Science in War and Peace*

Abstract

THE officers and Council of the British Association have naturally wished that this meeting should take special note of the emergence of science, in Britain as in other countries, from its abnormal concern with war, and its return to the service of peace. To rally and to give direction to the thoughts of the members and of the sectional officers in this general sense, the phrase ‘Swords into Ploughshares’ was suggested, and adopted by the Council, as a motto for the meeting. Even in its most obvious meaning, of the direct adaptation to peaceful uses of the practical results of researches made to meet the demands of war, or forced into rapid fruition by the heat of its urgency, the metaphor will find abundant application in this week of discussions. Let me choose a few, almost at random, for mention now.