About the Author

       Born in 1928 at Jamshedpur, Prof. K.A.V. Pandalai obtained his Masters in Aeronautical Engineering (1950) and Doctors in Aero Engineering (1955) from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, New York, USA.

During his tenure at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, Prof. Pandalai held many positions, including that of Director of the Institute. He has over 44 years of research and teaching experience in aircraft structure mechanics, composites, classical aerodynamics and so on. He has taught at many educational institutions in India and abroad which include Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, Stanford University, California and George Washington University at Washington, USA. He has guided many MTech/MS and PhD students and has about 100 research papers to his credit.

Prof. Pandalai was awarded the CSIR Silver Jubilee Award (1971) of Rs. 6.25 lakh for use as seed money to set up FRP Research Centre at IIT, Madras, of which he functioned as first Director. He is also the recipient of Senior Grade Foreign Fellowship of the National Science Foundation of the USA and NRDC of India awards. He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Aeronautical Society of India. He was a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Acoustical Society of America.

Even after his retirement in 1988, Prof. Pandalai is actively involved in the field of aeronautics and composites and on various issues of science and technology and their impact on society.

      This monograph discusses some of the major achievements in science and technology of this century and also the scientists like Albert Einstein who contributed to these achievements. The dark facet of science and technology is examined in the backdrop of the unprecedented holocaust and destruction caused by the World War II. The arrival of the computer and artificial intelligence, the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence, the space age, all of which belong to the post-World War II era are then described. A brief discussion of the major developments in biological sciences is followed by the discussion on increasing decay and degeneration of man's ethical and moral values. Finally, the monograph ends on a positive note by presenting the picture of a ray of hope that seems visible with man trying to come out of the tunnel of darkness and self-inflicted misery.