Quest for Meaning

New York: Continuum. Very Good/Very Good. 1997. First Edition. Hard Cover. 8vo 0826410707 Dust jacket complete, unclipped. Original cloth with bright gilt titling on spine, No ownership inscription. Frontis portrait plate. 372 pages clean and tight. In his selective survey of the history and development of science, L. Francis Edmunds illustrates how the quest for meaning of Copernicus, Galileo, Newton,-Harvey, Darwin, Einstein and others led to discoveries which now shape our existence and dominate our consciousness. While scientific advancements afforded humanity the ability to control and manipulate outer nature, it greatly diminished our inner perspicacity, moral integrity, and transformed our world view. As Edmunds indicates, "The story of science is contradictory from the start. Its pioneers were people not only of exceptional ability, but of admirable worth. Their sole aim was the advancement of knowledge in service to life. Yet this same science, inspired though it was by selfless motives, has become the instrument for the callous disregard of man, beasts, plants, and the air we breathe. It has released untold greed for power, not only power over things but also over people. In unscrupulous hands, the science of today presents the greatest menace the world has known." Edmunds also reveals how the scientific quests of Chardin, Goethe, and Steiner have introduced innovative concepts which lead us towards a new spiritual understanding of knowledge. To liberate mankind from a cold, computerized, mechanistic, and materialistic world, a transformation.in consciousness is essential.... a new pathway for-the future.... a quest for the rediscovery of the spiritual significance of mankind. .