The 20th century has brought us to the high point of the scientific-technological age but paradoxically marks the beginning of a critical loss of confidence in the very powers of science. This volume in The German Library, a companion to volume 36 (German Essays on Science in the 19th Centiry, also edited by Wolfgang Schirmacher), represents the sciences in a comprehansive way: Physics, Biochemistry, Ecology, Ethology, Social Sciences, Law and Culture. Writers and scientists represented include: Robert Bosch, Albert Einstein, Otto Hahn, Werner Heisenberg, Konrad Lorenz, Lise Meitner, Max Planck, Georg Simmel, Max Weber, and many others.