HOW MATERIALS SCIENCE WILL DETERMINE THE FUTURE OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION

“If we do not change direction, we may end up where we are heading” – Lao Tzu

The different periods of the early Human history can be roughly categorized into three stages: –

  1. The Stone Age
  2. The Bronze Age
  3. The Iron Age

All of which are based on the Materials which dominated the technological advancements during that particular era! Clearly, any breakthrough in the technological advancement for Human civilization has been dominated by Materials Science, and it changed the course of history in ways which was not anticipated by even the most visionary of Humans.

The current state of Human civilization with respect to technological advancement can be categorized according to the Kardashev Scale as being Type – I civilization. This category is primarily based on the ability of a civilization to store and utilize energy on various scales, which serves as an indicator for technological advancement. For becoming Type – II civilization, it will be necessary for us to handle energy on a planetary level, and visit other planets. Type – III civilization will mean that we become intra-galactic and possibly inter-galactic species. This will only be possible if we are able to invent/discover materials which will fulfil our energy, and subsequently technological requirements on a much larger scale.

Encyclopaedia Britannica categorizes materials based on five major fields of applications, namely: –

  • Energy
  • Ground Transportation
  • Aerospace
  • Computers and Communications
  • Medicine

It is very much evident from our day-to-day experience, that these fields have shaped our civilization in the way we observe today, and none of which would have been possible without the ground-breaking breakthroughs in the field of Materials Science! Average expectancy of Human life has increased substantially over the last couple of centuries, thanks to the discovery of important materials which led to production of life saving medicines and vaccines.

The advancement in the computational power, which has been dictated by the historical trend, has been widely named as the Moore’s law. With the commercialization of powerful computers, the Moore’s exponential law implies that the electronic devices will consume more than half of our Planet’s total energy budget. If this trend has to continue, and our civilization has to sustain the development we all our excited for, incredible breakthroughs in Materials Science is a necessity! As stated by Nicola A. Spaldin in her very entertaining and thought-provoking paper titled: “Fundamental Materials Research and the Course of Human Civilization”, she claims that: “The true breakthroughs that will change the course of history will not come from initiatives to improve existing materials or devices, or to advance technologies that have already been identified, instead, they will come from off-beat individuals or small teams of fundamental researchers pushing the boundaries of knowledge in directions for which there is not yet an application.”

In retrospect, it is becoming more and more evident as the days pass on, that Materials Science may be the most important ‘technology’ which determines the future of Human Race!

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