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In this chapter I wish to point out the very real possi- 

 bility of solving the major world problems confronting 

 Man today by use of the scientific method. These problems 

 may be summarized as being: major diseases (cancer, 

 thrombosis, mental and auto-immune diseases, malaria — 

 the last is already being eradicated) ; food production; tech- 

 nological knowledge availability; mineral supplies; nuclear 

 reactor fuels; rapid transport; information transfer; ir- 

 rigation; population limitation. 



In a modem country the primary diseases causing death 

 and illness are cancer in its various forms, thrombosis and 

 related heart ailments, nervous and mental disorders, and 

 the various auto-immune diseases (rheumatism, arthritis, 

 etc.): parasitic, infectious, contagious, and deficiency dis- 

 eases still affecting people in backward countries, the most 

 important of which are malaria, bilharziasis, roundworm 

 and hookworm, yellow fever, smallpox, typhoid, cholera, 

 gastro-enteritis and colitis, trachoma, leprosy, tuberculosis, 

 pneumonia, influenza, the venereal diseases, yaws, beri- 

 beri and pellagra, can all be eliminated by known meth- 

 ods of sanitation and hygiene, and a nutritious diet. Al- 

 though the causes of cancers in Man are still undiscovered, 

 many important findings have been made recently, and 

 leading researchers have concluded that successful treat- 

 ment of cancers is Hkely to be generally possible fairly soon. 

 For example, lung cancer has now been proved to be 



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