INTRODUCTION

Developments in engineering and technology, though inevitably displaying a timelag, gradually allowed the physical realization of scientific theory in a variety of areas which had direct bearing on the global ecosphere. Improvements in computing, in telecommunications, in radar, in remote sensing, in decoding, and in the control of nuclear energy seemed for a time to offer a future freed from the ‘tyranny of distance’ and the prospects of energy scarcity. The biological sciences, too, offered the hope of abundant nutrition, the effective control of insect pests, and globally improving levels of health and physical welfare.