Scientific Fiction: Novels
Angels and Demons is a novel by Dab Brown that depicts the never ending war between church and science. The novel revolves around Leonardo Vettra’s quest to bridge the gap between the Catholic Church and science. Vettra is not only a priest but also a physicist attached to CERN. Vettra spearheads the creation of antimatter alongside his adopted daughter Vitoria in a bid to prove the creation theory in scientific terms. This book depicts the notion that science and religion coexist to serve the same objective but in different ways. Religion morally regulates the scientific advancement to ensure that innovations alleviate human suffering instead of advancing them. The moral of this story is that the battle between the church and science has resulted to chaos and confusion in the society
Covert one is a novel by Robert Ludlum and is concerned with the effects of scientific research on the society. In the book, Blanchard Pharmaceutical creates a virus in a bid to make a killing of the outbreak that will result of the pandemic. The novel revolves around the quest of USAMRIID researcher’s, Col. John Smith, quest to avenge the death of his fiancée, Dr. Sophia Russell that ends up the unethical nature of the hades project, a viral project of Blanchard Pharmaceutical. This novel basically depicts science and research as the sole source of human suffering in the universe. The book asserts the fact that science only offers solutions to the problems it has created for the sake of monetary or materialistic gain. The moral of this story is that science if left unchecked can be the cause of human suffering.
Cultural impact of the CERN (the Large Hadron Collider) and the Manhattan Project
Estimates reveal that at least 300 PhDs are granted worldwide based on the work that is done at CERN of which half end up having industrial and commercial applications. The Manhattan project had a section that was charged with the responsibility of understanding the impact of exposure to radiation on human beings. This part of the project gave rise to extensive studies on the effects on radiation on the blood.
The Manhattan Project funding was to a large extent motivated by the political climate at that time. The fear that Hitler would be the first to come up with the atomic bomb motivated the formation of an alliance between USA, UK, and Canada. On the other hand, CERN is an alliance of 20 European member states with the aim of keeping Europe relevant in the field of science. The Large Hadron Collider for instance is meant to provide insights into the origins of the universe; knowledge that if obtained would make the CERN a forerunner in the field.
In addition to this, the Manhattan Project resulted in the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945 which caused panic hence other nations worked hard to invent their own weapons. The Large Hadron Collider is to a large extent viewed as an attempt to understand the origins of the universe as postulated by the Big Bang Theory. It has stimulated interest across the nations therefore leading to enhanced co-operation in the research. For instance, the USA joined the CERN in 1997; a move aimed at being a part of the discoveries made.
Works Cited
Brown, Dan. Angels and Demons. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
Kraft, Alison. Atomic Medicine: the Cold War Origins of Biological Research. 2009. 25 June 2012 <http://www.historytoday.com/alison-kraft/atomic-medicine-cold-war-origins-biological-research>.
Ludlum, Robert. Covert-One: The Hades Factor. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2000.
Smith, C.H. Llewellyn. The use of basic science: Benefits of basic science. 2010. 25 June 2012 <http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/about/About-en.html>.
