Man and Nature

-J. Bronowski

Summary:

The identity of a man is crucial in between either Self or Machine. It is the beginning of the essay as well as the basic condition of the writer. However, he believes that man is a part of nature.

His condition or question is innocent or neutral. All the persons like the Bible readers, agnostics, Sunday strollers, haunters of museums accept this fact. In the latter half of the 20^th century, men consider that they are also a part of nature like stone, cactus and camel. These things represent three categories of human being world like Animal, Vegetable or Mineral. This common condition has got explosive charge because it challenges the self-assurance of Western man.

Man would deny the fact of the writer thinking himself as unique. It can be a hidden fact, so they remain silent, because they have returned before 1600. In the same way, Giordano Bruno was asked to abandon his ideas that the earth was not only the planet in the universe. It was thought as wild belief at that time. The man should also realize that s/he isn’t only the creature in this multitude of the worlds.

It was Renaissance extravagance that human considered themselves neither slave nor master of fate. They were happy that they could enjoy with the nature of being free from boundaries. Neither was it true, nor it can be. The jealous man also wants to be immortal. They also want to get supernatural power which larger than life and nature. After all, it is impossible because they have boundaries. Man can’t be greater than nature. 

1.   Put the following five sentences in the right order to make them read like a paragraph.

a.       Bronowski says that man is a part of nature.

b.      He lost his self-assurance because this statement means that man is not unique.

c.       This is the statement which has made Western man lose his self-assurance.

d.      He also wants to feel that he has been, from the beginning, larger than nature.

e.       But man wants to feel unique and immortal.

2.   Drawing your information from the passage given above, answer in your own words the following questions in complete sentences. Your answer to every question should not exceed 35 words.

a.       What is the thrust of Bronowski’s argument throughout the paragraphs?

Answer: He argued that man is a part of nature. Man wants to be superior to nature but he can’t be. The Renaissance man believed that they would challenge the nature which wasn’t possible at all. They are also like other creatures of the world like stone, cactus and camel.

b.      What seems self-evident in the latter half of the twentieth century regarding man’s relationship with nature?

Answer: It was proved that man is a part of the nature. They are also like other things of the world. Man gets equal share like animal, vegetable and mineral.

c.       Why was Giordano Bruno burnt at the stake?

Answer: He challenged the ideas of the traditional man that the earth wasn’t only the planet in the universe. So he was burnt alive.

-By Prem Prasad Sigdel

Science and Survival

-Barry Commoner

Summary:

There is some disagreement about the effects of medical hazards and effects of DDT, smog and fallout. We have already used them without knowing the risk caused by these pollutants. As a result, we have loaded the substance in our blood that resists our blood circulation. People wanted to make bomb to kill mosquitoes. They have loaded their bodies with serontium-90 and DDT which is too much dangerous for us. People are conducting experiment on their own body these days. So these are the main components of public health hazards of present.

Some people may concern about the damage of environment; whereas others would argue that it is the achievement of science whether it is good or bad. They would argue that it would already happen in our life and if we don’t take risk the achievement of science and technology is useless. Possible errors may exist with the use of science and expansion of technology. In the past, the risk of science and technology was confined to a certain place. These days it has influenced the entire world. For example: air pollution is everywhere; fallout is worldwide; synthetic chemicals may remain under soil for many years; a radioactive pollutant is everywhere; and the effect of carbon-14 will affect for thousands of years. The excessive use of carbon dioxide could cause floods which could cover much of the earth’s surface.

Nowadays, the errors have been growing. When there was a boiler explosion, it was taken as an art of science. If a single nuclear power would burst, it will turn the whole area uninhabitable. We can’t imagine the negative effect of it as it is beyond imagination. Hence modern scientific experiments have been conducted in a trial-and-error approach.

Some may argue that the hazards of modern pollutants are small in comparison to other human activities. For example the fallout hazard is much smaller in comparison to the road or plane accidents. We should think about the future generations. The effect of fallout, smog or chemical is so serious that we would realize it only after the consequence is too serious. Science has forgotten the duty of prediction and control on human activities to save people from pollutants. The true ratio of danger isn’t represented by the present condition. We will surely feel its result in the future if we don’t correct this basic fault of the scientific enterprise in time.

1.   Match the segments in Section A with the correct corresponding segments from Section B. Make sure that the resulting sentence corresponds with the author’s point of view on the subject.

a.       A single explosion in a nuclear power plant ….. might kill thousands of people.

b.      Extra carbon dioxide from fuel combustion ….. might eventually cause floods.

c.       DDT and strontium-90 in the air …. may interfere with the functioning of the blood.

d.      Carbon-14 …. will remain on the earth’s surface for thousands of years.

e.       The effect of smog, fallout or chemical pollutants…. may be extremely harmful for future generations.

f.       Synthetic chemicals …..may remain in the soil for years.

2.   Drawing your information from the passage given above, answer the following questions in complete sentences. Your answer to every question should not exceed 25 words.

a.       Name three pollutants with which man has loaded the atmosphere.

Answer: They are smog, fallout and chemical pollutants.

b.      What would happen if there was an explosion in a nuclear power plant?

Answer: It would kill thousands of people and the area will be uninhabitable.

c.       What is one of the major duties of science that the author writes about?

Answer: Science should predict about the dangers and control of human intervention into nature.

d.      What is the true measure of the danger of modern pollutants?

Answer: It will certainly affect our life in the future so we should correct the basic fault on time.

-By Prem Prasad Sigdel