Bertrand Russell’s <i>Icarus, or the Future of Science</i> is published in the <i>To-day and To-morrow</i> Series

Bertrand Russell’s Icarus, or the Future of Science is published in the To-day and To-morrow Series

1924. The initial contribution by J.B.S. Haldane to the To-day and To-morrow series of popular pocket-books: Daedalus, or Science and the Future (1923 – see separate review on the website), was followed six months later by its greatest rival, in the form of Icarus, or the Future of Science (1924), by the renowned philosopher, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970). The series eventually expanded into the early 1930s to just over a hundred volumes. Russell, like Haldane, was hailed as a polymath, making important contributions to philosophy, mathematics, logic and history. He was also either lauded or reviled (depending on the politics of the observer) as a Socialist political activist, pacifist and social critic, winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1950 for his philosophical works and activism. In Nova Scotia, Russell is immortalized as a founder of the Pugwash Institute for anti-nuclear activism. See the mini-reviews for Bertrand Russell’s contributions to the series in the accompanying picture.

In Icarus, Russell did not so much dispute or disagree with Haldane’s various predictions of future scientific/technological developments, although he confines his comments and forecasts to a narrower range of possibilities. However, he questions whether true, widespread progress can be achieved by these developments. Instead, Russell argues that modern science and technology under individualistic Capitalist societies and in the hands of Nationalistic forces are being perverted for the benefit of societal elites, serving to further dominate the masses and fueling the rivalrous passions that lead to Total War, as quoted at the end of my review of Daedalus.

-Michael Kohlman

  • Brittain, V. (1929). Halcyon, or the future of monogamy. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • Diplock, W.J.K. (1929). Isis , or the future of Oxford. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • C.E.A. (1924). Review of Daedalus and Icarus in the Today and To-morrow series. The New Republic, 40(516), 206-207.

  • Dyer, T.G. (1980). Theodore Roosevelt and the idea of race. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press.

  • Haldane, J.B.S. (1923). Daedalus, or science and the future. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • Hall, J. (1929). Alma Mater, or the future of Oxford and Cambridge. London: K. Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • Huxley, A. (1932). Brave new world. London: Chatto & Windus.

  • Jennings, H.S. (1925). Prometheus, or biology and the advancement of man. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co.

  • Russell, B. (1924). Icarus, or the future of science. New York: E.P. Dutton & Company.

  • Russell, D. (1925). Hypatia, or woman and knowledge. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

Bertrand Russell’s <i>Icarus, or the Future of Science</i> is published in the <i>To-day and To-morrow</i> Series

Bertrand Russell’s Icarus, or the Future of Science is published in the To-day and To-morrow Series

1924. The initial contribution by J.B.S. Haldane to the To-day and To-morrow series of popular pocket-books: Daedalus, or Science and the Future (1923 – see separate review on the website), was followed six months later by its greatest rival, in the form of Icarus, or the Future of Science (1924), by the renowned philosopher, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970). The series eventually expanded into the early 1930s to just over a hundred volumes. Russell, like Haldane, was hailed as a polymath, making important contributions to philosophy, mathematics, logic and history. He was also either lauded or reviled (depending on the politics of the observer) as a Socialist political activist, pacifist and social critic, winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1950 for his philosophical works and activism. In Nova Scotia, Russell is immortalized as a founder of the Pugwash Institute for anti-nuclear activism. See the mini-reviews for Bertrand Russell’s contributions to the series in the accompanying picture.

In Icarus, Russell did not so much dispute or disagree with Haldane’s various predictions of future scientific/technological developments, although he confines his comments and forecasts to a narrower range of possibilities. However, he questions whether true, widespread progress can be achieved by these developments. Instead, Russell argues that modern science and technology under individualistic Capitalist societies and in the hands of Nationalistic forces are being perverted for the benefit of societal elites, serving to further dominate the masses and fueling the rivalrous passions that lead to Total War, as quoted at the end of my review of Daedalus.

-Michael Kohlman

  • Brittain, V. (1929). Halcyon, or the future of monogamy. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • Diplock, W.J.K. (1929). Isis , or the future of Oxford. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • C.E.A. (1924). Review of Daedalus and Icarus in the Today and To-morrow series. The New Republic, 40(516), 206-207.

  • Dyer, T.G. (1980). Theodore Roosevelt and the idea of race. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press.

  • Haldane, J.B.S. (1923). Daedalus, or science and the future. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • Hall, J. (1929). Alma Mater, or the future of Oxford and Cambridge. London: K. Paul, Trench & Trubner.

  • Huxley, A. (1932). Brave new world. London: Chatto & Windus.

  • Jennings, H.S. (1925). Prometheus, or biology and the advancement of man. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co.

  • Russell, B. (1924). Icarus, or the future of science. New York: E.P. Dutton & Company.

  • Russell, D. (1925). Hypatia, or woman and knowledge. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner.