科学の発展は我々の暮らしを豊かにし、人類が解決しえなかった多くの問題を解決してきた。しかしそれは同時に、科学では解決できない新たな問題を生み出す歴史でもあった。著者はその最たるものとして原子力をあげ、 望ましい科学のあり方について思索を進めていく。本書は、戦争を否定し平和を希求する科学者の集まり、パグウォッシュ会議の開催に触発されて書かれたもの。だが、会議の姿勢は評価しつつも、科学の発展そのものが文 明や人類を破壊しうるという認識が科学者の側には足らないと厳しく指摘する。二十世紀を代表する批評家が最後の力を振りしぼって遺した警世の書。.

The theme ‘East versus west’ is an old topic for discussion, but one that is constantly being rehashed. Though it has many aspects, a number of elements remain vague. Do East and West each form a monolithic bloc? Where does the East begin in the West's eyes, and vice versa, the West for the East? What, if any, are the basic differences separating the two?Palaeontologists tell us that a dividing line indicating a divergence of traditions in stone tools can be (...) traced back to the Lower Palaeolithic era, that is, a million years ago, in the western region of India. To the east of that line, in other words in East and South-east Asia, the most common tools are choppers and chopping-tools, while to the west, in western Asia, Europe and Africa, the main tools are hand-axes. The former are suitable for working vegetable materials and making bamboo or wooden, therefore perishable, objects, which for this reason leave no trace in the form of archaeological clues. The hand-axes are capable of being worked into stylized shapes and are appropriate for dismembering large herbivores and cutting up their meat. (shrink)