Scientific Conscience

Out Of Print... "Dr. Roberts is not against science itself when under rational direction and moral controlthat goes without sayingbut against a method and a philosophy that leaves out important human values. Her work therefore is part of a broadening stream of criticism from within science, represented by people as eminent as Michael Polanyi, Szent-Gyorgi, and Ren Dubos." "A native Californian with a doctors degree in botany from the University of California in 1943, I have lived the past twenty years in Europe, fifteen of which were spent as a microbiologist at the Carlsberg Laboratories in Copenhagen," writes Catherine Roberts.."Most of my publications are thus professional; but in 1961 I gave up my scientific career and began to devote my time to a consideration of the effects of continued scientific progress upon human progress. In the five years which followed I wrote six essays dealing with the philosophical, ethical, and evolutionary implications of modern biological research, a contemporary activity which is so flourishing that it seems to be getting out of hand. Three of these essays were published in 'Perspectives in Biology and Medicine' and one in the 'Antioch Review.'