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THE ENVIRONMENT OF CHANGE by Aaron W.--Ed. Warner

THE ENVIRONMENT OF CHANGE

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Pub Date: April 1st, 1969
Publisher: Columbia Univ. Press

In spite of Time magazine's sponsorship of the symposium which spawned these papers and colloquies, this is serious if frequently plodding discussion of the impact of science and technology on social change. Nobel Prize-winning physicist I. I. Rabi declares that ""the scientific way of thinking"" has not permeated society at large, so that ""although we live in an age largely produced by science, we do not live in a scientific age."" Economist Eli Ginzberg warns against the total elimination of work, and the late Sir Isaiah Berlin argues against revolution as a means of change. By far the most interesting interchange is an off-the-cuff conversation on second careers in which Rabi admits he may not have any new ideas in mathematics, but ""retreaded"" to a new field he (and others) could contribute a fresh approach. Other participants include Jacob Bronowski, Loren Eisely, and Everett Kassalow. Like most records of conference proceedings, the ideas are frequently interesting, but the work loses impact in transcription.