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THE 60's
of the Seventies promises to see the
greatest growth in worldwide popu–
lation in the history of man.
Vast Sections Rejecting What the
Decade Produced
Who in 1960 could have looked
ahead and seen the most energetic seg–
ment of society - the youth - dis–
illusioned, turned-off, rejectíng, destroy–
ing, demonstrating agaínst the "estab–
lishment"?
Who could have guessed that man–
kind not only would have failed to
solve a single major problem of human
society, but would have added, by the
end of the decade, scores of new prob–
lems not even imagi ned at the end of
the Fifties?
That's why the Sixties were the
JN–
CREDJBLE DECADE!
Technology's Age
The computer. Aerospace. Micro–
circuits. The Sixties were technology's
Golden Era.
By the early years of the decade,
second-generation computers were able
to perform 10 times as many calctlla–
tions in one second as the .first-genera–
tion computers of the 50's. From 1965
onward, a third generation of computers
could solve 1 million calculations per
second, or 100 times as many as second–
generation computers.
The Space Race between the two
super powers - impossible in the pre–
computer era - gripped our attention.
Which power, which ideology would
prove superior in the battle
for
world
prestige?
By the end of 1968, there had been
928 unmanned satelli tes shot into space.
The U. S. had put up 575 of them (544
in earth orbit), and the Soviets 337
(314 in earth orbit). Totals for 1969
will up the fignre to around 1,000.
Today over 350 are still in orbit, accom–
panied by thousands of pieces of other
space "junk" - burnt-out rockets and
parts of satellites.
The
PLAIN TRUTH
And it all· began with Sputnik 1
in
the fall of 1957.
It was the decade of exploring other
planets - unmanned of course. ln–
strumented fly-by missions peeked at
Venus and Mars. The lunar sudace was
photographed from nearly every angle.
Even the moon's mysterious back side
did not escape the prying of Russian
cameras.
Instrumented Ranger and Surveyor
landings on the moon revealed to U. S.
space engineers detai ls of i:he lunar sur–
faces necessary to prepare manned land–
ings.
Marinee 4, in 1965, and Mariners 6
and 7, in 1969, telecast back to earth the
stark features of the desolate landscape
of Mars.
Man began to realize how unique,
how fantastically beautiful was the earth
- a lone, beautiful jewel in the
darkness of space.
But by the end of the decadc, with
the Apollo 12 moon mission safely
completed, humanity even started to
take "moonwalks" for granted.
The space race ínteosified improve–
ments in the field of electrical micro–
miniaturization, in new metal alloys,
new plastics, and new heat resistant ma–
terials. Many of these applications are
only starting to reach the common man
in goods and products.
There were other technolog ical
changes and developments.
It was the decade that saw com–
mercial jetliners take over the skies and
push passenger rai lroads into a losing
proposition, at least in the United
States. The new age of passenger jumbo
jets emerged at the end of 1969.
During the sixties, the automobile
began to domínate the urban trans–
portation scene in the Western wodd,
much to the dismay of city traffic plan–
ners.
Technology was indeed king in the
Sixties. But as the decade drew to a
close, it was patently clear that tech–
nological advances had been obtained at
a tremendous cost to the earth's envi–
ronment.
The Seventies open with clarion-call
warnings by worried ecologists that
January,
1970
mankind faces extinction
f
rQm pollu–
tion unless runaway technology is held
in check.
The Arms Race
The world became much more of an
armed camp during the Sixties, both in
conventional and nuclear weapons.
During the decade, more than 40
nations were involved in wars. Much
of
the fighting was done with surplus
American arms. Just since 1962, the
U.
S. sold arms worth over thirteen
biUion dollars!
During the Sixtics, U. S. nuclear
weapons tripled. To what degree the
Soviets expanded their nuclear capacity
is not known precisely. Most experts,
however, believe the decade ended with
the United States and the Soviet Union
in rough nuclear balance.
During the early Sixties, both the
Americans and Soviets exploded nuclear
devices of awesome megatonnage. As a
direct result, U. N. Secretary General
U Thant dedarcd that radiation poisons
were "present in the bones of every
atomic-age child."
In July, 1963, the U. S., Britain and
the Soviet Union signed an agreement
banning all but underground nuclear
tests. But in October, 1964, Red China
again unsettled nerves with its first
atomic bomb blast. Peking continued
its testing unpertu.rbed until it had set
off Jive by December, 1966. Then, seven
months later, the Chinese exploded
their first hydrogen bomb.
Later, in August, 1968, France be–
carne the fifth nation to explode a
hydrogen bomb. Nuclear scientists em–
phasized that it was very possible for
at least forty nations to join the
"nuclear club." The worldwide arms
race was entering a new, far more dan–
gerous phase.
The fear of the rapid spread of nu–
clear weapons in the Seventies spurred
Soviet and U. S. interest in a Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Strate–
gíc Arms Limitation Talks (SALT).
History, however, shows all dis–
armament treatíes to be bitter dis–
appointments. Look for more members
in the Nuclear Club during the coming