Where is Science Taking Us ? 

(If the aim of science is the conquest of man’s environment, what should be its ultimate goal ?)

When man first began to think, he asked himself the deepest of all questions – a question which you have undoubtedly asked yourself many times : What is the Meaning of Life ? What is it all about ? Where are we all going ? What drives men ever forward to work and worry ?


And now there’s this other big question – a newer question which is beginning to force itself into our notice. One that is not ages old ….. that has not been with us since man first began to think. It is : Where is Science Taking Us ?


First, where is science taking us with regard to ethical and spiritual values ? We know what it is doing with regard to material things, for material things are its daily business ; but what is it doing with regard to non-material things ? If the answer were ‘nothing at all,’ that would be bad enough ; but the actual answer is ‘less than nothing.’ Here science is actually doing less than nothing. Its material teachings have been so over-emphasized that many people are floundering and wondering whether after all man is but a machine animated by forces over which he has no control.


Let’s concentrate on material things, the things that form the very stronghold of science. Look at the machine, for instance. This is the age of the machine. Machines are everywhere – in the fields, in the factory, in the home, in the street, in the city, in the country, everywhere. To fly, it is not necessary to have wings ; there are machines. To swim under the sea it is not necessary to have gills, there are machines. To kill our fellow men in overwhelming numbers, there are machines. Petrol machines alone provide ten times more power than all human beings in the world. In the busiest countries, each individual has six hundred human slaves in his machines


What are the consequences of this abnormal power ? Before the war, it looked as though it might be possible, for the first time in history, to provide food and clothing and shelter for the teeming population of the world – every man, woman and child. This would have been one of the greatest triumphs of science. And yet, many a time especially during the war we have seen the world crammed full of food and people hungry. For that’s the way of science and the machine age. Science produces the goods, it makes the goods, but has no control over the consequences.


The machine age gives us year by year more hours of leisure but it fails to teach us how to use them. It gives us mechanical habits of mind and represses the spirit of adventure – except along machine-made lines. We will need all our creative powers to think our way out of the social problems which science has created for us.


It is science that has given us the unexpected redistribution of the age groups. Almost every year, some modern drug adds a little more to the average span of life, until the upper group is overcrowded. In the United States, for instance, there are already nine million people over the age of sixty. This talk was delivered around the 1950’s. In fifteen years’ time, this number will reach the astonishing figure of forty-five million. Who is to keep them ? It will need some readjustment.


And so science goes on raising its problems. Compared with our fundamental question-What is Life ? – these problems may seem to be of less importance. But they are not really so. What is happening is that science is creating problems faster than they can be solved. Man is struggling in a sort of vicious circle, always striving to catch up and never getting nearer. And there are no signs that the glut of discoveries is coming to an end. War is the worst example ; science has pushed it so far forward that ethics and morals are floundering hopelessly behind.


It makes one sometimes ask : What is science really after? What are its aims ? What is its goal ? Its aims seem to be obvious. They are material, of course. One aim is the complete understanding, indeed the conquest, of man’s environment ; the conquest of everything material, big or small, bringing all powers within man’s reach. The other aim is the understanding of all the mysteries that lie within the human body – the material mysteries, the innumerable chemical and physical actions that make the body work.


If these are the apparent aims of science, surely they cannot represent the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal, if there is such a thing, must be the understanding of everything that makes life worthwhile, the enrichment of all that life means. That goes beyond material things ; for man needs more than food and shelter and clothing and the understanding of what goes on within his stomach.


What is really needed in the world today, perhaps more than ever before, is not some new world-shattering discovery in nuclear physics, or some breath-taking discovery in chemistry or medicine. The advance for which the world is waiting ; beyond any doubt, is a small advance-a slight advance-in charity, in understanding, forbearance, tolerance, justice and mercy. That is what the world is waiting for, and waiting rather anxiously.


But charity, and tolerance, and forbearance, and the understanding of one another are non-material matters. And in non-material things-in the simplest social things-science has been helpless. It cannot even help us to distinguish good from evil. May be this will not always be so. Who knows ? It is quite probable that some day science will effect an improvement in the human brain itself. Not a structural improvement, for in structure the human brain is the greatest miracle of all ; its understanding will come last. But there might well be a functional improvement. That is far from fantastic. The advances in science might one day well increase the capacity and reasoning power of the human brain.


I should say there is little doubt that man will one day improve on the natural man, raise his intellectual status, and give him greater power of reasoning and understanding. He might have sufficient reason and understanding to abolish war. Whether that will be so, whether and when he will have a better understanding of his fellow men ….. that remains to be seen.
It brings us back to the question : Where is Science Taking Us ? Despite the present vicissitudes, we are going somewhere. There are troublesome times ahead. But those who fear for the future are the craven (cowardly) in spirit ; for life is becoming more and more interesting, intriguing and exciting. I wish I had another hundred years.


Written by: Dr. S.W. Pennycuick From a Broadcast Talk from ADELAIDE, Australia

The Happy Prince

[The Happy Prince was a beautiful statue. He was covered with gold. He had sapphires for eyes, and a ruby in his sword. Why did he want to part with all the gold and the precious stones that he had ?]

1. High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold ; for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword hilt. One night there flew over the city a little Swallow. His friends had gone away to Egypt six weeks before, but he had stayed behind ; then he decided to go to Egypt too. All day long he flew, and at night time he arrived at the city. “Where shall I put up ?” he said, “I hope the town has made preparations.” Then he saw the statue on the tall column. “I will put up there”, he cried. “It is a fine position with plenty of fresh air.” So he alighted just between the feet of the Happy Prince.



2. “I have a golden bedroom”, he said softly to himself as he looked around, and he prepared to go to sleep ; but just as he was putting his head under his wing a large drop of water fell on him. “What a curious thing !” he cried “There is not a single cloud in the sky, the stars are quite clear and bright, and yet it is raining.” Then another drop fell. “What is the use of a statue if it cannot keep the rain off ?” he said. “I must look for a good chimney pot”, and he determined to fly away. But before he had opened his wings, a third drop fell, and he looked up, and saw Ah ! What did he see ? The eyes of the Happy Prince were filled with tears, and tears were running down his golden cheeks. His face was so beautiful in the moonlight that the little Swallow was filled with pity. “Who are you ?” he said. “I am the Happy Prince.” “Why are you weeping then ?” asked the Swallow. “You have quite drenched me.” “When I was alive and had a human heart,” answered the statue, I did not know what tears were, for I lived in the Palace, where sorrow is not allowed to enter. My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was. So I lived, and so I died. And now that I am dead they have set me up here so high that I can see the ugliness and all the misery of my city, and though my heart is made of lead yet I cannot choose but weep.” “What ! Is he not solid gold ?” said the Swallow to himself. He was too polite to make any personal remarks.

 

3. “Far away,” continued the statue in a low musical voice, “far away in a little street there is a poor house. One of the windows is open, and through it I can see a woman seated at a table. Her face is thin and worn, and she has coarse, red hands, all pricked by the needle, for she is a seamstress. She is embroidering flowers on a satin gown for the loveliest of the Queen’s maids of honour, to wear at the next Court ball. In a bed in the corner of the room her little boy is lying ill. He has fever, and is asking his mother to give him oranges. His mother has nothing to give him but river water, so he is crying. Swallow, little Swallow, will you not bring her the ruby out of my sword hilt ? My feet are fastened to this pedestal and I cannot move.” “I am waited for in Egypt,” said the Swallow. “My friends are flying up and down the Nile, and talking to the lotus flowers. Soon they will go to sleep.” The prince asked the Swallow to stay with him for one night and be his messenger. “The boy is so thirsty, and the mother so sad,” he said. “I don’t think I like boys,” answered the Swallow. “I want to go to Egypt.” But the Happy Prince looked so sad that the little Swallow was sorry. “It is very cold here,” he said. But he agreed to stay with him for one night and be his messenger. “Thank you, little Swallow,” said the Prince. The Swallow picked out the great ruby from the Prince’s sword, and flew away with it in his beak over the roofs of the town.



4. He passed by the cathedral tower, where the white marble angels were sculptured. He passed by the palace and heard the sound of dancing. A beautiful girl came out on the balcony with her lover. “I hope my dress will be ready in time for the State ball,” she said. “I have ordered flowers to be embroidered on it, but the seamstresses are so lazy.” He passed over the river, and saw the lanterns hanging on the masts of the ships. At last he came to the poor house and looked in. The boy was tossing feverishly on his bed, and the mother had fallen asleep, she was so tired. In he hopped, and laid the great ruby on the table beside the woman’s thimble. Then he flew gently round the bed, fanning the boy’s forehead with his wings. “How cool I feel!”, said the boy, “I must be getting better” ; and he sank into a delicious slumber. Then the Swallow flew back to the Happy Prince, and told him what he had done. “It is curious” he remarked, “but I feel quite warm now, although it is so cold.”



5. “That is because you have done a good action,” said the Prince. And the little Swallow began to think, and then fell asleep. Thinking always made him sleepy. When the moon rose, he flew back to the Happy Prince. “Have you any commissions for Egypt ?” he cried. “I am just starting.” “Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,” said the Prince, “will you stay with me one night longer ?” “I am waited for in Egypt,” answered the Swallow.



6. “Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,” said the Prince, “far away across the city I see a young man in a garret. He is leaning over a desk covered with papers, and in the glass by his side here is a bunch of withered violets. His hair is brown and crisp and his lips are red as a pomegranate, and he has large and dreamy eyes. He is trying to finish a play for the Director of the Theatre, but he is too cold to write any more. There is no fire in the grate, and hunger has made him faint.” “I will wait with you one night longer,” said the Swallow, who really had a good heart. He asked if he should take another ruby to the young playwright.



7. “Alas ! I have no ruby now,” said the Prince. “My eyes are all that I have left. They are made of rare sapphires, which were brought out of India a thousand years ago.” He ordered the Swallow to pluck out one of them and take it to the playwright. ‘He will sell it to the jeweller, and buy firewood, and finish his play,” he said. “Dear Prince,” said the Swallow, “I cannot do that,” and he began to weep. “Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,” said the Prince, “do as I command you.” So the Swallow plucked out the Prince’s eye, and flew away to the student’s garret. It was easy enough to get in, as there was a hole in the roof. Through this he darted, and came into the room. The young man had his head buried in his hands, so he did not hear the flutter of the bird’s wings, and when he looked up, he found the beautiful sapphire lying on the withered violets. “I am beginning to be appreciated,” he cried. “This is from some great admirer. Now I can finish my play,” and he looked quite happy.



8. The next day the Swallow flew down on the harbour. He sat on the mast of a large vessel and watched the sailors working. “I am going to Egypt,” cried the Swallow, but nobody minded, and when the moon rose he flew back to the Happy Prince. “I have come to bid you goodbye,” he cried. “Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,” said the Prince, “will you not stay with me one night longer ?” “It is winter,” answered the Swallow,” and the snow will soon be here. In Egypt the sun is warm on the green palm trees, and the crocodiles lie in the mud and look lazily about them.” “In the square below,” said the Happy Prince, “there stands a little match girl. She has let her matches fall in the gutter, and they are all spoiled. Her father will beat her if she does not bring home some money, and she is crying. She has no shoes or stocking, and her little head is bare. Pluck out my other eye, and give it to her, and her father will not beat her.” “I will stay with you one night longer”, said the Swallow, “but I cannot pluck out your eye. You would be quite blind then.” “Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,” said the Prince, “do as I command you.” So he plucked out the Prince’s other eye, and darted down with it. He swooped past the match girl, and slipped the jewel into the palm of her hand. “What a lovely bit of glass !” cried the little girl ; and she ran home, laughing.



9. Then the Swallow came back to the Prince. “You are blind now,” he said “so I will stay with you always.” “No, little Swallow,” said the poor Prince, “you must go away to Egypt.” “No, I will stay with you always,” said the Swallow, and he slept at the Prince’s feet. All the next day he sat on the Prince’s shoulder, and told him stories of what he had seen in strange lands.



10. “Dear little Swallow,” said the Prince,” You tell me of marvellous things, but more marvellous than anything is the suffering of men and of women. There is no Mystery so great as Misery. Fly over my city, little Swallow, and tell me what you see there.” So the Swallow flew over the great city, and saw the rich making merry in their beautiful houses, while the beggars were sitting at the gates. He flew into dark lanes, and saw the white faces of starving children looking out listlessly at the black streets. Under the archway of the bridge two little boys were lying in each other’s arms to try and keep themselves warm. “How hungry we are !” they said. “You must not lie here,” shouted the watchman, and they wandered out into the rain. Then he flew back and told the Prince what he had seen. “I am covered with fine gold,” said the Prince. “You must take it off leaf by leaf, and give it to the poor ; the living always think that gold can make them happy.” Leaf after leaf of the fine gold the Swallow picked off, till the happy Prince looked quite dull and grey. Leaf after leaf of the fine gold he brought to the poor, and the children’s faces grew rosier, and they laughed and played in the street. “We have bread now !” they cried. Then the snow came, and after the snow came the frost. The streets looked as if they were made of silver. Everybody went about in furs, and the little boys wore scarlet caps and skated on the ice.



11. The poor little Swallow grew colder and colder, but he would not leave the Prince, he loved him too well. He picked up crumbs outside the baker’s door when the baker was not looking, and tried to keep himself warm by flapping his wings. But at last he knew that he was going to die. He had just enough strength to fly up to the Prince’s shoulder once more. “Goodbye, dear Prince !” he murmured, “Will you let me kiss your hand ?” “I am glad that you are going to Egypt at last, little Swallow,” said the Prince. “You have stayed too long here but you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you.” “It is not to Egypt that I am going,” said the Swallow. “I am going to the House of Death. Death is the brother of sleep, is he not ?” And he kissed the Happy Prince on the lips, and fell down dead at his feet.



12. At that moment a curious crack sounded inside the statue, as if something had broken. The fact is that the leaden heart had snapped right in two. It certainly was dreadfully hard frost.



13. Early the next morning the Mayor was walking in the square below in company with the Town Councillors. As they passed the column he looked up at the statue. “Dear me ! How shabby the Happy Prince looks !” he said. “How shabby, indeed !” cried the Town Concillors, who always agreed with the Mayor and they went up to look at it. “The ruby has fallen out of his sword, his eyes are gone, and he is golden no longer,” said the Mayor, “in fact, he is little better than a beggar !” “Little better than the beggar,” said the Town Councillors. “And here is actually a dead bird at his feet !” continued the Mayor. “We must really issue a proclamation that birds are not to be allowed to die here.” And the Town clerk made a note of the suggestion. So they pulled down the statue of the Happy Prince. “As he is no longer beautiful he is no longer useful,” said the Art Professor at the University. Then they melted the statue in a furnace. “What a strange thing !” said the overseer of the workmen at the foundry. “This broken lead heart will not melt in the furnace. We must throw it away.” So they threw it on a dust heap where the dead Swallow was also lying. “Bring me the two most precious things in the city,” said God to one of His Angels ; and the Angel brought Him the lead heart and the dead bird. “You have rightly chosen,” said God, “for in my garden of Paradise this little bird shall sing for ever more and in my City of Gold the Happy Prince shall praise me.”

Written by wOscar Wilde