Physical and Mental Welfare

Wanganui Chronicle, 5 October 1946, Page 8

Physical and Mental Welfare

Civilisation and the Pursuit of Knowleged No. 5.

(By SIR RICHARD GREGORY, BART., F.R.S.)

The principles of nuclear fission had already been established before • the later discovery was made, early ■ in the year 1939, that when the nucleus of an atom of uranium was split in two, additional atomic “bullets” were created which carried on the disintegration process by themselves A “chain reaction” could thus be made which broke up the uranium with great rapidity and at the same time relased energy with immense violence. All the early scientific research mentioned was done purely in the pursuit of natural knowledge and was communicated freely to scientific societies and publications. THU ATOM BOMB. The military significance of the fission “chain reaction” then came to be realised both in Europe and in the United States, where, with the collaboration of American, Canadian, and British scientists, a vast engineering plant was erected, and the frightful atom bomb was manufactured as an instrument of war. There were no secrets at all in the principles upon which its construction vss based; but—as with other industrial applications of scientific discoveries —the conversion of laboratory experiments into engineering works on a vast scale meant that special methods had to be discovered and used in the process; and these alone constitute the secrets of atom bomb manufacture. NUCLEAR HEARTS. British and American scientists and technologists took three years to convert laboratory experiments into an engineering plant, that is, to bridge the gap between science and invention. and by so doing to make available an almost inexhaustible source of mechanical power. When atoms took form out of the void, this energy —this mechanical power—was locked up in their nuclear hearts; and, whatever may be the spiritual meaning or purpose of its creation, the discovery of it in the pursuit of knowledge was just as natural as that of any other force which has been freed by scientific research in the past.

THE SIN OF MASS DESTRI CTION The view that to acquire such knowledge of natural properties and forces by means of scientific research is to partake of “divinely forbidden fruits’’ is largely held and has forcibly been expressed against scientists since atom bombs were exploded with such terrible effects. There never can be moral sanction for such mass destruction of human life, although history does afford other examples of it in crusades and in other religious conflicts. Mass destruction is an offence against the Light—for whatever cause it may be undertaken. On the other hand, the pursuit of natural or of supernatural truth is the noblest of man’s endeavours. The right use of , such knowledge has enabled him to penetrate into the centres of stars; but, wrongly —sinfully—used, it can carry him down into the pit to perish, if his animal instincts continue to prevail over his moral understanding.' SCIENCE “NOT GUILTY.”

Science, as the spirit of questioning, is neither moral nor immoral; and its justification is in the accumulation and co-ordination of knowledge. A scientific discovery is an addition to knowledge; and an invention is an additional use of knowledge. On the principle that “necessity is the mother of invention” the atom bomb was manufactured as a devastating weapon of war; but it should not be assumed thaf scientists (any more than other groups of people) desire to be associated with the prostitution of knowledge in any form. When man began to accumulate experience of the properties of natural things and to apply it for his own purposes, he rose above all other living creatures and began to weave the fabric of civilisation. By his discoveries he became possessed of knowledge which he is as free to use now, as he always has been for the purpose of distinguishing between what is good for his existence and what is exactly the opposite. (To be continued).

Presidential address of Sir Richard Gregory, Barf., F.R.S.. to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, London, July 20, 1946.