9. Science and Human Comforts

                                                   9. Science and Human Comforts

        Science is search for the truth and reality. It is the spirit of rationality, enquiry and excellence. It has played the vital role in human progress. It has brought material prosperity to man. Now, it has played become the part and parcel of our lives. If we are constrained to spend a single day without it, our lives will become unbearable. There is practically no field where science has not worked wonders. Its fruits in the shape of technology, inventions and discoveries have revolutionalised our ways of living. The impossibilities of the past have been made possible. New miracles are happening daily. It has given man a sense of confidence and power. Man has conquered the forces of universe. He is not afraid of wild animals and tempests of floods. He has explored the hidden treasures in the universe and is in search of the new horizons. That is why, Emerson says, "Science surpasses the old miracles of mythology."

        In the past, people used to travel by carts, on horse back or on foot. These journeys took months and months. The people people started the journey saying farewell to their friends and relatives with heavy hearts. But now, we can traverse the distance of days in hours and that of hours in minutes. Man has stepped on the moon and come back. He is trying fast to mount the Mars. He has set up a space station in the space. All this has been made possible because of fast moving trains, buses, cars, aeroplanes, satellites and spaceships etc. Now, there are rocket planes that travel at the speed of seven or eight hundred miles per hour. They fly faster than sound.

        Science has brought the countries closer. Telephone, wireless, radio and television connect us with the world in the twinkling of an eye. The radio and TV provide us latest information and education and record everything that happens in the world. TV with its plays, entertaining features and educational programmes enlightens and delights our minds. The telephone and telegraph have linked one part of the world to the other. Messages are flashed. Direct conversion can be carried on. Wireless has shortened distances and thus the world has shrunk in size. Science has established and strengthened the bonds of friendship and love between the nations of the world.

        Science has produced electricity which works as our maid-servant. It heats our rooms in winter and cools them in summer, washes our clothes, sweeps and cleans our houses, freezes and stores things, lights our houses, irons our clothes and cooks our food. It runs our machines, vehicles and industry. With the help of its power, we can now change the course of unruly rivers, demolish the heaven kissing mountains and cultivate the dry barren lands. Without it, the whole progress of industry will come to a sand still.

        Science has modernized agriculture. It has given us machinery which sows seeds, grows, reaps and threshes the crops. We can complete the work of days in minutes. Now we are getting not only more food but also better food. Per acre production has increased with the help of pesticides and fertilizers.

        Science has changed our old methods of the treatment of diseases. Fatal diseases are under control today. Epidemics break out rarely. Surgery has worked wonders. Every part of human body can be operated upon. Even eyes, kidneys and heart can be transplanted. Nothing has remained impossible. Treatment by X-Rays and radium is one of the greatest wonders of science. Vaccination has made small pox a forgotten story. Antibiotics have completely removed the danger of infection. Now we are living healthier, wealthier and longer lives.

        Computer is the greatest wonder of science. It does lengthy calculations in seconds. It can keep the record for centuries. It is used in banking, business, industry, engineering, sports and many other fields of life. It has made the world a global village. It sends information or mail through Internet to all the corners of the world within seconds. The businessmen can do transactions and dealings throughout the world. Therefore, we can rightly call science a friend of man.