ESSAY FOR THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROJECT - BOARDS

Topic Science has made mans life quite comfortable. Express your views for or against this statement with relevant reasons and suitable examples. (400-500 words)
SCIENCE- A BLESSING OR A BOON --- (NEEDS TO BE CHANGED) Science it is a great blessing to mankind. Nothing better has happened in the history of man than the advent of science in his life. The world into which science came was a world of ignorance, sufferings and hardships. Science has come to relieve us of sufferings, to remove our ignorance and to lighten our toil. It has rendered a great service to man by exposing the hollowness of several stupid superstitious beliefs and myths, which stifled mans onward march to progress. Illness was attributed to sorcery, failure of crops to angry gods and malignant demons and insanity was thought to be due to possession by evil spirits. Science came, saw and conquered this ignorance and these beliefs and backward thoughts of man. Earlier the world was scattered like snow but now, courtesy science, it has snowballed into one place where people live to cure the so called incurable diseases of mankind and to communicate with one another, however far apart they are and also to travel the whole globe safely. Yes, as a result of quick means of transport and communication, the world has seriously shrunk. We can nowadays have our breakfast in Kolkata, lunch in London and dinner in New York. Electricity helps us in innumerable ways. For this we are immensely indebted to a genius named Michael Faraday. His pioneering works in the fields of electricity has changed the world forever. It helps us to make small things like ice and cold drinks and also enables us on the larger scale as in getting us up-to-date news everyday and also provides us with a lot of entertainment and pleasure when we go to the cinema. It is also used for broadcasting and a host of other purposes. In fact, we cannot think of modern life without the blessings of electricity. As for comforting man, nothing has been bigger than the invention of the air conditioner. Over the previous century, as global warming began to reach new peaks, the field of cooling too decided to go a step further. Thus, in the first decade of the 20 th century, the air conditioner was invented. The invention of the refrigerator too has made life so easy. Food can now be preserved for a much longer period of time, thanks to the refrigerator. The invention of the telephone is also a great boon and for this it is Graham Bell whom we owe so much. No more a tool only for the rich, the telephone has become an item to be found in every household. Communication on the whole was taken to an entirely new level. Even this has made mans life comfortable. Now the mobile phone enables us to be in contact with our near and dear ones even when we are not at home. These portable devices have made

communication easier. Also, the computer can also be used as a mode of communication via emails. In seconds long messages can be sent in any corner of this shrunken world. Science has made great progress in the field of medicine and surgery. Drugs like penicillin have conquered several diseases labeled as incurable. We can now prevent the attack of some diseases by prophylaxis. X-ray, antiseptic surgery and anesthesia have revolutionized surgery. Japanese doctors have succeeded in making synthetic blood and as a result the death rate has considerably been reduced. Nuclear research has made commendable progress. Nuclear power stations now produce electricity. One pound of uranium is the power equivalent of 2,300,000 pounds of coal. The printing press had created a revolution in the field of knowledge. Many magazines, newspapers and books are published. It gave education a big, big boost. Now man gets knowledge from everywhere. Science also helps in the detection of crimes. The dactylographer, polygraph and of course, the computers do a very good service in this field. The scientists must realize their responsibility to mankind. The knowledge they have gained must be used only for constructive purposes, not destructive. If they act in accordance with the whims and fancies of politicians and criminals, the future of humanity will be dark. Before us lies a new era, in which the power of atomic energy has been released. That age will be either complete devastation or in which new sources of power will lighten the labor of mankind and increase the standard of living all over the world. It is for us to decide whether we will destroy the world with the atomic bomb or rebuild it with atomic energy. Indeed, in the history of the whole of humanity nothing has been greater than the evolution of science over the ages. The Einsteins and the Newtons and the Faradays have made life extremely easy for us by giving us the key to the numerous unknown secrets of the world. But again, as stated earlier, it is for us to decide whether to use it or misuse it. Science is a great boon, but foolishness by man might lead to the changing of a few letters and make it a bane. As I have always maintained, Science is a good servant but a bad master. After all, science has made mans life so comfortable, but on the other hand, it has destroyed so many houses and buildings and has even led the world to two massive world wars, all courtesy armament. So, let us keep it in control and make Science what it is supposed to be. And that is a servant. A good, obedient servant.

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