Author Description

A leading commentator questions the ethical implications of contemporary science. In this cogent, biting argument Bryan Appleyard, special feature-writer and columnist for the Sunday Times and author of Understanding the Present: Science and the Soul of Modern Man, takes the liberal humanist position against the advance of scientific ethics (or lack of them), in particular those of genetics. As the achievements of science threaten to engulf this century leaving us morally and philosophically floundering in their wake (what are we going to do about Dolly?), Appleyard's remorseless and in its way enthralling engagement with the issues makes this a book that will take pole position in a debate which can only get hotter and more desperate. In essence, he says that although it may be true that we live in Dawkins' 'cold and pitiless' universe, if we live our lives according to such wisdom we will all simply end up killing each other (as this century, with its appalling history of eugenics, a first cousin of genetics, has shown rather well). There is a real sale here to people who are not just interested in science for its own sake but who are interested in alternatives to the bleak reductionism that it seems to offer. I have compared it to Masson's Against Therapy, in that both take up strong positions against a strong body of opinion which many find oppressive. This could be a key book in any discussion of science and the future.