A757 INTERNATIONAL CONCILIATION Published monthly by the American Association for International Conciliation. THE IRRATIONALITY OF WAR ON SCIENCE AS AN ELEMENT IN THE DEVELOPING OF INTERNATIONAL GOOD WILL AND UNDERSTANDING American Association for International Conciliation Sub-station 84 (407 West 117th Street) The Executive Committee of the Association for International Conciliation wish to arouse the interest of the American people in the progress of the movement for promoting international peace and relations of comity and good fellowship between nations. To this end they print and circulate documents giving information as to the progress of these movements, in order that individual citizens, the newspaper press, and organizations of various kinds may have readily available accurate information on these subjects. A list of publications will be found on page 15. It was with great pleasure that the Association received from the distinguished Principal of Birmingham University an acceptance of its invitation to contribute to its series of pamphlets. Sir Oliver Lodge is one of the most eminent living men of science, having been the recipient of the Rumford Medal and of honorary degrees from Cambridge, Glasgow, St. Andrews, Aberdeen, and Oxford Universities. Most of his work has been in the field of Physics, but he is also interested in the ultimate problems of life, and his published works include not only books on Modern Views of Electricity and the Ether of Space, but upon Life and Matter and The Survival of Man. THE IRRATIONALITY OF WAR ON SCIENCE AS AN ELEMENT IN THE DEVELOPING OF INTERNATIONAL GOOD WILL AND UNDERSTANDING Humanity is a race of workers, and on its output of energy the well being of the planet now largely depends. The work of the human race is directed towards (1) Sustenance, (2) Advancement; and on the whole the work is conducted at high pressure and there is little margin to spare. The more energy that has to be expended on mere existence the less is available for progress and development. Consequently it is in moderately fertile coun-tries and peaceful times that the greatest steps in Art and Science have been made. When existence is threatened there is neither time nor opportunity for advance. Humanity works in sections, and it is possible for these sections to quarrel and to seek to injure or destroy each other; thereby interfering with each other's bare subsistence, and taking attention off higher things. It is notorious that in such disputes much energy can be unprofitably consumed, or, more accurately, degraded; and also that even if there is no active quarrel between two sections, still the possibility of it |