Science and Morals and Other Essays

In this thoughtful collection, the author surveys the uneasy dance between scientific discovery and moral thought at the turn of the twentieth century. Drawing on a series of lectures once delivered to scientific societies, the essays blend scholarly rigor with the conversational tone of a seasoned educator. The writer's own experience as a physician, scientist, and public intellectual informs the balanced perspective that emerges.

Topics range from the early 1910s debates over vitalism, spontaneous generation, and the limits of experimental proof to the wartime reflections on how science shapes public policy and personal belief. The author critiques the shifting pronouncements of scientific leaders, probing claims about telepathy, heredity, and the persistence of personality beyond death, while reminding readers of the enduring influence of Mendel’s genetics. Readers will find a nuanced portrait of a period when science was both celebrated as a new gospel and questioned for its moral bearings.