The End of the Beginning

Can scientists “foretell and forewarn”? Professor Sinsheimer believes that they are obliged to try. “The mission of prophecy is changing,” he writes in the article that follows, “from one of almost frivolous whimsy to one of deep moral responsibility.” In particular, Professor Sinsheimer considers what consequences may be expected from “the recent extraordinary advances in molecular biology.”Robert Sinsheimer is professor of biophysics at California Institute of Technology. His article is based on a lecture presented in October, 1966 at a Conference on Scientific Progress and Human Values held at the institute as part of the proceedings marking its seventy-fifth anniversary. The full proceedings will be published by the California Institute of Technology in 1967.