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href="/web/20080709005046/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics">Prize in Economics</a></li> </ul> </div>    <div id="layout_wrapper"> <div id="layout_main_content">  <h2>Science and Humanity in the Twenty-First Century</h2> <p class="smalltext">by <a href="/web/20080709005046/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1995/index.html">Sir Joseph Rotblat</a> <br/> 1995 Nobel Laureate in Peace<a href="#footnote1">*</a><br/> <span class="smalltext_grey">6 September 1999</span> </p> <div class="articleintro"><img src="/web/20080709005046im_/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/articles/rotblat/images/rotblat_intro.jpg" alt="intro" width="515" height="85"/></div> <p> The twentieth century saw more momentous change than any previous century: change for better, change for worse; change that brought enormous benefits to human beings, change that threatens the very existence of the human species. Many factors contributed to this change but - in my opinion - the most important factor was the progress in science.</p> <p>Academic research in the physical and biological sciences has vastly broadened our horizons; it has given us a deep insight into the structure of matter and of the universe; it has brought better understanding of the nature of life and of its continuous evolution. Technology - the application of science - has made fantastic advances that have affected us beneficially in nearly every aspect of life: better health, more wealth, less drudgery, greater access to information.</p> <p>The continuation of such activities in the twenty-first century will result in an even greater boon to humanity: in pure science - a wider and deeper knowledge in all spheres of learning; in applied science - a more equitable distribution of material benefits, and better protection of the environment.</p> <p>Sadly, however, there is another side to the picture. The creativity of science has been employed to the detriment of mankind. The application of science and technology to the development and manufacture of weapons of mass destruction has created a real threat to the continued existence of the human race on this planet. We have seen this happen in the case of nuclear weapons. Although their actual use in combat has so far occurred only in 1945 - when two Japanese cities were destroyed - during the four decades of the Cold War, obscenely huge arsenals of nuclear weapons were accumulated and made ready for use. The arsenals were so large that if the weapons had actually been detonated the result could have been the complete extinction of the human species, as well as of many animal species.</p> <p>To a large extent the nuclear arms race was driven by scientists. They kept on designing new types of weapons, not because of any credible requirement - arsenals a hundred times smaller would have sufficed for any conceivable deterrence purpose - but mainly to satisfy their inflated egos, or for the intense exhilaration experienced in exploring new technical concepts.</p> <p>This is a complete perversion of the lofty ideals of science. It is a severe, but justified, indictment of members of a highly respected group in society.</p> <p>William Shakespeare said: "The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together." The above brief review of the application of only one strand of human activities - science - seems to bear out this adage. But does it have to be so? Must ill always accompany good deeds? Are we biologically programmed for aggression and war?</p> <p>I am not an authority in genetics, but from my readings and life-long observation I do not see any evidence that we are genetically condemned to commit evil. On the contrary, on very general grounds I would say that genetically we are destined to do things that are of benefit to the human species, and that the negative aspects are mistakes, transient errors in the process of evolution. In other words, I believe in the inherent goodness of Man.</p> <p>The human species is the outcome of a continuous, natural process of evolution, involving an infinite number of transformations; an inexorable process that has been going on since the formation of the Earth, about 4.5 billion years ago. This process of evolution has led, through random mutations, and influenced by environmental factors, to the emergence of systems of ever better adaptation, thus securing their continuity. In animals, this has led to the evolution of species with increasing intelligence, climaxing in the human species, which has acquired the ability of original thinking. I believe that this marks a very important phase in evolution, the first time that a species has been a