t hey can't, nothing can!" is the
prometed philosophy. Philosopher
Bertrand Russell once said: " AII
knowledge is attainable solely by
means of the scientific meth–
od."
I t should be evident, however ,
from assess ing world troubles
today that sc ience in human
hands is failing to combat suc-
Many speculated about the power of
tbe
atomic bomb. When unleashed on
Hirosbima, Japan, Aug. 6, 1945, tbe borrifying devastation removed all doubts.
" Hand in hand, science and tech–
nology can find new and unlimited
sou rces of energy, clean and safe,
and with such energy, we can clean
t he world, recycle its resources, and
cessfully earth's staggering prob–
lems.
Former U.S. Pres ident Dwight
D. Eisenhower asked if civiliza–
tion were nearing the light- a
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