Essay on Science and Its Effects

One of the most striking features of the present century is the progress of science and its effects on almost every aspect of social life. Building on the foundation laid by the predecessors the scientists of today are carrying their investigation into ever-widening fields of knowledge. Science has brought many changes in the world today. It is used in all the corners of the world for the benefit of man.

The motor-car or the electric lamp that we use today was not known to people who lived generations ago. Owing to the use of science the people of today are able to do many things with ease and comfort. Travel has become very easy. So men’s activity has increased greatly. Science has also been used to treat the sick. As a result, people can now live longer life than their ancestors could. Even the most serious diseases do not frighten people so much as they did before.

Further, Science has made it possible for people to sit at home and see the world around. The television, the newspaper and color books help millions of people to learn at home. The radio too has done much to teach and inform people in all parts of the world.

Modem civilization depends largely on scientists and inventors. We depend on the doctor who seeks the cause and cure of disease, the chemist who analyses our food and purifies our water, the entomologist who wages war on the insect pests, the engineer who conquers time and space, and a host of other specialists who aid in the development of agriculture and industry. The advance of science and technology has brought the different parts of the world into closer touch with one another than ever before. We are able to reach distant lands within a very short time. We are also able to communicate with people far away by means of the telephone and the wireless. The invention of the printing machine has made it possible for us to learn from books and newspapers about people in other lands. Indeed, man’s curiosity and resourcefulness have been responsible for the steady stream of inventions that have created our civilization.

At the same time, however, there have been harmful effects. Our machine civilization is responsible for numerous accidents and industrial rivalries among nations. Every day hundreds of people are dying from serious wounds and injuries. Further, the rapid tempo of modern life causes a wide-spread nervous disorder. Moreover, science, which has helped man to secure control over nature, has also made it possible for him to develop more deadly weapons of war. More and more countries are competing with one another in the production of war material. But in these instances, the fault lies not with science, but rather with man’s intention to misuse the discoveries of science.

Science is admittedly the dominating intellectual force of the modern age.