The greatest of the changes that science has brought us is the acuity of change; the greatest novelty the extent of novelty.
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Persons born in the twentieth century have witnessed what seem to be unparalleled changes in the world around them. These changes have occurred largely because of the scientific and technological revolutions which have characterized the past three centuries, particularly in the western world. Many authors have written about these changes and not always in positive terms. This volume provides a variety of viewpoints and insights into the ways in which science and technology have influenced and continue to influence the broader society.
The reader may be confused by the terms science and technology—terms which are often used interchangeably. Science is a particular way of studying and knowing the world. It is based upon a rational belief that an objective world exits and can be known. Science differs from other ways of knowing the world primarily in its insistence that its theories be experimentally testable in that world. In its purest form, scientists pursue their knowledge simply for the sake of knowing. Others, who might be called applied scientists, may seek the same knowledge in order to use it. Thus a scientist might try to understand the microscopic structure of a particular metal in order to create a theoretical understanding of all metals, while an applied scientist might study the same metal, using the same techniques, gaining the same knowledge, in an effort to create a harder form of steel, for example.
Technology is neither of these. The word technology originated from the Greek tekhn, meaning skill. In anthropology, technology refers to the realm of tool-making. So a history of technology might begin with a study of the tools available in ancient cultures and, more importantly, with the knowledge associated with the crafting of those tools. In some sense the word still has that meaning. That is, one might use the term technology to refer to a particular set of tools or machines used in a particular way. i.e., “We must invest in new technology in order to be competitive.” A diesel-electric locomotive represents a technology which replaced the older technology of steam locomotives. But technology has come to mean much more than a tool or a machine. Technology also refers to interrelated systems of science, machines, tools and the body of knowledge associated with them, applied to the solutions of particular problems. Thus our electrical power generating and distribution system is a technology. We can identify transportation technologies, communications technologies and defense technologies. Used in this way, Thomas Edison didn’t just invent the electric lamp, a particular technological device for lighting, he (along with Westinghouse) invented the electric power industry. Electric technologies have changed people’s lives in ways ranging from better lighting to better food preservation to communications and entertainment. In changing lives, the technology developed a dependence on the part of its users and it created the opportunity for ethical choices which had not previously existed on the part of the larger society.
For most of human history, technology was the province of tinkers or inventors. As recently as the 18th century, almost all technology was created by trial and error. James Watt invented the steam engine with no understanding of the science of heat which then developed in a futile attempt to devise substantially more efficient steam engines. That began to change in the late 18th century when the expatriate American, Benjamin Thompson, began a systematic study of the thermal properties of various fibers in an attempt to create the most efficient cloth for military uniforms. Thompson, later known as Count Rumford, was likely the first real scientist to pursue science for its utility.
By the middle of the 19th century, James Clerk Maxwell had published his theory of electromagnetism which demonstrated the interrelatedness of all known electromagnetic phenomena. This powerful theory also showed that light is an electromagnetic wave and predicted the existence of other, previously suspected, electromagnetic waves. In 1888, Heinrich Hertz verified the existence of such waves and by 1910, William Marconi had invented the wireless telegraph, an invention which would not have been possible without the understanding of the science of electromagnetism. The first commercial radio station (KDKA in Pittsburgh) began to broadcast in 1920, approximately fifty years after the publication of the theory. Modern technologies almost always develop from some scientific theory or discovery. Personal computers are possible because of the invention of the “chip.” The chip is possible ultimately because of the work of scientists at Bell Laboratories who studied the electrical properties of crystals and, in the process, invented the transistor. The past century’s rapid technological development has seen the time from scientific theory to invention to production compress, often to as short as a few weeks.
Since modern technologies and the problems they create are in fact modern, very few writings about technology have existed long enough to stand the test of time, which is often taken as one of the measures of a “classic” work. Those responsible for this series believe that most, if not all, of the works represented will still be read fifty years hence. This volume is organized in four sections.
The first section, entitled “In Praise of Science and Technology,” articulates an enthusiastic optimism toward science and technology and their benefits for society. Taken from twentieth-century American authors, these writings are typical of an attitude that science and technology can solve all of the nation’s (and by extension, the world’s) problems. First, John Dewey poses an interesting argument for the relationship between science and democracy. Vannevar Bush argues that continued investment in and public support of science and technology are critical to the long term interests of the United States. The essay by Oppenheimer was originally delivered as one of a series of public lectures, invited by the British Broadcasting Company in the early fifties, to help a worried public understand the “new” physics which had created so many technological wonders and which had also created a new weapon of mass destruction. The selection from Max Lerner’s brilliant America as a Civilization characterizes the growth and importance of technology in America, especially its impact on the workplace. Frederick Taylor applies principles taken from modern technology to improve the performance of factory workers.
Part II, “Visions of a Technological World,” is comprised of selections taken from the world of fiction. Huxley, Wells, and Swift provide views of distopian societies, each based in some important way on science and technology. Huxley and Wells created worlds in which the machine has, in essence, taken over—a recurring theme in science fiction. The selection from Brave New World describes human cloning. The selection taken from The Time Machine treats the author’s visit into the world of the distant future, where humans do not have to work and in which they have traded freedom for security. Swift satirizes the enlightenment view of science and technology. The selection from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein illustrates the attitude held by many scientists that certain things which are possible to do ought to be done because they are scientifically or technically “sweet.” It also treats the unforeseen consequences of scientific and technological creation. Unfortunately, one cannot assume that today’s students have even heard of these four novels. Most certainly have not read them. Steven Vincent Benét’s sobering short story, “By the Waters of Babylon,” also portrays a world which has been irrevocably changed by technology.
“Sounding the Alarm” provides philosophical discussions of the fears evidenced in Part II. Three selections taken from the work of Henry Adams address the driving force which created such wonders as Mont St Michel and Chartres and Adams’ personal search for a new metaphor for the twentieth century—which he found in the dynamo. Herbert Muller, in a selection from The Children of Frankenstein, points out that new technologies not only create new opportunities, but also create new and often unforeseen ethical choices. Lewis Mumford argues that there are two different technologies which coexist, one which is powerful and controlling, the other weak and possibly controllable. Muller and Mumford not only worry that technology will always create unforeseen problems, but also that society may not be able to control technology and the problems it creates. Jacques Ellul is even more pessimistic, arguing that technology already controls man to the extent that nothing can be done to reverse the situation. Bertrand Russell explores the gains which science and technology have brought to humankind as well as the threats posed by that same science and technology.
Readings in the final section were chosen to illustrate an arbitrary selection of current technological issues. Although written in the middle of the 19th century, Florence Nightingale’s appeal for more adequate public education in the science of health and application of that knowledge in the hospital and in the home illustrates an ongoing problem with scientific knowledge. Society continues to wrestle with the transmission of scientific understanding to the populace and with the use of practical scientific knowledge by the public, particularly in the fields of nutrition and health. James F. Childress, in “The Art of Technology Assessment,” treats the difficult problem of determining the consequences of technologies before they are employed, with illustrations taken from his field of expertise, biomedical ethics. The “Reactor Safety Study,” or “Rasmussen Report,” as it is commonly known, is a relatively early attempt to apply risk-benefit analysis to nuclear energy, arguably the most hotly debated commercial technology of the century. Rachel Carson launched the modern environmental movement with the publication of Silent Spring in 1962. Her sobering account of the effects of pesticides in our environment, although controversial, nevertheless raised the sensitivity of the larger society to the effects of previously ignored pollutants on various ecosystems. In the selection from The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis struggled with the way the human attempt to conquer Nature has affected the very concept and definition of humanity. Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek expresses a sense of awe and wonder in confronting the natural world. The Biological Time Bomb, published in 1968, forecast in a reasonably accurate fashion the subsequent development of modern biotechnologies. While Gordon Rattray Taylor marveled at the wonders of modern biology, he also noted the potential dangers its unbridled growth would create. No treatment of technology would be complete without some discussion of the impact of computers on modern society. Norbert Wiener, in a selection taken from The Human Use of Human Beings, defines the new science of cybernetics and discusses briefly the impact of the automatic machine on human work. A. M. Turing’s definitive essay discusses the question of artificial intelligence and how one might determine whether or not a computer can “think.”
Each of these readings illustrates aspects of the manner in which science and technology have altered society and the world in which society exists. We have become accustomed to new ideas and to new technologies accompanied by a frequency of change that would have been devastating to past societies. One corollary to the phenomenal success of science and technology has been our increasing tendency to assume that all problems can be solved by the methods of science and technology. Energy shortages, genetic engineering, the rise of computer-based technologies—all now cause doubt in some minds about the direction in which science and technology are taking us. Nevertheless, most assume that the answers to these and other problems lie within science and technology. If we run out of fossil fuels, scientists will invent a solution; if we pollute the oceans, science will find a way to clean them up. But more and more, scientists and engineers themselves realize that the solution to technological problems often lie outside the realm of science—in the realm of politics or in the world of moral choice. Perhaps the most significant issue in our lifetime will be the relationships among science, technology, and the larger society. Shall we be liberated by our technologies, or shall we be absorbed into a technological value system over which we have no control? Do we really have a choice?
Julius A. Sigler