The Inner Limits of Mankind. Heretical Reflections on Today’s Values, Culture and Politics by Ervin Laszlo (review)

72 Books suitable examples, well illustrated by means of clear diagrams. Many of the illustrations are quite attractive, including, as one would expect in a book about symmetry, some reproductions of drawings by Escher. Some very appropriate quotations from Milne’s ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’and ‘TheHouse at Pooh Corner’ add a touch of charm. In the concluding section of his book Rosen says that he has attempted to open the reader’s eyes to the world of symmetry. I think that his attempt is successful. New Worlds in Chemistry. Martin Sherwood. Faber & Faber, London, 1977. 234 pp.. illus. f6.95. Reviewed by Mahmoud Sabri* The book is ‘concerned primarily with what happened in chemistry during the past 30 years’(p. 14).It shows chemistry in two aspects: as a ‘meansby which man describesreality’and as a ‘wide-ranging influence on the way we live’ (p. 13). At the turn of the century, the indivisibleatom of Democritus was dethroned. New physical concepts of atomic structure became the basis on which to construct molecular models of compounds found in nature. It is a structure-oriented approach. The structures of moleculesdetermine their particular properties and, notably, the way in which they can effectively come into contact to permit chemical reaction. The formation of more complex molecules from simpler ones as found in living organisms is explained in terms of molecular directedness, a property that ‘makesthe structure of large moleculesinherent in the building blocks’ (p. 87). A logical scaffolding is envisaged leading from atomic electron states to DNA ‘with no element of luck involved’ (p. 84). Since 1953 when Crick and Watson constructed a 3-dimensional model of DNA, the stuff of lifeand of heredity has finally been recognised as having a molecular structure. Moreover, structural considerations underlie functions as diverse as vision, smell, taste, catalysis by enzymes, etc. On the basis of a knowledge of molecular structure chemists synthesize compounds and polymers not found in nature, for example synthetic rubbers, resins and fibres; pharmaceuticals; etc., to meet increasingly sophisticated human needs. This prodigious activity, however, seems to have ‘backfired’, leading to the environmental crisis that is now ‘a matter of wide public concern’. The author sees this disequilibrium in nature introduced by humans in terms of ‘somechemicals. . .found in the wrong place at the wrong concentration’ (p. 195).Proposed countermeasures are, for example, restrictions in the consumption of energy and matter (p. 209) and the enactment of pollution-control legislation (p. 212).This disequilibrium is dealt with only on the level of external appearances without reference to underlying principles. Sherwood, however, introduces a paradox. He equates chemical industry with ‘living nature’ by assuming for both a ‘unity based on a few simple chemical principles’ underlying their ‘superficial diversity’ (p. 137). Nature, however, differs from chemical industry in that the latter, as he explains, ‘must also obey the laws of economics in addition to obeying the laws of nature’ (p. 139).That is, it involves a profit-making principle in addition to ‘simplechemical principles’. Disequilibrium, therefore , should also be seen in terms of the incompatibility of these two principles. For example, the principle that the ‘Earth is a system of interlocking cycles’ (p. 199) demands a holistic approach to the environmental crisis. This is advocated by Sherwood. Yet, the profit-making principle with its inherent tendency towards fragmentation hardly favours a holistic solution. On the other hand, Sherwood’s multidisciplinary idea has a basic flaw. It does not include art. A multidisciplinary effort that excludes art will give an incomplete view of the adaptation of natural forms for human purposes. The book with its wealth of information succeedsin illuminating two aspects that are significantly relevant to art: (I) Chemistry isnow structure-conscious. A similarbias in art can be noted sinceCezanne. (2) Chemists produce a galaxy of synthetic *Raffaelova 199013,Prague 10-10000. Czechoslovakia. chemicalsand materials by imitating those found in nature. One recallsthe words of Mark van Doren: ‘Thescientistand the artist are alike in that they begin with existence, and go from there to imitations or reconstructions of it. . . .’ The Inner Limits of Mankind. Heretical Reflections on Today’s Values, Culture and Politics. Ervin Laszlo. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1978.79 pp. Paper, f3.50. Reviewed...