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In early times most of the backlash to scientific progress came from the 
organized religion of the time, because the science was a threat to the 
long established religious beliefs, from the earth is flat, the earth is 
the center of the universe, etc. In the modern world since the 
industrial revolution, this has not been so. The backlash to the new 
understanding of the atom and the amazing force that holds the atom 
together which when released produced an awesome weapon of mass 
destruction, was societies knee jerk reaction that man could not be 
trusted to possess such knowledge. The 20th century was the century of 
physics where the major breakthroughes were in that discipline and the 
mathematics to support it. The applications of that science through 
engineering has raised the standard of living in a short period of time, 
a mere 100 years, to unforeseen hights.

The 21st century has be advertised as the century of biology - I do have 
some reservations about that since some of the physics being pursued 
today is mind boggling - where breakthroughs in biology will push our 
understanding of the science to not forefronts. This will give us a 
basic understanding of life itself and because of that the science may 
and most probably will come to loggerheads with religion, bring us full 
circle to the early times when science and religion clashed.

Myself I am excited that we are standing at the threashold of science 
where the understanding one of most fundemental aspects of our universe 
- life itself - is within our grasps. The applications of this knowledge 
will provide the opportunity to again raise our standard of living. 
Cloning a horse is the mere beginning. The issue is not the science, it 
is societies ability to focus the science and it's applications toward 
the betterment of society and mankind.

Truman

Diane Trefethen wrote:

> Something I like to do when emotionally stirred to jump on any 
> bandwagon, especially one proclaiming that the sky is falling, is to 
> try to view the question from as truly a dispassionate position as 
> possible.
>
> Every era has its changes. Since the beginning of recorded history, 
> humans have invoked the wrath of the Gods with their presumptuousness. 
> For every profound new thought, for every stroke of genius, for every 
> step away from the past, there have been foretellers of doom. 
> Histories of the rebelliousness of youth written in ancient Latin 
> speak as clearly to the issues of emerging into adulthood today as 
> they did then. The Spanish Inquisition tortured and killed people who 
> spoke of different ideas and the witches of Salem fared no better. 
> That Earth was not the center of the universe was blasphemy, 
> electricity was magic, hypnotism was Satanic demonism and in the 
> 1950's, it was widely held that the discovery and implementations of 
> our then current understanding of atomic theory would lead us directly 
> into WW III and totally wipe out all life.
>
> And yet... we are still here. Better than just still here, we are 
> incredibly better off than was humanity 5000 years ago. While many 
> bemoan the cruelties and avarice of segments of today's world, 
> consider... all the real problems facing us... hunger, disease, early 
> death, hatred, cruelty... are old, not new. The difference is that 
> once virtually ALL of us were at the mercy of these tortures while 
> now, through our presumptuousness, billions of us live in a world 
> where we are comfortable enough to take time to appreciate life, 
> explore the known and the unknown, think, dream, play.
>
> Is the future safe and assured? Will Islamic Jihad triumph? Will the 
> Internet ever be safe? Will cloning become a "normal" method of 
> reproduction? We don't know. But if we step back and ask ourselves if, 
> in the grand scheme of things, have we overcome frightening new 
> concepts and put them to use for the betterment of our world, I think 
> the answer is yes and that suggests that our current dilemmas, as 
> threatening as they are, present us with yet more opportunies for a 
> better world.

>


--

“With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things 
and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil 
things, that takes religion.” Steven Weinberg – Nobel Laureate, Physics



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