Abstract
IT is a truism that military leadership has seldom foreseen the conditions under which the next war would be fought, and has tended rather to plan its strategy and tactics in accordance with the experience of previous decades. The rate of impact of science on society is now increasing, or rather the period of industrial gestation is decreasing so rapidly that over whole spheres of our industrial and social life a like condition tends to prevail. Mr. Leonard could well have anticipated for this book the title of Sir Josiah Stamp's presidential address at Blackpool to the British Association. He is concerned with the impact of science upon society and with the means of adaptation and change which science has put into our hands. The book, which is admirably written, can be commended to all who seek to form an intelligent opinion on social and technical change and the numerous grave problems arising out of them. While avoiding the sensationalism of many journalistic efforts in this field, it is lucid and always stimulating and well deserves a wide circle of readers. “It is unfortunate, however, that Mr. Leonard should give fresh circulation to the mistaken belief that war stimulates development, more particularly as in one of the examples cited by him, namely, aviation, war needs have been the main factor responsible for warping its whole development.
Tools of To-morrow
J. N.
Leonard
By. Pp. vii + 303. (London: George Routledge and Sons, Ltd., 1935.) Cheap edition, 5s. net.
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Tools of To-morrow. Nature 139, 134 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139134b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139134b0
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