Human Beings and Their Control Over Nature in the Twentieth Century

Human Beings and Their Control Over Nature in the Twentieth Century

Throughout the history of western civilization, the human race has had a continuing relationship with nature and the environment. Progress has improved the way in which human beings use natural resources and the ways in which they work together to improve the quality of life. Developments in science and technology of the twentieth-century have greatly improved the way that humans interact. As the technological advancements of the twentieth-century progressed from the discovery of vaccinations to computer age technology, humans have learned to take a considerable amount of control over their lives and the environment as compared to the past, in which humans had very little control over nature. These progressions have had positive and negative effects on society. Positively, medical research has been able to allow the human race to lengthen life span and improve the work of genetics. Science has connected the globe through computer technology. The negative aspects of progression have some far-reaching consequences, such as new forms of imperialism, the atomic bomb, and destruction of the environment.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, poor living conditions and disease plagued western civilization. Europeans had little control over their environment. The Old Regime way of life caused a fear of change and new ways of thinking were usually condemned. The economy of subsistence reflected the general outlook of society. Little or no growth took place. The mindset during this time period was, in fact, ìbetter safe than sorryî. Improvements, however, were made during the Industrial Revolution and throughout the twentieth centur...

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9. Rogers 524.

10. Rogers 524.

11. Rogers 528.

12. Rogers 385.

13. Rogers 535.

14. Rogers 382.

15. Donald Kagan, et al, The Western Heritage Brief Edition Volume II: Since 1648

(Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1996) 697.

16. Kagan 747.

17. Kagan 747.

Bibliography

- Riehl, Nikolaus and Frederick Seitz. Stalin's Captive: Nikolaus Riehl and the Soviet

Race for the Bomb. The United States of America: American Chemical Society and the

Chemical Heritage Foundation, 1996.

This book largely details the experiences of the scientist, Nikolaus Riehl, who spent 10 years as a captive of the Soviet Union. He worked on the production of pure uranium for the Soviet nuclear bomb program. This relates to the topic of Human Beings and Their Control Over Nature with respect to the production of nuclear weapons.