We understand something of the chemistry and physics of life, and the genetic code. We recognize the forces, materials, and time scale of the creation of our universe, and that we are but one planet in our system, not the center of it, in a galaxy which is but one of millions, and that, indeed, our universe may not be the only one. The only life we know so far resides on this planet, and, as it lies in our power to destroy it, its survival is our responsibility, and ours alone. But the challenges to survival are enormous. In spite of the rapidity of communication worldwide, sadly little of our knowledge is widely understood or its consequences recognized.
Universities remain under attack almost everywhere.
And 70 percent of the world's population remains illiterate. He joined the university faculty in 1967 after serving at Kansas State University and the Case Institute of Technology. Penetrating so many secrets, we cease to believe in the unknowable. But there it sits nevertheless, calmly licking its chops. Both high posts are reserved for men favored by God with an extraordinary genius for swathing the bitter facts of life in bandages of self-illusion.