J. D. Bernal – författare

J. D. Bernal's important and ambitious work, The Social Function of Science, was first published in January 1939. As the subtitle -What Science Does, What Science Could Do - suggests it is in two parts. Both have eight chapters. Part 1: What Science Does: Introductory, Historical, The Existing Organization of Scientific Research in Britain, Science in Education, The Efficiency of Scientific Research, The Application of Science, Science and War and International Science. Part 11: What Science Could Do: The Training of the Scientist, The Reorganization of Research, Scientific Communication, The Finance of Science, The Strategy of Scientific Advance; Science in the Service of Man, Science and Social Transformation and The Social Function of Science. To quote Bernal's biographer, Andrew Brown, 'The Social Function of Science . . . was Bernal's attempt to ensure that science would no longer be just a protected area of intellectual inquiry, but would have as an inherent function the improvement of life for mankind everywhere. It was a groundbreaking treatise both in exploring the scope of science and technology in fashioning public policy, with Bernal arguing that science is the chief agent of change in society, and in devising policies that would optimize the way science was organized. The sense of impending war clearly emerges. Bernal deplored the application of scientific discoveries in making war ever more destructive, while acknowledging that the majority of scientific and technical breakthroughs have their origins in military exigencies, both because of the willingness to spend money and the premium placed on novelty during wartime.' Anticipating by two decades the schism C. P. Snow termed 'The Two Cultures', Bernal remarked that 'highly developed science stands almost isolated from a traditional literary culture.' He found that wrong. Again, quoting Andrew Brown, 'to him, science was a creative endeavour that still depended on inspiration and talent, just as much as in painting, writing or composing.'The importance of this book was such that twenty-five years after its publication, a collection of essays, The Science of Science, was published, in part in celebration, but also to explore many of the themes Bernal had first developed.

J. D. Bernal's monumental work, Science in History, was the first full attempt to analyse the reciprocal relations of science and society throughout history, from the perfection of the flint hand-axe to the hydrogen bomb. In this remarkable study he illustrates the impetus given to (and the limitations placed upon) discovery and invention by pastoral, agricultural, feudal, capitalist, and socialist systems, and conversely the ways in which science has altered economic, social, and political beliefs and practices. In this first volume Bernal discusses the nature and method of science before describing its emergence in the Stone Age, its full formation by the Greeks and its continuing growth (probably influenced from China) under Christendom and Islam in the Middle Ages. Andrew Brown, Bernal's biographer, with a nice sense of paradox, has said of him, he 'was steeped in history, in part because he was always thinking about the future.' He goes on to say, 'Science in History is an encyclopaedic, yet individual and colourful account of the emergence of science from pre-historic times. There is detailed coverage of the scientific revolution of the Enlightenment, the Industrial Age and the first two-thirds of the twentieth century. . . The writing flows and is devoid of the tortured idioms that mar so many academic histories of science. After reading it, it is easy to agree with C. P. Snow's orotund observation that Bernal was the last man to know science.Faber Finds are reissuing the illustrated four volume edition first published by Penguin in 1969. The four volumes are: Volume 1: The Emergence of Science, Volume 2: The Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, Volume 3: The Natural Sciences in Our Time, Volume 4: The Social Sciences: Conclusion.'This stupendous work . . . is a magnificent synoptic view of the rise of science and its impact on society which leaves the reader awe-struck by Professor Bernal's encyclopaedic knowledge and historical sweep.' Times Literary Supplement

J. D. Bernal's monumental work, Science in History, was the first full attempt to analyse the reciprocal relations of science and society throughout history, from the perfection of the flint hand-axe to the hydrogen bomb. In this remarkable study he illustrates the impetus given to (and the limitations placed upon) discovery and invention by pastoral, agricultural, feudal, capitalist, and socialist systems, and conversely the ways in which science has altered economic, social, and political beliefs and practices. The second volume of Science in History traces the progress of modern science, from its origins in the Renaissance on into the seventeenth century, when it was stimulated by the growth of capitalism. J. D. Bernal goes on to record the spread of established science and its share in the transformation of industry up to the end of the nineteenth century.'This stupendous work . . . is a magnificent synoptic view of the rise of science and its impacton society which leaves the reader awe-struck by Professor Bernal's encyclopedic knowledge and historical sweep.' Times Literary Supplement

J. D. Bernal's monumental work, Science in History, was the first full attempt to analyse the reciprocal relations of science and society throughout history, from the perfection of the flint hand-axe to the hydrogen bomb. In this remarkable study he illustrates the impetus given to (and the limitations placed upon) discovery and invention by pastoral, agricultural, feudal, capitalist, and socialist systems, and conversely the ways in which science has altered economic, social, and political beliefs and practices. The third volume of Science in History covers the twentieth century, with chapters on the physical sciences and the biological sciences, with their impact on agriculture and medicine. 'This stupendous work . . . is a magnificent synoptic view of the rise of science and its impact on society which leaves the reader awe-struck by Professor Bernal's encyclopedic knowledge and historical sweep.' Times Literary Supplement

J. D. Bernal's monumental work, Science in History, was the first full attempt to analyse the reciprocal relations of science and society throughout history, from the perfection of the flint hand-axe to the hydrogen bomb. In this remarkable study he illustrates the impetus given to (and the limitations placed upon) discovery and invention by pastoral, agricultural, feudal, capitalist, and socialist systems, and conversely the ways in which science has altered economic, social, and political beliefs and practices. This fourth and final volume discusses the social sciences, from early rituals and myths, through ancient and medieval conceptualisation of society, and finally on to Marxism, economics, anthropology, and these sciences' impact on twentieth-century perspectives.'This stupendous work . . . is a magnificent synoptic view of the rise of science and its impact on society which leaves the reader awe-struck by Professor Bernal's encyclopaedic knowledge and historical sweep.' Times Literary Supplement