4/26/2012 Professor Sviedrys * STS 2413 * Spring 2012 Contents Our New Age.......................................................... 1 Robert Goddard....................................................... 3 Wernher von Braun.................................................... 5 Sergei Korolev....................................................... 7 The Old Age.......................................................... 8 Exploring the New World as a Metaphor for the Future................10 Why the Best is Yet to Come.........................................11 Indicators of the Future............................................ 12 Exploring Space..................................................... 14 Critical Bibliography............................................... 16 Bibliography........................................................ 19 CINDY PENN “WHAT A MAN DESIRES, HE ALSO IMAGINES TO BE TRUE” DEMOSTHENES
Transcript
4/26/2012
Professor Sviedrys * STS 2413 * Spring 2012
Contents
Our New Age..........................................................1Robert Goddard.......................................................3
Wernher von Braun....................................................5Sergei Korolev.......................................................7
The Old Age..........................................................8Exploring the New World as a Metaphor for the Future................10
Why the Best is Yet to Come.........................................11Indicators of the Future............................................12
“WHAT A MAN DESIRES, HE ALSOIMAGINES TO BE TRUE” DEMOSTHENES
"The power of the atom released, the DNA structure revealed, the human footprint left on the Moon,every planet of our solar system explored, the human Genome compiled, and the human champions of
Jeopardy soundly defeated by IBM's Watson, all proclaim our New Age." – Romualdas Sviedrys
Our New Age“Everybody knows that science is the most effective instrument
for the creation of wealth and power in the modern world.” 1 But
how did we get to this point? What, exactly, is our new age,
this, modern world? Science in itself is not a natural
phenomenon. Humans created science, out of natural curiosity, to
understand and control their surrounding environments. The
smallest things we take for granted in today’s society, say…
cellular phones, would blow away the minds of our fellow man only
a few hundred years ago.
“The revolution in the ways of life occurred when man learned to
apply the experimental method systematically to the problems of
everyday existence. As a result of this effort, technology began
to grow geometrically some three hundred years ago, each
invention and each improvement facilitating the next step. The
acceleration of growth which was already apparent in the
nineteenth century is now breath-taking-at times, indeed, almost
frightening.”2 Our new age is this point in time where the
developed world is literally surrounded by the results of major
advances in science, scientific revolutions, with no end for new
advances in sight. “The revolutionary advances of the past two 1 Dubos, Rene The Dreams of Reason pg. 22 Dubos, Rene The Dreams of Reason pg. 55
1
centuries suggest that almost any problem of human welfare can be
solved if it is properly formulated and if its solution is
diligently pursued.”3 Scientific knowledge has grown to the point
where it can now be considered a product; something that can be
tracked, monitored and valued in monetary ways. As each year
passes, more and more of the population have access to learning
and creating science. The diligent pursuit of the solutions to
humanity’s problems is the only thing standing in the way of
solving them.
Imagine; all this began with simple curiosity and man’s
instinctual mechanisms for survival. But it is a society’s
values; the way people accept the world and interact with it that
shape the science they produce. “…the illusions, aspirations, and
whims of mankind, even more than its physical needs, influence
profoundly the beliefs and activities of scientists.”4 People in
general tend not to realize how much cultural values shape their
own persona. “Some form of belief is necessary for action, but it
is dangerous not to be aware of the underlying assumptions which
condition one’s thoughts and behavior.”5 A society’s values and
beliefs are a huge influence on the person they surround and on
the science and technology a person can create.
In the late 19th and very early 20th centuries, modern science
was shaped by universities and inventors. “By 1940 the scene had
completely altered: science had moved into industry and, 3 Dubos, Rene The Dreams of Reason pg. 534 Dubos, Rene The Dreams of Reason pg. 45 Dubos, Rene The Dreams of Reason pg. 4-5
2
belatedly, even in the United States, industry had moved into
science. The electrical, the chemical, and the pharmaceutical
industries may be said to have led the way. The great research
laboratories of the General Electric Company, the Bell Telephone
Laboratory, and the DuPont Company may be mentioned as examples.
Therefore, when in World War II it came to mobilizing
technologists to assist military forces, there could be no
question but that the scientists as scientists would be called on
by the government.”6 Three men; Robert Goddard, Wernher von Braun
and Sergei Korolev were called upon by their governments in the
20th century. These men can be considered as ‘fathers of the new
age’ because of their life’s work. But it wasn’t love for their
governments that motivated them; on the contrary, the governments
that supported them were a means to an end. Their obsessions with
advancing humans into space could never rest, for once they were
bitten by the bug of space flight-that is all they could think
about and act upon. “The endless urge for some new experience,
the tendency to look for goals beyond the attainable are traits
which differentiate man from other forms of life.”7 The three
fathers of the new age of modern science embody this endless urge
for some new experience and reach for goals beyond the
attainable.
6 Conant, James Modern Science and Modern Man pg. 97 Dubos, Rene The Dreams of Reason pg. 54
3
Robert Goddard“Only a few minds in each generation have been able to perceive
the laws of the cosmos and to communicate them in a meaningful
form to their less gifted fellow men.”8 Goddard started before
the era of the great research laboratory as an inventor. His
rocket patents were recorded as early as 1914. His first group of
patents included devices for fuel-feeding and cooling; igniters
and carburetors; pumps and turbines; gyroscopic stabilizers and
landing controls; and solar and ion propulsion concepts. His
second group of patents included novel methods of igniting,
controlling and landing high flying rockets.9
Goddard, as well as von
Braun and Korolev, became
fathers of rocketry and the
new era relentlessly
pursuing space-flight
dreams. “They dreamt of
using rockets to journey to
the planets and the stars.
Step by step, they worked
out the fundamental physics
and many of the details.
Gradually, their machines took shape. Ultimately, their dream
proved infectious.”10 However, these dreams transpired amidst
8 Dubos, Rene The Dreams of Reason pg. 100-1019 Farrar, Straus This High Man pg. 360-36110 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. 368
4
Figure 1: Dr. Robert Goddard pulling one of hisrockets
was beginning to change. The rocket, to be sure, was not yet
accepted by conventional engineers as a prime mover of force and
consequence; it was not quite endorsed by elders of the armed
services, who persisted in calling it ‘Buck Rogers stuff’; young
rocket enthusiasts, glimpsing into the future, still struggled
against military and public indifference. But there was a pulse
of change and Goddard felt it. Within the year, ideas he had
advocated for a quarter century were coming of age.”11 Much to
Goddard’s dismay, “The following year Germany’s new rockets were
dropped for the first time on London, traveling faster than
sound.”12
This came as a kind-of defeat to Goddard. “After seeing the V-2,
Goddard sent Guggenheim a more elaborate commentary. He knew from
reports that the German V-2 components were far beyond his crude
models. The differences, however, seemed less important than the
striking resemblances of the giant rocket to his own miniature
precursors. “I don’t think he ever got over the V-2,” one of his
wartime associates observed. “He felt the Germans had copied his
work and that he could have produced a bigger, better and less
expensive rocket, if only the United States had accepted the
long-range rocket.”13 Getting the United States government behind
his vision was not an easily surmountable task. That was
11 Farrar, Straus This High Man pg. 351-35212 Farrar, Straus This High Man pg. 35313 Farrar, Straus This High Man pg. 385
5
unfortunate because his fundamental purpose was clear to his
colleagues and other people that were close to him. “What drove
him, you came to understand, was some kind of vision into the
future.”14
As Goddard’s early work paved the way for rocketry, World War II
was a signifier in ushering in the new rocket era. “In the years
preceding the Second World War, it was clear to Goddard that a
new age was coming, that his time as a solitary rocket scientist
was passing swiftly. At home and abroad, from Cleveland to Berlin
to Moscow, young engineers were widening the trail he had marked
out.”15 This is how Goddard contributed to our new age; he, in
fact, paved the way.
“Sometimes a scientific revolution (i.e. the creation of a new
paradigm) is postponed because the supporting technology does not
exist.”16 Great scientists, in any realm, always understand the
scope of their work in comparison to the future and the progress
of humanity. They always end up “issuing a challenge” to the
future.17 “Ionization, use of solar energy, rotating chambers,
the germ of initial guidance; He was sure they would not come in
his time. But it was precisely these patents which would tell
future scientists that they had a forerunner, who had understood
14 Farrar, Straus This High Man pg. 22715 Farrar, Straus This High Man pg. 26416 Calder, Ritchie The Nature of Scientific Revolutions pg. 2917 Sviedrys, Romualdas STS 2413 Lecture Notes 4/5/12
6
what they could live to accomplish. They were his message to the
future.”18
Wernher von Braun Von Braun was the man who took America to the moon. “Wernher von
Braun was the Nazi-American engineer who, more than anyone else,
actually took us into space.”19 A man totally on fire for his
passions and his work; he had no mere career for his career was
his life. He brought to the world his combination of “superior
technical talent and the ability to manage, lead, and inspire
large complex organizations.”20
18 Farrar, Straus This High Man pg. 36419 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. 26720 Neufeld, Michael Dreamer of Space Engineer of War pg. 89
7
He started out surrounded by a post-World War I environment in
Germany that reflected “the extravagance of the ongoing
rearmament, everything was being built to the highest standards
and for the long term.”21 From early on von Braun formulated a
wish that was the critical element in determining his path.
“Within him still burned the ambition to fly into space, even to
land on the moon, and rocketry was his way to get there.”22 This
one wish ultimately led to large scale developments in rocketry
that eventually led the Soviets, not the Germans, to become the
first to go into
Space.
Controversy
surrounded von
Braun’s achievements
as they arose out of
Nazi Germany via the
inescapable tide of
the Second World War.
His maintenance that his work was for science and not for the
purpose of mass destruction is believable after reviewing his
life and times. However, this poses a scenario that future
generations of scientists are sure to deal with. “Confident of
the ultimate beneficence of his work, the scientist had good
reasons to keep aloof from social problems. It is obvious;
however, that the situation is now changing rapidly, and one can 21 Neufeld, Michael Dreamer of Space Engineer of War pg. 9222 Neufeld, Michael Dreamer of Space Engineer of War pg. 93
8
Figure 2: 1968 Dr. Wernher von Braun enjoying nogravity in a plane
anticipate that that the scientist will face more problems of
conscience as the social power of science continues to
increase.”23 Powerful science will continue to challenge the
ethics of man.
23 Dubos, Rene The Dreams of Reason pg. 161
9
Most important is Wernher von Braun’s challenge to the future:
“His 1952 book Das Marsprojekt envisioned a first mission with 10
interplanetary spacecraft, 70 crew members, and 3 ‘landing
boats.’ Redundancy was uppermost in his mind. Modern Mars mission
designs have ignored this advice. They are much less ambitious
than von Braun’s, typically calling for one or two spacecraft
crewed by three to eight astronauts, with another robotic cargo
ship or two.
The
solitary
rocket and
the
little band
of
adventurers are still with us.”24 It is up to future generation
to answer his challenge of sending large-scale missions into
space. It is then can we realize the next paradigm shift.
24 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. 267
10
Sergei Korolev“Sputnik 1 belonged, as much as to any other man, to Sergei
Korolev.”25 He was the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft
designer in the Space Race between the United States and the
Soviet Union during the 1950s and 1960s. “Sputnik 1 circled the
globe once every 96 minutes and sailed serene and unchallenged
until its batteries died on November 14. Then, no longer
broadcasting scientific data, it coasted for nine more weeks
until its orbit decayed and it perished in a streak of
incandescent flame against the harsh friction of the Earth’s
atmosphere.”26 His determination to
explore the moon and the planets
led rocket development into space
shuttle development. His
contribution to our new age comes
by assuming the role as the father
of practical astronautics. He too,
was greatly influenced by the
cultural values surrounding him
during his time. “The Russian
25 Shelton, William Soviet Space Exploration pg. 6226 Shelton, William Soviet Space Exploration pg. 63
11
Figure 3: Von Braun 1950s concept space stationhttp://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/HERMANN
%20NOORDUNG%20WOHNRAD.htm
determination to explore the moon and inner planets is deeply
rooted in its national consciousness.”27
His top strengths were in integrating design, organization and
strategic planning much like von Braun; whose work was no secret
to the international community. He was sent to Germany to recover
the technology of the German V-2 rocket. The Soviets placed a
priority on reverse engineering as a method of technology
transfer. They reproduced lost documentation on the V-2 and
studied the various parts that were captured from manufacturing
facilities. That work continued in East Germany, then late 1946,
Soviet experts and some 150 German
scientists and engineers were sent to
Russia. Most of the German experts were
those involved in wartime mass-production of V-2, but they had
never worked directly with Wernher von Braun. Stalin had decided
to make rocket & missile development a national priority, and a
new institute was created for the purpose, the NII-88 in the
suburbs of Moscow. “The Soviet space program is designed that so
that, if possible, no shot will be repeated. Each will be a
pioneer and build upon the work of the preceding one. The bold
and prudently arranged chronology of the first three Sputniks was
to perfect a progression to hold up in a new science. Yet the
Russians attempted to sustain it by devoting nearly all of 1959
to initial probes at their target- the moon.”28
27 Shelton, William Soviet Space Exploration pg. 21328 Shelton, William Soviet Space Exploration pg. 74
12
Figure 4: Sergei Korolev and cosmonautYuri Gagarin
Source:http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2011/0
Korolev along with von Braun and Goddard ushered in the new era.
They all dreamt of and challenged humanity to not just go to
space, but to one day colonize outside of earth. They answered
the call of humanity to take our species to new levels of
existence. This indeed was the creation of a new paradigm. Just
as our actual existence outside of planet Earth will one day
create a new paradigm of its own. “Indeed, the astonishing
ability of the human brain to guess certain workings of the
universe suggests that, in a limited measure at least, the brain
mirrors some of its very patterns. In this light, it becomes less
surprising that ancient philosophers perceived the central core
of many of the problems of modern science and that their
formulation of these problems presents great similarities to our
own. The search for viable truths and all the other worldly
preoccupations of science are but part of the high tradition of
religion and philosophy from whence most knowledge originally
sprang.”29
The Old AgeChanges of scale in knowledge have led to changes of phase30
(scientific revolutions). It can be supposed that once knowledge
“sprang” it would continue to grow and evolve much the same as
human beings. “Passionate and curious humans wished to understand
their actual circumstances, how unique or pedestrian they and
29 Dubos, Rene The Dreams of Reason pg. 12830 Sviedrys, Romualdas STS 2413 Lecture Notes 1/24/12
13
their world are, their ultimate origins and destinies, how the
Universe works.”31
Man has always desired to go out ‘there’, to explore, and to
advance. Even the most modern of space flight and colonization
concepts has ancient roots, “…it cannot be questioned that space
vehicles are crowded with the most ancient dreams of mankind.”32
By looking at past incarnations of top technologies, an
understanding of how today was shaped becomes clear. Francis
Bacon observed that printing, gunpowder, and the compass - three
inventions unknown to ancient societies, “have changed the
appearance and
state of the
whole world;
first in
literature, then
in warfare, and
lastly in
navigation; and
innumerable
changes have been
thence derived, so that no empire sect, or star appears to have
exercised a greater power or influence on human affairs than
these mechanical discoveries.”33 If each new invention or theory
31 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. 5632 Dubos, Rene The Dreams of Reason pg. 13033 Bacon, Francis Novum Organum pg. 129 quoted by Mees, C.E.K. The Path of Science pg. 6
14
Figure 5: Origins in China; paper-making, printing, gunpowder, and the compass
was powerful enough to double, triple or exponentially raise the
desired intended consequence, a radical transformation in society
would soon follow and thus be labeled as a scientific revolution.
“The Copernican revolution was a distinct scientific revolution
because it came out of a crisis: technical breakdown of the
Ptolemaic system. It removed the world from the center of the
Universe and put the Sun at the center of the planetary system.
The meticulous observations of Tycho Brahe and the Laws of Kepler
regulated the Copernican inconsistencies by establishing the
elliptical orbits and Newton provided the physical explanation of
the ‘how.’ Newton, however, also created a new paradigm, one of
the most comprehensive in scientific history; it stimulated
generations to confirm and refine his observations and his
concepts, and to pursue novel thinking comfortably backed by a
tradition. (It enables an astronaut to step out of a spacecraft
with courage bolstered by confidence that the Laws of Gravity
have not been rescinded.)”34 Thus scientific knowledge and human
confidence in pushing our limits continued to grow, “…step-by-
step science advanced through the ages until we reach the
seventeenth century. Then there was a sudden and definite change
in the rate of learning.”35 The bottom line is that this occurred
to the point where man actually did step on the moon, and one day
we will step on Mars; forever willing and able to explore new
worlds.
34 Calder, Ritchie The Nature of Scientific Revolutions pg. 24-2535 Mees, C.E.K. The Path of Science pg. 41
15
Exploring the New World as a Metaphor for the FutureAs mentioned in the previous section, the rate of learning began
and continued to speed up noticeably after a certain point. This
occurred in tandem with or shortly thereafter several key events,
the most notable event being the exploration of planet Earth by
ship. “In the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries, European
sailing ships circumnavigated the planet.”36 New inventions, new
ideas, new scientific revolutions led to exploration of the New
World. “Mariners had painstakingly mapped the coastlines of the
continents.”37 Exploration, resource gathering and colonization
of the Earth serve as a metaphor for what’s to come in space.
Often in science and technology metaphors for the future can be
seen in hindsight through the past. 38“This zest to explore and
exploit, however thoughtless its agents may have been, has clear
survival value.”39 The best is yet to come and the historical
metaphor just discussed is proof. “Better places will always call
to us.”40
Why the Best is Yet to Come“[In order to assimilate science into the culture of our highly
industrialized society], we must regard scientific theories as
guides to human action and thus an extension of common sense.”41
Technology extends human senses and therefore, human reach.
36 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. xiii37 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. 438 Sviedrys, Romualdas STS 2413 Lecture Notes 3/15/201239 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. xiv40 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. xiv41 Conant, James Modern Science and Modern Man Pg. 59
16
Our Western Culture is obsessed with technology. Advances in
computing, gaming and mobile computing get heartily devoured by
people each and every year. Mention names such as Google and
Apple; almost any person in any developed nation will instantly
recognize what is being spoken about.
Nostalgic fossils from the older generations might miss the days
of national pride being tied to space exploration, but those days
are sure to return in a different form. The new types of
technology that are being developed now: advances in
communications, energy sources and the like; will enable another
scientific revolution in space to occur with newer generations.
This time we will be better equipped with lessons learned and
incredible increases in technological power. “For it is certain
that in many cases new processes and tools have found their place
in civilization only when they could be used to actualize, to
bring into being, the imaginary worlds first conceived in the
abstract by the human mind. In this light, imagination has been
one of the most creative forces of civilized life, because it has
provided the molds which mankind has used to shape crude facts of
reality into significant structures.”42 People have not stopped
imagining the exploration of distant worlds. We have only just
begun.
New science will continue to develop at record breaking speeds.
“The production of new science, in fact, is accelerated by the
science already produced; and this phenomenon is parallel to that42 Dubos, Rene The Dreams of Reason pg. 43-44
17
which the chemist knows as an autocatalytic reaction. Autocatalytic
reactions are those in which the product of the reaction itself
increases the rate at which the reaction proceeds.”43 The main
component of the autocatalytic reaction of science is human
imagination and creativity. “The termination of the reaction is
produced by the exhaustion of one of the components. If the
autocatalytic production of science is limited by
-some factor necessary to
it, it will accelerate until
that factor becomes
exhausted and then settle
down to progress at a rate
dependent upon the supply
factor. Up to the present,
no such limiting factor for
the production of scientific
knowledge is apparent.”44
This is especially true,
since it is impossible to exhaust creativity in its entirety, in
all of mankind. As long as humans can use imagination, the best
is yet to come.
43 Mees, C.E.K. The Path of Science pg. 22744 Mees, C.E.K. The Path of Science pg. 227-228
18
Figure 6: Two chemicals react to each other(autocatalytic reaction) and diffuse atdifferent speeds > patterns emerge.
Indicators of the FutureThere are indicators we can look at to foresee that the best is
yet to come, for instance “…the number of new phenomena in nature
discovered in one year.”45 New discoveries are not always
paradigm changers, “A scientific revolution results from breaking
out of a paradigm, committing a breach of accepted scientific
tradition. A discovery, however spectacular, or a new method of
instrumentation, however ingenious, is not ‘revolutionary’ if it
is within the paradigm.”46 But the speeds of which new phenomena
are being found certainly indicate upcoming shifts in paradigms,
“…every successful scientist is a breeder of successors in
research.”47
Indicators are looked at to gauge the changes in science
impending upon the future. Measuring the growth of scientific
literature, the output of papers and citations, is an
increasingly easy task in this digital age. “In a whole science
at any given time most of the fields and subfields are normal or
growing rapidly, even though some may become dormant in the
future.”48 This information can be tracked through digital
databases.
45 Kapitsa, Peter Ch. 7 The Future Problems of Science, The Science of Science pg. 10446 Calder, Ritchie The Nature of Scientific Revolutions pg. 2347 Menard, Henry Science: Growth and Change pg. 12748 Menard, Henry Science: Growth and Change pg. 38
19
There are population factors that influence new scientific
knowledge; the total number of scientists, the increasing rate of
change in the number of women choosing paths in the sciences, and
the increasing rate of change in which developing nations produce
new scientists and research. Also, the amount of governmental
spending on research and development of science and technology is
an incredible influence. The growth or decline of governmental
agencies that strive for developments in research and national
policies imply that nation’s cultural values. “It must always be
remembered that without a strong and intelligently directed
internal drive for social betterment, no country can achieve
much.”49
As indicators point to a future where science and technology is
at the very fabric of human existence, change in current socio-
political structures will be inevitable. “Modern human society
is, and will increasingly be, based on modern science and
technology, and the more this goes on, the more indispensable a
highly organized bureaucracy will be.” Breakdowns of the current
paradigms in politics and government are increasingly so. As
scary as this is for those in the present, with a little
imagination; “Think ahead to a future where there will be plenty
of time to pursue what one is interested in, instead of career
solely for the purpose of making money.”50
49 Blackett, P.M., Nobel Laureate, Ch. 3 The Scientist and Undeveloped Countries, The Science of Science pg. 53-5450 Synge, R.L., Nobel Laureate, Ch. 12 Science for the Good of Your Soul, The Science of Science pg. 174
20
A future as such seems a long way off as it is a state of society
that can only be imagined at the present. The looming problems
challenging humans present great opportunities for scientists.
“We already know much about nature and a little about living with
it, but unfortunately we know hardly anything about controlling
ourselves. The achievements of science are used to escalate our
ability to fight wars, ravage the earth, fill the world with
people, and generally spotlight the failures of politics and
government.”51 This is why the “… prosperity of scientific
enterprise is vital to everyone.”52
Exploring Space“As we have seen, the transformations of human life which have
taken place during the past hundred years are the realization of
the utopias formulated by the seventeenth and eighteenth century
philosophers.”53 Our fathers of the new age formulated
transformations that will take us into space colonization. Let us
recall Wernher von Braun’s challenge to the future: “His 1952
book Das Marsprojekt envisioned a first mission with 10
interplanetary spacecraft, 70 crew members, and 3 ‘landing
boats.’ Redundancy was uppermost in his mind. Modern Mars mission
designs have ignored this advice. They are much less ambitious
than von Braun’s, typically calling for one or two spacecraft
crewed by three to eight astronauts, with another robotic cargo
51 Menard, Henry Science: Growth and Change pg. 195-9652 Menard, Henry Science: Growth and Change pg. 19753 Dubos, Rene The Dreams of Reason pg. 159-160
21
ship or two. The solitary rocket and the little band of
adventurers are still with us.”54 When humanity begins to see a
change-in-scale in space missions, a change-of-phase (scientific
revolution) is sure to occur thereafter.
Right now we are approaching space tourism with private
investment working on creating this new industry. Although this
is a long way off from large scale space missions, it serves to
keep space flight in the public interest and public eye.
thinking, and scientific vocabulary in the public eye. It
elevates the general level of intellectual inquiry.”55
The disappointing lull after the ‘Space Race’ does fall into the
variable pattern in which science ebbs and flows. “As with most
technologies, when something barely works, when it’s the first of
its kind, there’s a natural tendency to improve it, develop it,
exploit it. Soon there’s such an institutional investment in the
original technology, no matter how flawed, that it’s very hard to
move on to something better. NASA has almost no resources to
pursue alternative propulsion technologies. Spending money on
alternative technologies pays off in a decade or two in the
future. We tend to be very little interested in a decade or two
in the future.”56 There are ups and downs in the rates of change
but they all occur on an advancing curve that is more noticeable
over larger spans of time. 54 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. 26755 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. 28156 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. 259
22
“Vast migrations of people have shaped the human condition.”57
The best is still yet to come, and it must. “It comes at the peak
of a mounting feeling that the future of the human race is once
more confronting a limits to growth situation. Among the
problems most frequently mentioned are, in addition to the energy
crisis, the resource depletion crisis, overpopulation, breakdown
of the ecology, and widespread shortages of food. The solution to
all of those problems is to reach out into space for energy, raw
materials and living room for our expanding population.”58 Humans
will never stop searching for solutions to the challenges that
confront us. “If we crave some cosmic purpose, then let us find
ourselves a worthy goal.”59 Finally, the most important thing we
can do is reach out to future generations and encourage dreaming
and creativity. “The visions we offer our children shape the
future. It matters what those visions are. Often they become self-
fulfilling prophecies. Dreams are maps.”60 For after all; “You
never know where science will take you.”61
57 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. xiv58 Sviedrys, Romualdas Energy Crises: a History Lesson pg. 359 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. 5760 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. 8261 Sagan, Carl Pale Blue Dot pg. 228
23
Critical BibliographyCalder, Ritchie. Man and the Cosmos; the Nature of Science Today. New
York: F. A. Praeger, 1968. Print.
I used this book to gain a better understanding of how
paradigm’s work. Scientific revolutions are the creation of
a new paradigm. It was here that lectures from Professor
Sviedrys resonated, especially in regard to challenges being
issued to the future. Sometimes, known paradigms are known
to exist but have yet to be actualized.
Conant, James Bryant. Modern Science and Modern Man. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1952. Print.
This book heavily explored the values of man that lie behind
science and scientific theories. For this paper, very little
information came out as part of my research. One strong
point came out though, about science being an extension of
common sense. In multiple classes, Professor Sviedrys
lectures about technology extending the human senses.
Dubos, Rene. The Dreams of Reason; Science and Utopias. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1961. Print.
This book was critical in backing up the theories that I
learned in Professor Sviedrys lectures. Concepts of utopias,
human understanding and fathers of modern science were all
explored. Although a small read, the subject of modern
science as its own entity birthed by and forever entangled
with human kind is concisely written with a high degree of
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philosophical precision.
Gasset, Jose. The Revolt of the Masses: authorized translation
from the Spanish. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1932. Print.
He urges that countries should be ruled by the intellectual
elite to avoid the decaying influence of mob control on the
arts and government. I am in the process of reading this
highly intriguing book.
Goldsmith, Maurice, and Alan L. Mackay. The Science of Science; Society in
the Technological Age. Ed. by Maurice Goldsmith and Alan Mackay.. London:
Souvenir Press, 1964. Print.
This collection of papers from Nobel Laureates and other
distinguished scientists really puts into perspective the
role of science and technology in humanity. An excellent
book, I highly recommend it to other students.
Lehman, Milton. This High Man; the Life of Robert H. Goddard. New York:
Farrar, Straus, 1963. Print.
This book provided a seemingly accurate description of the
life and work of Robert Goddard. Other details were provided
such as his surrounding family life and conditions growing
up so that as complete a picture as possible is presented of
him.
Mees, C. E. Kenneth, and John Randal Baker. The Path of Science. New
