ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes physical science, biology, and social science as culture formers by concentrating on three representative American figures, Steven Weinberg, Edward O. Wilson, and Stanley Milgram. No contemporary physicist knows more about atomic structure or is more conversant with cultural implications than Steven Weinberg. The quantum-mechanical vision of atomic theory and of the universe at large is revolutionary in another way, however—in a manner that is contrary to the mechanical worldview implied by classical physics. In ancient days, the Greek philosopher Democritus and the Roman poet Lucretius first developed the atomic theory as a counter-philosophy to that of Plato and also, especially, Aristotle, for whom nature was, in effect, a compound of mind as well as matter, whose actions moved according to a designed purpose—that is, to provide for the lives of animals and mankind.
