The Adjustment in Understanding of Man's Relation to
the Physical Universe
Nowadays the scattering of
galaxies and the astounding abundance of stars are forcing those who ponder such
matters to a further adjustment of their concept of the place and function of
man in the material universe. In the history of the {{U}}
{{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}human mind, with its increasing knowledge of
the surrounding context, there must have been a time when the philosophers of
the {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}tribes began to realize that the
world was not simply centered on man himself. The geocentric concept, which
accepted a universe centered on the earth, then became common {{U}}
{{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}. The second adjustment in the
understanding of man's relation to the physical universe was not generally
acceptable {{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}the sixteenth century.
Copernican revolution soundly {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}the
heliocentric concept, the theory of a universe {{U}} {{U}} 6
{{/U}} {{/U}}on the sun. Man is a stubborn adherent to official dogma;
eventually, however, he accepted the sun as the center. Then,
forty years ago, came the need for a third adjustment. This {{U}} {{U}}
7 {{/U}} {{/U}}has deeply exploded man's pride and {{U}} {{U}}
8 {{/U}} {{/U}}, for it has carried with it the knowledge of the
appalling number of galaxies. The galactocentric universe
{{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}puts the earth and its life near the
edge of one great galaxy in a universe of millions of galaxies. Man becomes
peripheral among the billions of stars of his own Milky Way; and, according to
the revelations of paleontology and geochemistry, he is {{U}} {{U}}
10 {{/U}} {{/U}}and apparently transient in the {{U}} {{U}}
11 {{/U}} {{/U}}of cosmic time. The downgrading of the
earth and sun and the elevation of the galaxies is not the end of this {{U}}
{{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}of scientific pilgrims through philosophic
fields. The need for another {{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}}
{{/U}}adjustment now {{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}not wholly
unexpected by scientists, {{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}wholly the
result of one or two scientific revelations. Our new problem
concerns the spread of life throughout the universe. As unsolicited spokesmen
for all the earthly organisms of land, sea, and air, we ask the thrilling
question: Are we alone?