m 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



Challenges of Today and Tomorrow 



This report reviews the challenges which have always confronted 

 man — the unknown, threats from nature, and social conflict — and 

 notes some of the ways in which science has helped to meet them. 

 Principal attention, however, is focused on the new challenge posed by 

 man's increasing power to shape the future, to modify, intentionally 

 and unintentionally, the basic conditions of life. 



Various facets of this challenge are discussed — population 

 growth, food supply, energy demand, mineral resources, weather and 

 climate modification, and environmental alteration — and major 

 directions of scientific research needed to meet these problems are 

 suggested. And finally, the adequacy of present scientific knowledge 

 for coping with the many problems is tested against the needs in two 

 specific areas — cancer and energy. 



The problems, old and new, constitute a formidable challenge to 

 this Nation and to the world. Many of the problems are likely to 

 become even greater threats in the years ahead, possibly resulting in 

 domestic turmoil and international strife. 



The several problems coexist and are global in scope and 

 implication. They are also closely coupled — changes in one modifying 

 others. Because of these interconnections, it is difficult to attack the 

 problems singly, and because of their global nature, the efforts of one 

 country acting alone — rather than in concert with other nations — may 

 not be effective in alleviating them. 



The scope and depth of the problems, their coincidence and rapid 

 growth, all underscore the sense of urgency with which these 

 challenges must be confronted. 



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