ABSTRACT
A phenomenon of the twentieth century has been the increasing association and integration of academic disciplines and sciences that previously were considered to be separated by rigid boundaries. The progress made in the study of some of the basic units of life, such as the complex molecules of haemoglobin and DNA, is due to the co-operation of workers in the field of organic chemistry, biology, and crystallography. The current work in astronomy regarding quasars and ‘black holes’ reveals the close links between astronomers dealing with stars of enormous size and atomic physicists studying ‘quarks’ and other sub-atomic particles. This increasing co-operation and interconnection between the sciences is revealed in the general names by which groups of them are now referred to, such as the ‘material’ sciences (in organic chemistry, physics, crystallography, and so forth) and the ‘life’ sciences (medicine, biology, and so forth).
