SCIENCE SHAPING AMERICAN CULTURE — COMPTON 181 



Just as the automobile demands sobriety, or congested life makes 

 necessary careful sanitation, so the mutual dependence of a techno- 

 logical civilization implies consideration of the rights of others. 

 Breasted has shown how the growth of community life along the Nile 

 stimulated among the Egyptians the "dawn of conscience." Cheyney, 

 in his retiring presidential address before the American Historical 

 Association, lists prominently among his "laws" of history the trend 

 toward a greater consideration of one's fellows as society grows more 

 complex. Thus in the technological society of which American cul- 

 ture is a supreme example, science and industry are emphasizing as 

 never before the need of the will toward cooperation, that is, of the 

 love of our neighbors. Perhaps the urgency of the universal accept- 

 ance of this central doctrine of Christianity is not generally 

 recognized. This is merely because the social implications of our 

 increasingly complex life have not yet become evident within the 

 brief decades of the world's growing social unity. 



Most significant of the factors that give strength to man is, how- 

 ever, the vision of a goal w^hich he recognizes as worthy of his supreme 

 effort. If we would truly live, we need a purpose. To many of its 

 followers, science gives a basis for the appreciation of man's place in 

 the universe. It helps him to see himself as he is, a creature with 

 animal limitations, but with godlike powers, sharing with his Creator 

 the responsibility for making this world a fit place for life. The man 

 of science may not feel qualified to choose for others that which gives 

 life dignity and worth ; but he can at least supply the data on which 

 that choice must be made. How can we correctly orient ourselves 

 without learning the facts about the world and dispassionately con- 

 sidering their implications. It is, I believe, in just this direction that 

 science must ultimately make its greatest human contribution. Science 

 must clarify the vision of the seers who would point out to us the 

 goal of life. 



It is noteworthy that these things which give strength to society 

 are likewise those that make life worthwhile, the understanding of 

 man and nature, the love of one's neighbor with the acceptance of 

 responsibility for his welfare, the finding of a goal worthy of our 

 best efforts. Though American technological civilization may lack 

 the refinements and nice adjustments which perfected the classic cul- 

 ture, its growth is toward the greater social development of man. 

 In this sense it is truly humanistic. 



The role of science in American culture is thus threefold. First, 

 it supplies more adequate means of life, giving men longer life, better 

 health, and a richer variety of experience. Second, it stimulates man's 

 social growth by rewarding more abundantly cooperative effort and 



