SCIENCE IN THE CAUSE OF MAN

by Gerard Piel ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Gerard Piel's collection of essays and lectures is a work of serious intention worthy of the maximum attention. Concerned with the dilemma of the age,-- either total destruction or world-wide social reconstruction, both principally through scientific achievement, Piel explores the East-West impasse, illuminates the perils and perversities of the two camps, extolling always the ethical choice as against the militarily expedient one. But this is not the work of a weepy moralist, rather of a highly knowledgeable, committed humanist, one sure of his facts, who stakes out his arguments courageously and dissects his opponents cleanly and compactly. Shackled neither by the pseudo-idealism of the left nor the roaring rhetoric of the right, Science In The Cause of Man offers penetrating commentary on all the vital issues: arms control, economy of abundance, the underdevelopment struggle, automation, Seviet education, government censorship vs public interest, secrecy, security and heresy, industrial culture, liberalism-at-bay, overpopulation and the planetary plight. He is particularly apt when questioning the Oppenheimer decision, putting the Sputnik craze in proper perspective, and showing up the horrors and errors of space-weapon defense. Piel, incidentally, is the editor of Scientific American, and this is a cool-headed, wise and well-focused report.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 0548391548

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1961

Categories: NONFICTION