My former colleague, Prof. K.V. Gopalakrishnan, has had a sustained interest in the impact of science and technology on society as well as in the biographies of eminent scientists and engineers, in addition to being a highly regarded re-search worker in the area of internal combustion engines. It is, therefore, my pleasure to write a foreword for this book of his.
History textbooks often highlight wars and the heroic deeds of human beings in warfare much more than the silent and impressive progress of a civilisation during times of peace. The dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki created in its wake a dilemma in the minds of scientists and technologists on the pursuit and possible mis-use of research findings by an immature society. Historians hope that every time a weapon of increased destruction is made, it would prove to be a deterrent to further warfare. Recent events, however, make it abundantly clear that the very survival of a civilisation rests precariously in the hands of leaders who lack the maturity and compassion that ought to go hand in hand with their countries' unprecedented powers of destruction.
Prof. Gopalakrishnan has done a remarkable job of tracing the history and the impact of science and technology in warfare. He traces the effects of the industrial revolution and the information and communication revolutions on war-fare. He discusses the capacity of the media with its pen-chant for sensational and intense propaganda to create in the minds of people inhabiting the warring nations unprecedented hatred for one another. He describes the psycho-logical effects of such warfare as well as the consequent moral and nervous exhaustion of the human mind. At the same time he aptly reminds the reader that "no great force is entirely beneficial or entirely harmful and the impact of science and technology on war is no exception." He points to the remarkable discoveries in medicine, in rocketry and in satellite communication that have helped human civilisation in an unprecedented manner, as a consequence of research carried out under the pressure of warfare.
This book should be of interest to all readers, and particularly to students of science and technology. It will help to obtain a useful perspective on the important role that they have to play in the world to improve and become one that nurtures civilisation and accelerates the ascent of man. This book should be a part of all school and college libraries in our country.
Idealists and moralists have railed against wars for centuries, but their efforts have had little success. In fact, the his-tory of mankind reads like a chronicle of its wars (as any school boy forced to remember their dates would irritatedly agree!). The reason is that the tendency to resort to violence, in aggression or in defence, is deeply ingrained in human nature. It is a biological heritage that we share with animals, in whose case conflicts over territory, food, mates, etc. are more clearly seen. In humans this impulse is modified by reasoning power, cultural conditioning, etc., but is still very much there. Hence, instead of condemning war outright, it would be better to study its causes and manifold consequences to understand and control this primordial force.
Warfare, though a constant feature of human history, has been strongly affected by various powerful forces un-leashed in the course of time. The development of agriculture led to a large increase in human population due to greater food availability and hence to larger armies. Strong ideological forces like religion and nationalism strengthened the motivation and endurance of fighting groups. The latest and the most powerful force to act on warfare has been the application of science and technology to this field.
Warfare has changed more in the past one hundred and fifty years than in all previous millennia thanks to the intrusion of science and technology (which is the practical application of scientific knowledge). Limitations imposed by distance, terrain, season, etc., in earlier times on the movement and supply of armies have practically disappeared for technologically advanced nations. The destructiveness of weapons has increased to levels unimagined before. There is no doubt that modern wars pose a greater danger to society than any other factor. Natural disasters like floods and earthquakes, for example, pale into insignificance beside this man-made threat.
But no great force in human affairs is entirely beneficial or entirely harmful and the impact of science and technology on war is no exception. Great benefits have been de-rived in peace time from several inventions developed to meet war needs. Penicillin, for example produced with great effort during war-time to save soldiers' lives, has also saved the lives of millions of civilians in the subsequent years. Jet planes and rockets developed for military use led to the age of mass air travel and satellite communication systems. There are many such instances.
Over and above this, science and technology are also likely to have two unforeseen but very welcome effects on warfare. Firstly, wars have become so destructive for both victors and vanquished that there is a great reluctance now for nations to resort to all-out wars! No nation with a sane leadership would today lightly start a war today the way European nations started World War I.
Secondly, technological developments have made nations so interdependent that none can damage another with-out harming itself also. Thus, finally science and technology may achieve what centuries of moral preaching has failed to achieve the abolition of war. Human history is replete with such strange twists. Slavery, for instance, dis-appeared completely only when the Industrial Revolution produced machines which made human slaves unnecessary.
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