^J' xVV" vVV" wv* wC* 



I ^ 



THE PROBLEM: THE APPLICATION OF 

 SCIENCE TO TECHNOLOGY- 

 ALFRED NORTH WHITEHEAD 



In its generality, the problem of the application of science to 

 practical life is far broader than the short span of American history. The 

 philosopher Alfred North Whitehead was thinking of its full sweep 

 when he examined it in a famous series of lectures in the mid-1920's. 

 Notice the sense in which he uses the terms "science," "technology," 

 and "invention." Also remember that Whitehead does not seem to be 

 thinking about the United States or about any particular country in the 

 Western World. He is talking about a period of time. And yet before 

 he finishes, when he has made clear the relationship he is looking for, 

 he does get down to a particular national case. To him, the leader in 

 establishing the new relationship is Germany. Is it possible to speak of 

 science in terms of nations? Can you justify Whitehead's doing so? 

 (Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World [Cambridge. 

 England: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1946], p. 120. Reprinted with permis- 

 sion of the Macmillan Company, New York.) 



What is peculiar and new to the [nineteenth] century, differentiat- 

 ing it from all its predecessors, is its technology. It was not merely the 

 introduction of some great isolated inventions. It is impossible not to feel 

 that something more than that was involved. . . . The process of change 

 [had been] slow, unconscious, and unexpected. In the nineteenth cen- 

 tury, the process became quick, conscious, and expected. . . . 



The greatest invention of the nineteenth century was the invention 

 of the method of invention. A new method entered into life. In order to 

 understand our epoch, we can neglect all the details of change, such as 

 railways, telegraphs, radios, spinning machines, synthetic dyes. We must 

 concentrate on the method in itself; that is the real novelty, which has 

 broken up the foundations of the old civilisation. The prophecy of 

 Francis Bacon has now been fulfilled; and man, who at times dreamt of 

 himself as a little lower than the angels, has submitted to become the 

 servant and minister of nature. It still remains to be seen whether the 

 same actor can play both parts. 



[3] 



