ABSTRACT
The twentieth century marks the middle period of a great transition in the state of the human race. It may properly be called the second great transition in the history of mankind. The first transition was that from precivilized to civilized society which began to take place about five thousand years ago. The origins of the first great transition from precivilized society are lost in the mists of prehistory except in so far as they can be reconstructed with the aid of archeology. The origins of the second great transition are perhaps not as obscure as the origins of the first but there are many puzzling and unresolved questions connected with them. The great transition is not only something that takes place in science, technology, the physical machinery of society, and in the utilization of physical energy. It is also a transition in social institutions.
