*

If we would understand the role of science in the present phase of
human development, we must be ready to apply two entirely different and
seemingly contradictory judgments to one and the same historical
phenomenon. The fact that something has occurred out of historical
necessity - that is, a necessity springing from the very laws of cosmic
evolution - does not save it from having a character which, in view of
its consequences, must needs be called tragic.

In this era of advanced intellectualism, little understanding of the
existence of true tragedy in human existence has survived. As a result,
the word 'tragedy' itself has deteriorated in its meaning and is
nowadays used mostly as a synonym for 'sad event', 'calamity' 'serious
event', even 'crime' (Oxford Diet.). In its original meaning, however,
springing from the dramatic poetry of ancient Greece, the word combines
the concept of calamity with that of inevitability; the author of the
destructive action was not held to be personally responsible for it,
since he was caught up in a nexus of circumstances which he could not
change.

This is not the place to discuss why tragedy in this sense forms part
of man's existence. It suffices to acknowledge that it does and, where
it occurs, to observe it with scientific objectivity.

Our considerations, starting from certain statements made by some
leading scientific thinkers of our time, have helped us not only to
confirm the truth inherent in these statements, but to recognize the
facts stated by them as being the outcome of certain laws of evolution