Science

In many ways, our age is no different from any other: most people work hard merely to survive, while a few live in the lap of luxury; many perish in wars and conflicts, the causes of which they have no control over; the cycle of birth, reproduction and death is fundamentally the same for us as it was for our distant ancestors. Yet certain features of the contemporary world are quite new: for example, I can pick up the phone and speak to a relative on the other side of the globe, and I can see that it is indeed a globe that I inhabit by looking at a photograph taken from space; many people's everyday lives are enhanced by, and unimaginable without, computers, televisions and music systems; medicine can treat forms of illness and injury that would have brought certain death for earlier generations. On the downside, but equally unprecedented, the nuclear weapons that many countries now have are sufficient in number to wipe out almost all life on the planet, and our skies and oceans are polluted by substances that only exist because we make them in chemical factories.

Whether good or bad in their effects, none of these technologies would exist without science. It is possible to develop ploughs, wheels, bandages and knives without much in the way of theory, but without the scientific theories and methods developed mainly in the last few hundred years there would be no electronic devices, spacecraft, micro-surgery or weapons of mass destruction. The products of science and technology have a huge effect on the way we live our lives and how we shape our environment; if you are in any doubt about this try and imagine going through an average day without using anything powered by electricity or containing plastic.

The importance of science does not only derive from its use in technology. Science enjoys unparalleled prestige in society compared with other institutions, and everyone is likely to agree about the need to fund and understand modern science while many may deride modern art or literature. Furthermore,