This book, about the various sciences, is addressed primarily to students and general readers. Apart from my main duties of lecturing in biology at Brunei University in West London, for many years I gave short courses of lectures plus discussion on the fundamental findings of science. It was for groups of first-year undergraduates whose main disciplines varied widely. And the following pages lean heavily on that teaching experience. Hence almost any student or general reader is likely to find them quite intelligible.

The topics covered certainly range widely, from small fundamental particles up to the large and complex societies of sovereign states. There is also a brief outline of the main evolutionary developments since the beginning of the Earth, more than four thousand million years ago.

After having established, objectively, nine major levels of organisation, several new types of quantitative study become possible for the first time. These are reported in Chapters 10 to 15.

During the 1930s I studied at Cambridge, and then worked there on biological research. In 1940 I learnt that I was about to join the Royal Corps of Signals, in the Army. At that time I knew very little about telecommunications, though later, as it happens, I ran the War Office Wireless Demonstration Section, giving instructional talks and demonstrations to all ranks up to Brigadier.

However in 1940, to remedy my ignorance I went into Heffer's bookshop in Cambridge, and there, from the shelves, was able to purchase a couple of useful textbooks. One was the Admiralty Handbook of Wireless Telegraphy.