This book, first published 1931, examines the attitudes surrounding the natural sciences at the time of writing, and contends that an unreflective belief in the power of science, and especially in humanity's capacity to turn such knowledge to noble ends, could lead to catastrophic results for human civilisation.

Commenting on the forced industrialisation in Russia, India and China that was proceeding with little regard for human life at the time, the unsustainable inequality generated by modern Western capitalism and many other related issues, the author argues that it is necessary...

In the endless debate about the Two Cultures no book until this attempted to provide a selection of scientific writing on specific themes to stimulate students of arts subjects into discussion and writing about the nature of science and its relationship with the rest of life. This book is based on a selection of prose passages written by scientists about science, supplemented by notes and a brief linking commentary.

Originally published in 1965, the passages were chosen to illustrate or comment on different aspects of eleven main themes, ranging from surveys of changing ideas on...

Reissuing works originally published between 1921 and 1988, "Routledge Library Editions: 20th Century Science "offers a selection of scholarship covering historical developments in scientific thinking. Volumes range from Einstein's theores to quantum theory and genetics making this a comprehensive collection of previously out-of-print works. Many of the works review scientific advances in general or science and philosophy at the time; a great insight into the intellectual world of the 20th Century.

This book offers an overview of a huge range of scientific achievements in the 20^th century, specifically in the field of applied science. The majority of the essays originally appeared in papers and journals such as the Daily Worker, New Statesman and Nation, Science and Society and Nature.

Insofar as one theme runs through them, it is the application of scientific knowledge for the benefit of human society. The author is unashamed to present his perspective on some of the topics discussed in the context of his commitment to Marxism. This...

First published in1966, here is presented a comprehensive overview of one of the most elusive scientific speculations by the pre-eminent genius of the 20^th century. The theory is viewed by some scientists with deep suspicion, by others with optimism, but all agree that it represents an extreme challenge. As the author herself affirms, this work is not intended to be a complete treatise or 'didactic exposition' of the theory of unified fields, but rather a tool for further study, both by students and professional physicists.

Dealing with all the major areas of research...

This volume, first published in 1921, presents a series of portraits of Einstein, thus offering glimpses in the character and private reflections of the man who changed the course of modern science. Intended neither as a biography, nor as a resume of Einsteinian physics, Einstein: The Searcher instead focusses on Einstein's relationship with the scientific project as he himself conceived it, and so is still of contemporary significance for those puzzled by the spirit of scientific enquiry.

This is the first of three volumes which together contain the complete range of Lord Rutherford s scientific papers, incorporating in addition addresses, general lectures, letters to editors, accounts of his scientific work and personal recollections by friends and colleagues.

Volume one, first published in 1962, includes early papers written in New Zealand, at the Cavendish Laboratory and during the Montreal period (1894-1906), as well as an introduction to Rutherford s early work by Sir Edward Appleton, and some reminiscences of his time in Canada by Professors H.L. Bronson and Otto...

This is the second of three volumes which together contain the complete range of Lord Rutherford s scientific papers, incorporating in addition addresses, general lectures, letters to editors, accounts of his scientific work and personal recollections by friends and colleagues.

Volume two, first published in 1963, includes the papers published by Rutherford when professor of Physics at Manchester, 1907 to 1919. While the work of his laboratory ranged over the whole field of radioactivity, he himself devoted much effort to questions concerning the nature and properties of the particle....

This is the third of three volumes which together contain the complete range of Lord Rutherford s scientific papers, incorporating in addition addresses, general lectures, letters to editors, accounts of his scientific work and personal recollections by friends and colleagues.

The final volume, first published in 1965, covers his period as Cavendish Professor from 1919 to 1937. Following on the immense fertility of his years in Manchester only overshadowed towards the end by the war we now turn to his last years as a world figure at the Cavendish Laboratory, where he continued his work...