A bequest was made to the Queen's University of Belfast in accordance with the will of the late Robert Millar Jones to the effect that its Vice Chancellor and Senate should arrange courses of lectures at intervals of three years. The lectures were to be specifically concerned with major themes in the intellectual history of the sciences, social sciences and humanities and were to be known as ‘The R. M. Jones Lectures in the Development of Ideas’. This book stems from the lectures which I was invited to give in the spring of 1984 under the terms of the bequest.

The arrangements made for the lectures are of considerable interest. Following each one (and after an excellent dinner) a colloquium is held. Present are members of the University interested in the subject matter and scholars whom the University invites to participate. These colloquia are of very great value, not least to the lecturer, for they enable aspects of the subject to be explored in more depth than is possible in the lecture itself. The lecturer can indeed revise the manuscripts of his lectures with the benefit of much constructive criticism and thought. I am most grateful to all those who took part in these discussions and particularly to Sir Charles Periera, former Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of the UK, to Dr I. D. Carruthers, Reader in Agrarian Development, School of Rural Economy and Related Studies, Wye College, University of London, to Dr W, Jack, Permanent Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Northern Ireland and to Dr D. H. Shrimpton, Director General of the British Nutrition Foundation, London.