Edward Teller and Sir William Osler: Scientific Leaders

Abstract

If the human race survives another thousand years, textbook summaries of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries may well label that era as the Age of Science and Technology. Much as the Renaissance is associated with the revival of humanism and the Enlightenment with the growth of rationalism in the conduct of human affairs, the last two centuries arguably were defined principally by the explosion in scientific knowledge and its technological impact on humankind. Much of that impact has been enormously positive, including unimagined advances in health care, information technology, transportation, industry, and the average quality of life throughout the world. But there have also been unintended negative consequences, ranging from the development of weapons of mass destruction to global climate changes. New technologies contributed to the deaths of over 110 million people in World Wars I and II alone.