PREFACE 



THIS book is a vindication of the thesis that Science 

 is for Life. Its central idea is that a new freedom 

 may be reached by bringing more brains, as well as 

 more good- will, to bear on " the relief of man's estate " 

 and the enlargement of everyday life. By the applica- 

 tion of Science to practical problems Man can get rid 

 of many hindrances that slow his progress — which, in 

 its higher reaches, means the fuller realisation of the 

 True, the Beautiful, and the Good. Our hope is that 

 the book may make it more vividly clear that increased 

 biological knowledge implies increased possibilities of 

 controlling life. The biological control of life is indeed 

 to the theory of organic evolution as works to faith. 

 But what is here illustrated with particular reference 

 to Biology holds true also in regard to the other sciences. 

 The hopefulness of our outlook and the contribution 

 the book makes to a theory of progress may seem to 

 some to be sanguine ; we submit, however, that our 

 position is that of a sound scientific meliorism. In any 

 case, the book contains a readily intelligible introduc- 

 tion to a study of questions which must be faced by 

 every educated citizen — questions in regard to our 



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