INTRODUCTION 



that the solutions of these problems are beyond human 

 comprehension. 



To this, many a scientist would reply that the very 

 term "answer to these questions" implies a misunder- 

 standing of the scope of science on part of the person 

 posing the problem. He would quite rightly insist that 

 science never provides ultimate answers but is satisfied 

 to establish the existing relationships between phe- 

 nomena and with adequately describing the observed 

 data. Scientific truth then depends upon widest pos- 

 sible validity of the relationships established and upon 

 their accuracy in predicting other phenomena which 

 can be experimentally verified. 



Still, the most proper appreciation of the nature of 

 the scientific process does not obliterate the obstinate 

 persistence of the human mind in grappling with the 

 problem of the meaning of life. It therefore remains 

 the task of science to include as much as is possible of 

 the contents of this problem in the growing web of re- 

 lationships and principles, which observation and in- 

 ter-relation are knitting. All attempts in this direction 

 must consequently first try to establish the broadest 

 possible principles which would unify the total struc- 

 ture of human knowledge. 



In the past few decades, this great need for synthesis 

 has become more and more recognized. As the total 

 volume of human knowledge is increasing at an ever 

 faster pace, the difficulties confronting any human be- 



7 



