User:KYPark/1939

John Bernal

The Social Function of Science: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.; The M.I.T. Press, 1967 (paperback)

Cf. Roy Johnston (2001) Century of Endeavour: JD Bernal and the 'Science and Society' Theme [1]

acknowledges the earlier development of this theme by Kurd Lasswitz in his 1901 story The Universal Library (Die Universalbibliotek)

These may be responding to World Brain (1938) and The Social Function of Science (1939) as well as to Kurd Lasswitz's 1901 story, "The Universal Library."

This is said to be the original verson to be reworked and expanded as his seminal As We May Think (1945).

Dr Obispo places great faith in science and medicine as a saviour of humankind. He sees everyone as a stepping stone to science, the greater good, and thus only derives happiness at others' expense. According to Propter's philosophy, he is trapped in ego-based "human" behaviour that prevents him from reaching enlightenment.

The Gladiators: a novel about the Spartacus revolt in the Roman Empire and the 20th century left in Europe

The novel presents an absorbingly realistic evocation of what is now called 'a mid-life crisis'.

What is most notable is not so much that Orwell predicted the start of World War II, which was becoming expected, but that he foresaw the transformation of society which would succeed it. Indeed, just a few years after the publication of this book, pre-war England was almost as different as George Bowling's Edwardian childhood.

Part of its impact stemmed from its passionate depiction of the plight of the poor, and in fact, many of Steinbeck's contemporaries attacked his social and political views. Bryan Cordyack writes, "Steinbeck was attacked as a propagandist and a socialist from both the left and the right of the political spectrum.The most fervent of these attacks came from the Associated Farmers of California; they were displeased with the book's depiction of California farmers' attitudes and conduct toward the migrants. They denounced the book as a 'pack of lies' and labeled it 'communist propaganda'."

In 1962, the Nobel Prize committee cited Grapes of Wrath as a "great work" and as one of the committee's main reasons for granting Steinbeck the Nobel Prize for Literature.