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From the Wrights to rockets . . . A noted aeronautical engineer here gives his views on the past, present, and future of aviation and its impact on our civilization. He outlines the short but technologically vast history of aeronautics, not forgetting that the airplane was born into a time of political strain to develop into an instrument for evil as well as good. He indicates some of the effects that the increasing range and utility of planes will have on trade, travel, culture, and politics. There is no sound basis, he declares, for the once predicted increase of light airplanes flown for fun, but he does foresee the extensive use of helicopters in the air transport pattern. In the future we shall also see the adoption of jet propulsion for commercial aircraft which will double existing air speeds. Research tends to speed up obsolescence, he finds, but he calls for greater research in aeronautics to guard against becoming a second rate air power. These findings and many others are presented by one of the nation's foremost experts in a volume of substantial interest to the general reader. The book is profusely illustrated with photographs of the planes that have made aviation history.

Starting from the premise that supreme authority requires justification, and pointing out that from medieval times the authority of both Church and State has been deemed as delegated from God, Mr. Cameron investigates the relation between secular and religious authority and the role of the individual moral agent. If the highest authority derives from God, how are we to evaluate the claims of popes, kings, and the State? The individual, through witness of the Spirit and his own moral perceptions, has the right and obligation to evaluate the institutions and commands of authority; Mr. Cameron finds validity in use of the concept of "nature" as a moral criterion. Moral precepts are not, he argues, simply a matter of convention. It makes neither logical nor moral sense to set up a system that condones, for example, lying and murder, and he points to the Nuremberg trials as an illustration of the belief that man may not justify his wrongdoing as obedience to the State. In his final chapter, the author examines parochial education. As a philosopher and Catholic layman, he approves of the increasing secularization of social life. Separate schooling, an idea totally foreign to the early Church, is not in principle a Catholic requirement.

The Director for the Medical Sciences at the Rockefeller Foundation tells in this book what medical research is, what the universities and foundations have done and should do about it, and of the kind of man who works at the frontiers of the unknown in order to push back the curtains of darkness at least a little in the endless search for truth. Dr. Gregg candidly discusses some of the shortcomings of the foundations and their methods, the obstacles to their and the universities' doing their job properly, the booby traps and temptations that like in their way. But here at firsthand is an account of the men of good will, with none of the sanctimoniousness that has often characterized philanthropic endeavors, of men who critically, earnestly, doggedly, and intelligently have labored in the heat of the day and from whose minds will come the advances of the future. "This short book is addressed to the entire medical profession, to the medical student, to the student who contemplates entering medicine, and to many in the allied and basic sciences. It should be read by any who evince or profess an interest in medical research."-Journal of the American Medical Association

John Polkinghorne is a major figure in todays debates over the compatibility of science and religion. Internationally known as both a theoretical physicist and a theologianthe only ordained member of the Royal SocietyPolkinghorne brings unique qualifications to his inquiry into the possibilities of believing in God in an age of science. In this thought-provoking book, the author focuses on the collegiality between science and theology, contending that these "e;intellectual cousins"e; are both concerned with interpreted experience and with the quest for truth about reality. He argues eloquently that scientific and theological inquiries are parallel.The book begins with a discussion of what belief in God can mean in our times. Polkinghorne explores a new natural theology and emphasizes the importance of moral and aesthetic experience and the human intuition of value and hope. In other chapters, he compares sciences struggle to understand the nature of light with Christian theologys struggle to understand the nature of Christ. He addresses the question, Does God act in the physical world? And he extends his ideas about the role of chaos theory, surveys the prospects for future dialogue between scientific and theological thinkers, and defends a critical realist understanding of the activities of both disciplines. Polkinghorne concludes with a consideration of the nature of mathematical truths and the links between the complementary realities of physical and mental experience.

Why does the tension between science and religion continue? How have those tensions impacted the public debate about so-called 'intelligent design' as a scientific alternative to evolution? This title addresses the conflict from its philosophical roots to its manifestations within American culture.

Terry Eagletons witty and polemical Reason, Faith, and Revolution is bound to cause a stir among scientists, theologians, people of faith and people of no faith, as well as general readers eager to understand the God Debate. On the one hand, Eagleton demolishes what he calls the superstitious view of God held by most atheists and agnostics and offers in its place a revolutionary account of the Christian Gospel. On the other hand, he launches a stinging assault on the betrayal of this revolution by institutional Christianity.There is little joy here, then, either for the anti-God brigadeRichard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens in particularnor for many conventional believers. Instead, Eagleton offers his own vibrant account of religion and politics in a book that ranges from the Holy Spirit to the recent history of the Middle East, from Thomas Aquinas to the Twin Towers.

One of Americas greatest philosophers outlines a faith that is not confined to sect, class, or race. Dr. Dewey calls for the emancipation of the true religious quality from the heritage of dogmatism and supernaturalism that characterizes historical religions. He describes a positive, practical, and dynamic faith, verified and supported by the intellect and evolving with the progress of social and scientific knowledge.The pure distillation of the thought of a great mind on the great subject of religion.John Haynes Holmes, New York Herald Tribune