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It has ibeen pointed ou t long ago th a t th e Clock is th e prototype m achine. Thus it is th e H igh Technology w hich in te ra c ts stro n g ly With science, but it is o n ly latte in its developm ent th a t th is trad itio n evolves in a form w h ere it tran sfo rm s the m eans of production a n d daily life previously dom inated by Low Technology.
V. I. O stolsky
T he lectu re of (Professor D aum as has d ra w n th e atte n tio n of Sympo sium ’s participan ts to one of th e m ost im p o rtan t dom ains o f historico- -scientific a n d historico-technological investigations, to th e problem of how arise a n d how shape th e m u tu al ties betw een science a n d tech nology.
The significance of this still m ost unsu fficiently exam ined problem h ard ly needs a n y p articu la r dem onstration. The enorm ous acceleration of th e scientific progress, characteristic of these days, is due — to a large ex ten t — to a constantly increasing interactio n a n d m u tu al p en etratio n of scientific know ledge and engineer experience. W ithout carefully considering a n d retracin g the history o f th e developm ent of those factors, we are unable to rig h tfu lly estim ate th e c u rre n t events a n d to establish th e ir actual causes a n d effects in th e sp h ere of science an d production, of economics a n d social relations.
The cognitive value of Professor D aum as’s le ctu re is q u ite obvious. His in itial theses — th e acknow ledgm ent of th e groundlessness o f th e classical opposition betw een science a n d technology, th e ascertain m en t of th e p lu ra lity of spheres of h u m an activities, w ith in th e bounds of w hich science a n d technology cannot be exam ined separately, th e affir m atio n of the continuity of links existing betw een th em w ith in th e space of th e Whole history of civilization — w ill co n stitu te a ratio n al basis for the subsequent research work. However, a s p a rtic u la r in v esti gations go on, th e re should — w e th in k — change a n d become m o re exactly defined th e p articu lar com ponents o f 'th e proposed gen eral con ception. So, in the course of such investigations th e re w ill m ore accu ra te ly clarify itself th e notion of constancy of th e (direct stim u latin g in fluence of technology upon science a n d w ill b e singled o u t some groups of n a tu ra l sciences (for instance, th e complex of biological disciplines), whose origin, developm ent a n d perfection w ere conditioned b y o th er needs an d oth er necessities of m ankind, w hile th e rap prochem ent to the dom ain of engineer activities took place o n ly in la ter periods. Thus, probably, m ore and m ore perceptible w ill be th e necessity of detailedly stu d y in g th e phenom ena of the rev erse in fluence ex erted b y science
84 Le p rogrès des sciences e t celu i des tech n iqu es
on technology — phenom ena w hich are ex trem ely com plex anid deserve a m ost particu lar attention.
The in terp reta tio n of those phenom ena as expounded in th e report, its in itial thesis about th e prolonged isolation of science, about its exces sively high stan d ard an d its difficulty fo r technicians, a re — in m y opinion — som ew hat one-sided and lacking in a suitable correction.
As a m a tte r of fact, th e developm ent of science according to th e in tern al logic of th e cognitive process o u tstrip ped th e developm ent of technology, a n d th e enorm ous scope of problem s exam ined by it was in m any respects v ery wide of th e n arro w technological interests. But w henever technology passed o n to a qu alitatively higher stage, the accum ulated theoretical know ledge w as m ade use of m ore an d m ore w idely and'effectively . A t th e selection and th e concrete application of th a t know ledge in th e production practice, m ost im p o rtan t became not the trou ble about th e scientific language being m ade sim ple an d in tel ligible to th e technicians, not th e popularization of scientific achieve m ents, b u t a re al dem and fo r them w ith the purpose of perfecting th e in du strial production. It is doubtful w h eth er technology h ad need of a som ew hat sim plified explanation of scientific discoveries!. F ar m ore im po rtan t proved to Ibe for it a gradual broadening a n d strengthening of th e collaboration betw een scientists a n d engineers, a gradual augm en tatio n of efforts tow ards overcom ing th e insufficiency of a general theoretical train in g of engineers. In becoming free of th e ideas an d m ethods of th e m edieval scholasticism, n a tu ra l science w as consecutively draw ing n e a re r to th e domains of applied research, indispensable for the stim ulation of th e technological process. If, how ever, retracin g the influence of science upon technology proceeded m erely from th e recogni tio n of such a rapprochem ent, if, in analysing thait influence, w e did n o t tak e in to account, for instance, th e enorm ous significance of organizing technological schools an d form ing th e applied sciences, signi ficance largely exceeding the bounds of th e sim plicity of scientific language — the due com pleteness a n d objectivity of th e reconstitution of th e history of in teraction betw een science and technology w ould be h ard ly realizable.
L et m e make, in conclusion, the following rem ark.
In recent years, re g re t w as not in freq u e n tly expressed a t difficulties engendered by th e “linguistic b arrie rs”. T here ils no reason to dispute those difficulties, ju st as n o necessity exists to re ite ra te th e form erly advanced suggestions as to th eir elim ination. O ne circum stance, usually not touched in such opinions, is, how ever, w o rth y of being m entioned in th e v ery connection w ith P rofessor D aum as’s lecture. I m ean th e peculiar “sem antic b arrie r” — th e ex tra o rd in ary disagreem ents in de ciphering th e term s “science”, “technics”, “technology”, “technological” (applied) sciences”, a n d iso fo rth. The great com plications resulting from
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such differences in the course of discussions, of using th e foreign lite r a tu re a n d m aking tran slatio n s fro m one language to another, involve an im perative an d u rg en t necessity o f unifying the term inology. A t th e realization of this task, best assistance m ight be 'rendered, I think, by th e In tern ation al Union of H istory an d Philosophy of Sciences.
J, Sulow ski
On ne p e u t pas p résen te r le processus du développem ent des sciences et celui d e la technique —• n i a u cours de to u te l ’h isto ire de l’hum anité, ni au cours d ’u n e d e différentes civilisations — sous une form e de ligne droite qu i m onte sans cesse 'en h au teu r. O n n e p e u t co n stater non plus que c’est la courbe qui m onte, descend et rem onte pério diquem ent m ais s ’élève toujours. O n p eu t dire p lu tô t que chaque civi lisation passait des périodes ex trêm em ent actives et des périodes bien stériles, e t il est trè s difficile ou m êm e im possible dé nom m er et de qualifier tous les facteu rs qui coopéraient à l’effet positif ou négatif.
Je voudrais souligner q u an d m êm e deux aspects de ce développe m ent: l ’aspect absolu et l’aspect relatif. Le développem ent absolu em brasse to ute l’h u m a n ité qui, d e l’é ta t prim itif, m onte len tem en t ju sq u ’à son but. Et, il fa u t lé dire, nous som m es plus proches de ce b u t que nos an cêtres aux tem ps les p lu s reculés. Du point de vue du développe m ent absolu, la civilisation la p lu s jeun e est la p lu s p arfaite. M ais on p e u t tro u v e r parfois a u sein de la civilisation plus ancienne u n tas de choses p lus perfectionnées, m eilleures q u ’au sein de la civilisation plus m oderne. Il existe alors le développem ent relatif. P o u r b ien le com prendre, il fau t se rap p eller le so rt des d ifféren tes civilisations ainsi que des rap p o rts en tre les civilisations précédentes e t succédentes. Tout le m onde sait très bien q u ’il y av ait des civilisations qui o n t d isp aru comme p a r exem ple celles des Aztèques, de Babylone, d’Egypte, de la Crète. Soient-elles san s valeur depuis le u r m o rt p o ur les successeurs, qui les on t souvent même oublié?
A u courts de l ’histoire il y av ait des périodes d e d estru ctio n e t d e décadence totale, des ru p tu re s dans le développem ent civilisatrice e t l’hum anité devait to u t commencer de nouveau. Mais, de l ’a u tre côté, même si la civilisation quelconque tom bait, en apparence, to u te entière, il y re sta it encore beaucoup de biensi d e v aleu r pour des civilisations successives, de liens en tre le passé e t l’avenir, pour le m om ent oubliés, m ais enfin renaissants. La dernière ru p tu re était p lu s b ru ta le que toutes les autres, elle a enseveli, il sem blait, to u te la civilisation d u m onde antique, e n tre de IVe e t le VIIIe siècles. Le M oyen Âge com m ençait p resq u’à zéro. U n certain nom bre de livres, quelques m onum ent’s
