Science has brought about a revolution in every walk of life. Life will come to a standstill, if the fast moving means of transports are given away. Without electricity our life will become extremely miserable. World will be thrown into the grip of fatal epidemics. Indeed, the achievements of science and technology in nearly all walks of life in a state of bewilderment. Happiness, welfare and prosperity have become synonymous with science.
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Science has helped man to increase production in various ways. Today those countries matter in world affairs which are industrially advanced. In our own country, there are a large number of leading industries. Textiles industry, iron and steel industry, paper industry, sugar industry, fertilizer industry are only a few such important industries.
Rapid industrialization of the country has become the slogan of the day. Without science we cannot produce enough for the rapidly growing population of the world. That is why the late Prime Minister Nehru always emphasized the need of promoting science and technology. Without development of science, industrial progress and increased production can never be possible. Man would not have been so well-dressed in the absence of textile industry. Today we have cloth enough not only to meet our demand but also to spare for other countries. Division labor has been carried to its perfection. Not only has the production of goods with the help of machines been made possible, but also their distribution has been made world-wide. Today, we have world markets.
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Yet we should not over look some of the harmful effects of the use of science industry. Production has become so mechanical that there is hardly any scope for the individual to show his skill and ability. In many cases, human labor has been replaced by machines, there by leading to unemployment. Big industrial cities, a direct result of science, present a number of problems of their own. Environment is polluted and hence unhealthy. Often there is leakage of poisonous gases. Through science has promoted industries, yet it cannot be considered an unmixed blessing.
Agriculture is also very much indebted to science. Ever increasing demand for food, due to the rapidly growing population, could not have been met in the absence of science. Extensive and intensive agriculture has been made possible with its help. Improved means of irrigation, new machines like tractors, chemical fertilizer, disease assistant varieties of seeds, are some of its contributions to agriculture. Deserts have been converted into greeneries of the world.
In other important branches of agriculture also e.g., stories of produce and its marketing, science is not found lacking. Big plants have been erected, where farm produce can be stored in a scientific way without any damage to a single grain. Perishable agriculture products are taken to markets in such a short time that they reach quite fresh.
In spite of all this contribution of science to agriculture, critics of its use are not wanting. They argue that land will become useless and unproductive with the increased use of chemical fertilizers. They do not approve of mechanized farming i.e. the use of tractors and other machines in agriculture. They believe that this will upset the rural economy. Bullock carts will be thrown out of use. Farmers will become indifferent to cows. In short, rural life will suffer, if science is not used in a restricted way only.
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If we compare the advantages and disadvantages of science in agriculture and industry, we will arrive at the conclusion that our existence itself will be in peril, if we exclude the services of science from these spheres. Indeed, if today is better fed and dressed it is entirely due to the use of science in industry and agriculture. We are under a heavy debt to science.