THE WAY OF THE SCIENTIST

by Robert- Ed. Colborn ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 1966

There is a saying in Italian, ""Non tutto male viene per il nuocere,"" roughly, not everything bad comes from what hurts. The saying well applies to the course of science and technology if for ""what hurts"" one reads World War II. The forty-odd interviews that comprise The Way of the Scientist (along with an introduction by Robert Colborn, editor of International Science and Technology) are collectively a revelation of the change in society wrought by the rapid growth in these fields triggered by the war. (One indication: an increase in federal research spending from $1 billion to $15 billion in twenty years.) Macrosubjects like the philosophy and ethics of science, its present content, its impact on education and the social condition, are illumined through the perceptions of pre-war emigres such as Leo Szilard and Peter Denye or post-war figures such as Albert Szent-Gyorgyi and a group representative of the recent British brain drain. The discourses include scientists or engineers who have become company presidents or government advisers; Congressmen; MP's; international figures such as Lord Snow or I. G. Petorvskii, Director of Moscow State University. The interview style works extremely well, yielding a surprising amount of information whether on the content of science or in the expression of concern for values in a growing technocracy. Very few books today present so exhilarating a chorus of voices addressing the theme of where man is going.

Pub Date: Jan. 16, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1966

Categories: NONFICTION