We Need To Make A World In

All Attempts To Adapt Our Ethical Code To Our Situation In The Technological Age Have Failed.

During My Span Of Life Science Has Become A Matter Of Public Concern And The L'art Pour L'art Standpoint Of My Youth Is Now Obsolete. Science Has Become An Integral And Most Important Part Of Our Civilization, And Scientific Work Means Contributing To Its Development. Science In Our Technical Age Has Social, Economic, And Political Functions, And However Remote One's Own Work Is From Technical Application It Is A Link In The Chain Of Actions And Decisions Which Determine The Fate Of The Human Race. I Realized This Aspect Of Science In Its Full Impact Only After Hiroshima.

His [erwin Schrödinger's] Private Life Seemed Strange To Bourgeois People Like Ourselves. But All This Does Not Matter. He Was A Most Lovable Person, Independent, Amusing, Temperamental, Kind And Generous, And He Had A Most Perfect And Efficient Brain.

But In Practical Affairs, Particularly In Politics, Men Are Needed Who Combine Human Experience And Interest In Human Relations With A Knowledge Of Science And Technology. Moreover, They Must Be Men Of Action And Not Contemplation. I Have The Impression That No Method Of Education Can Produce People With All The Qualities Required. I Am Haunted By The Idea That This Break In Human Civilization, Caused By The Discovery Of The Scientific Method, May Be Irreparable.

We Need To Make A World In Which Fewer Children Are Born, And In Which We Take Better Care Of Them.