Man in Search of Himself

Man, it will be objected, is a living being, and therefore belongs in the first place to the domain of the biologist; but he is also a thinking being, and therefore belongs to the psychologist; in his evolutionary setting, he is the concern of the palaeontologist; but he is also a being capable of philosophizing, capable of artistic and religious feelings, and so comes within the province of the philosopher, the artist, and the theologian. But what on earth is a physicist doing in this company? What does he know about man, since man is not his special field of research? If I must make my apologies for daring to come out of the cave in which I seemed to be confined - my professional pigeon-hole, so to speak - I am more than willing to do so. This book, I admit, is the exact opposite of a specialist work. I admit moreover - even if I am to be condemned on this count - that I am particularly glad my work is not like that of a specialist. Jean Emile Charon was a French nuclear physicist, author of over 20 books on physics, scientific philosophy, and computer science.