| Themes > Science > Physics > About Physics, Generalities > A Brief History and Philosophy of Physics > Applied Physics |
Bacon's vision of the application of science for human use has been realized this century, with tens of thousands of scientists and engineers working world-wide to develop usable products. However, the deal has been Faustian. We have our jumbo jets, cellular telephones, catscans, personal computers and CD-players, all direct applications of physics which we enjoy. We have also developed the fission bomb which killed 110,000 in Hiroshima and similar numbers in Nagasaki, with some 2500 people continuing to die per year for decades from radiation-related illness (the fusion bombs currently deployed are typically 50 times more powerful); modern conventional weapons and communications keep millions of the world's people in economic slavery; the world's ecosystem, of which we are a part, is endangered by the pollution resulting from our technological successes; the technologically developed world consumes some ten times that of the lesser developed world per capita, so limiting the economic viability of the rest of the world. As suggested by Capra in The Turning Point, it is time to take a lesson from the EPR paradox and consider the world more holistically. Physics still has a powerful role to play in the evolution of our society, and it is our individual and collective responsibility to choose its direction carefully. |
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