MATHEMATICS AND THE SCIENCES — LASLEY 195 



achieve this transition complacently is due in large part to the tough 

 intellectual fiber provided by mathematics and the sciences. 



SOCIAL IMPLICATION 



Einstein asserts that "concern for man himself and his fate must al- 

 ways form the chief interest of all technical endeavors * * * jn 

 order that the creations of our minds shall be a blessing and not a 

 curse to mankind." That scientific findings have the potentiality 

 of becoming the latter is the thought of many at this time when mod- 

 ern warfare threatens the very existence of civilization. May not our 

 very scientific endeavors prove a Frankenstein? It has even been 

 suggested that science take a holiday in order to let the rest of the 

 world, particularly the world of good will, catch up. But, as Hill 

 has pointed out, the scientist is after all a human being. Can he 

 know which of his discoveries will be put to harmful ends ? Mankind 

 must learn to take the good and the bad together. "It is ironical," 

 says Gregory, "that grenter productivity through invention should 

 bring more distress an* unemployment rather than an increase in 

 human welfare." Soci J progress has not kept pace with scientific 

 progress. Russell takes the position that if mankind were rational, 

 his conquest of nature would increase his happiness and well-being. 

 "Only kindness," he says, "can save the world, but even if we knew 

 how to produce kindliness, we should not do so unless we were kindly." 



This dilemma, many believe, is caused by our failure to apply to 

 social and economic problems the same intelligent analysis that has 

 been applied to scientific problems. They assert that scientific think- 

 ing is definitely on a plane above thinking in other fields — and that 

 this explains the fact that science has outdistanced nonscience. The 

 ideal of thinking is presented in the perfectly welded chains of mathe- 

 matical proofs. The sciences approximate this norm more closely 

 than do the nonsciences. Social, as well as scientific progress, comes 

 with the finding of truth. The pattern for the search for truth is 

 mathematical thinking. 



FAITH 



One rarely thinks of faith as an element essential to the scientist. 

 The scientist is by definition one who knows. What need then can he 

 have of faith? Mark Twain says that, "Faith is believing what you 

 know ain't so." Somewhere Hilaire Belloc exclaims, "Oh, one should 

 never, never doubt what no one can be sure about." Does this levity 

 contain some truth ? Does not the worker with facts need faith as a 

 sort of whistle to keep up his courage ? If he is never really sure, does 

 he not need faith to bolster up this insecurity ? Or is it that a calm, 

 pervading faith is one of the necessary tools in the kit of the scientist? 



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