Based on the preceding generation’s advances and culture, each new generation makes its own contribution to our knowledge
of the unknown. And the more man knows, the more he understands that there is still something unknown to be sought.
The author says that participation in the cutting edge of physics gave rise to a desire to substantite philosophically what physicists had already done in investigating the unknown. In other words, to trace not only the impact of philosophy on physics, but also the influence of physics on the development of philosophy.
In the last half-centuy, mankind has advanced far in the knowledge of the world, and in the exploitation of hidden forces of nature, but he has not yet obtained answers to many questions. We know a number of the physical laws governing
phenomena, but what gravity is, what mass is, whether gravity waves exist or not – modern science cannot provide satisfactory answers to these question. We know what electricity is, but we do not know what an electrical charge is.
We know that time is irreversible in the real world, that we can move from the presnt to the future but cannot return to the past. But the fundamental equations of modern physics are indifferent to this fact.
The author says that the number of newly discovered phenomena exceeds by far the number of answers to questions raised earlier. This indicates that we live in an unlimited but knowable world. The road travelled by science shows the might of human reason as the human mind seeks to penetrate the secrets of nature and to know itself. The revolution in scienceis the basis of technological progress.
The author says that the search for new sources of energy, protection of the environment, mineral resources, food and population – these are problems that mankind as a whole faces, and these problems can be dealt with only if scholars from different countries collaborate in the search for solutions. The author says that
scientific research should be freed of narrow, selfish political and military calculations, and put at the service of universal human ideals.
The author says that the tools of scientific research include not only technology and scientific apparatus, but the tools of cognition as well. These tools of cognition help us penetrate further and deeper into the essence of nature. All individuals – some consciously and others not, think with the aid of such tools. Theoretical thinking is based not just on the accumulation of practical data, but on the generalization of this data. Some of these concepts are mathematical or scientific, others are philosophical. It should be understood that the influence of philosophy and physics is mutual.
Science is divided into separate parts; but in order to form an integral scientific picture of the world it is necessary to connect and integrate these fragments. Broad synthesis of scientific knowledge requires that scientists have a profound grasp of the process by which new theories emerge and old theories are discarded. In analyzing the results of his work, the scientist has to determine the relation between concept / theory in his field of knoledge and objective reality. Contradictions arise when one approaches new phenomena from the standpoint of old concepts – the scientist seeks to resolve these contradictions.
A survey of some of the philosophical problems of modern physics shows that as physics develops, it reflects the reality that rules in nature ever more profundly in its laws and categories. The development of physics, astrophysics, biology and other natural sciences raises questions not only pertaining to those individual disciplines, but also global problems.
As history shows, most great discoveries have come unpredicted. But reliance on kowledge and rigorous logic may allow one to predict the future of sience. What can one expect from physics, which is developing at a headlong pace? The miro-world and space are the most promising areas, where we may expect discoveries of new phenomena. Superconductivity, controlled nuclear fusion, genetic engineering, medical sciences, ecology and extraterrestrial civilizations are other important areas.
The belief in an external world independent of the perceiving subject is the basis of all natural science. But the author concludes by quoting Lelotte as follows, “True science discovers the laws that God has planted in nature, true faith proceeds from the truths that God has communicated to men. God does not contradict himself. So there can be no opposition between true science and true faith.”