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A New Age in Science and Technology?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Michael J. Crowe
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Extract

Are we now in, or entering into, a new age? Is this a revolutionary period in the history of man? This paper will consider these questions, especially as they relate to science and technology.

Consider the following statements, all of which cite evidence in support of the thesis that a new age is upon us.

Type
Science and Technology
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , October 1972 , pp. 140 - 153
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1972

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References

1 Cajori, Florian, History of Mathematics, as quoted in Moritz, Robert, ed., On Mathematics and Mathematicians (New York: Dover Publications, 1942), p. 155Google Scholar.

2 For detailed evidence, see my “A Prevalent and Significant Misconception about Science in Antiquity,” Bulletin of the Albertus Magnus Guild, 9 (1962), 1–4Google Scholar.

3 For the original statement, see Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr, “The Velocity of History,” Newsweek, 07 6, 1970, p. 32Google Scholar.

4 See White, Lynn Jr, Machina ex Deo: Essays in the Dynamism of Western Culture (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1968), pp. 57–73Google Scholar.

5 Ibid., p. 78.

6 Part of Banfield's thesis is summed up in his statement: “The plain fact is that the overwhelming majority of city dwellers live more comfortably and conveniently than ever before … What is more, there is every reason to expect that the general level of comfort and convenience will continue to rise at an even more rapid rate through the foreseeable future.” Banfield, Edward G., The Unheavenly City (Boston: Little, Brown, 1968), pp. 3–4Google Scholar.

7 This information is given in Newsweek, March 6, 1972, p. 69.

8 Bell, Daniel, ”Introduction,” in Kahn, Herman and Wiener, Anthony J., The Year 2000 (New York: Macmillan, 1967), p. xxiGoogle Scholar.

9 Bell, Daniel, ”Notes on the Post-Industrial Society,” in Douglas, Jack D., ed., The Technological Threat (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1971), p. 11Google Scholar.

10 I have suggested at greater length the importance of such changes in my ”Science a Century Ago” in Crosson, Frederick J., ed., Science in Contemporary Society (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1967), pp. 122–126Google Scholar.

11 As quoted in Bell, , “Notes,” p. 8Google Scholar.

12 Boorstin, Daniel J., “A Case of Hypochondria,” Newsweek, 07 6, 1970, p. 27Google Scholar.

13 Ibid., p. 29. Boorstin might have added “and for antiutopianism.”

14 As quoted in Honan, William H., “They Live in the Year 2000,” in Moore, Wilbert E., ed., Technology and Social Change (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1972), p. 152Google Scholar.

15 Toffler, Alvin, Future Shock (New York: Random House, 1970), p. 201Google Scholar.

16 Maddox, John, “The Doomsday Men,” Encounter, 01, 1971, pp. 65, 64–65Google Scholar.

17 Toffler, , op. cit., pp. 372–373Google Scholar.

18 Ferkiss, Victor K., Technological Man (New York: Braziller, 1969), pp. 26, 27Google Scholar.