Compare role science & technology play in Lunar Men & Heart of Darkness. How have attitudes & uses of them changed - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages le genius and ability to make new things, gain a deep understanding of the world both philosophically and physically—their inventions too are used to allow other people to more profoundly understand the physical world. In Heart of Darkness, it is the West’s ability to harness technology that makes the minerals and rubber of the Congo valuable and that makes it important to extract such products. But the novel also shows the limits to human’s knowledge—even using technology and science humans cannot know everything. When they think the do, trouble occurs. These aspects of the roles of science and technology will be looked at in this essay.
One of the main points of the book Lunar Men is the sheer joy of the intellectual curiosity Uglow’s heroes possess and show. They want to find out about the world, they want to learn new things. It is this sense of adventure and exploration that drives them, even though they don’t really leave their hometown—they just meet in person. The adventure is what they learn about the world through their scientific experiments and from sharing information and curiosity with one another. It isn’t a physical journey across the world. Indeed, they don’t need to take such a journey because they can bring the world to themselves through their experiments and discoveries. Boulton, for example, when he is starting out feels an air of energy surrounding him and feels the time is ripe for “adventure,” but he doesn’t get on a merchant ship. Instead:
“Armed with the security of Anne’s money and his own inheritance from his father, Boulton made plans. The workshop and warehouse on Snow Hill were too small and he dreamed of a site big enough to have stores of raw materials, drawing and design rooms, workshops for all stages and products, and a warehouse for finished goods. He also wanted a mill to drive machines . . .” (65)
The latest technologies let him stay at home. For other men, like Robinson, for example, worldly ...Download file to see next pagesRead More