SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION: Essay

SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION

Well Civilization is not the synonym of culture. Do not get con­fused, Culture flows as the innate peculiarities that hold a nation, some­times for centuries. It does not change every now and then. It may if a country is devastated by long wars or remain slave for a very longtime as is the case with many African countries. There too the cultural back­ground is mixed with European culture.

Civilization changes as the conditions in the country and the World change. There is always a change in the norms of civilization with scien­tific development. We can say that science and civilization are the two banks between which the river of national aspirations flows. They de­velop with the development in the aspirations of a country or the world at large.

We have the civilization of the Stone Age. The stones were changed into different shapes. The scientists of that age prepared their own arms and ammunitions from stones. Civilization and science both were in their initial stages. The relics of Mohan-ja-Daro tell of us of a different civili­zation much advanced than that of the Stone Age. The scientist of this age made brick houses, tanks and many other things. Both science and civi­lization had developed.

Look back to the ancient ages. We have Roman Civilization, Greek Civilizations, Egyptian Civilization, Chinese Civilization and the Aryan and Dravidian Civilization. All had their own peculiarities. Besides pro­ducing arms and ammunitions the scientists of the Roman and Greek ages were interested in having palacious building and auditoriums for games and sports. Naturally the scientists of these ages developed the Manufacture of fine cloth and a large number of articles of comfort and luxury. The call of their civilization was to have empires with the help of all that was developed in the field of Science.

Egypt being on the verge of Arabian countries spread its empire in that region alone. The scientists developed, besides cloth, the production of jewels and gold ornaments which they placed in mammoth buildings known as pyramids in which the mummies of kings and emperors were kept together with a large number of slaves to serve the king after his death. They all perished but the mummies are still there.

Coming to the modern age we find that both science and civiliza­tion have crossed natural barriers. All the developments in the field of science anywhere are adopted by all other countries within no time. So is with civilization is the western civilization. Hundred years back it was an age of morality throughout the west—the age of Victoria in England. It was there in the USA too. But now it has given place to permissive­ness. Gradually it is entering the Asian countries too. India, of course, is slow in adopting it. Who knows by the end of the century it may be an established fact in this country too. Science with the latest developments in the field of family planning and medical resources has given it a push.

Science today rules the roost in the field of arms and ammuni­tions, industrial development, information technology, computer hard­ware and software and in the fast ways of transport on land, air and the sea. The longest distances in the world mean just thirty six hours to reach. Science is very rich so is the modern civilization that has put behind the standard of affluence of the sixties. Now the world is abound with a long list of billionaires. The modern civilization is the civilization of abundance but of terrorism and violence too. The nuclear option has been a headache for the whole world. Thus the modern civilization be called a mixture of good and evil. Let good win and evil defeated.