Abstract

Science, Politics, and Hunger

Every advance in science which gives increased power over the forces of nature and every new dynamic idea which conflicts with generally accepted ideas brings about changes in the structure of human society. The discovery that seeds could be sown to reap a harvest led to settled communities which were the beginning of civilization. The use of gunpowder in war ended the feudal system in Europe. The invention of the steam engine led to the mechanical revolution with all its economic and social consequences. Equally important changes follow the birth and spread of new ideas. The Renaissance,, with the invention of printing, spread the revolutionary idea of the dignity of the individual and thus brought about the downfall of medieval despotisms and the rise of the democratic system of government in Western Europe and America.