170
9 Reinforcement in the Twenty-First Century
above approximation is not at all unnatural from the technological point of view. It
is notable here again that science and technics are to be differentiated as belonging
to different categories [9]. Here, technology stands for solely a branch of science,
even though it is commonly understood to be including not only a science but also
technics in general. The development of technics since the start of the Industrial Revolution gave rise to new scientific arenas such as polytechnics, agricultural science,
and mechanical engineering, which resulted in, e.g., set up of Ecole Polytechnique
in France in 1795, A & M Universities in the USA, and Technische Hochschules in
Germany during the second half of the nineteenth century, immediately followed by
School of Engineering, Imperial University in Japan [9]. Recently, the technology
arena is joined by materials science, information technology, and environmental technology. Once upon a time, the technology arena simply included medical technology,
but it is now a still expanding arena in science [9].
Secondly, development of transportation and information is assumed to be a revolutionary process, not an evolutionary one originated from the Darwin’s evolution
theory for the biological development. In Fig. 9.1, transportation (A) and information (B) show a twisting between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and between
the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, respectively. There, the rate of development
(mathematically the first differential, i.e., slopes) changes in a relatively short period,
which may be more clearly displayed by the plot of the developmental rates, which
shows discontinuity from a 1 to a 2 and b 1 to b 2 for transportational and informational
revolutions, respectively. The α and β show the amount of change at the revolutionary
period, which suggests a change approximated by a quantum leap. In the figure, the
revolutionary period is shown as a point, but it can be one hundred years or even
longer. Remember that the French Revolution, a political revolution, spread over
16 years (1779 Bastille–1815 Waterloo), and the Industrial Revolution had lasted
one hundred years or so until the middle of the nineteenth century [13, 14].
The third is that the regular periods (not a revolutionary period) were of more
or less evolutionary development period, and they are approximated by a line of a
constant slope, which is larger than that of the initial stage. The slope changes only
at the revolutionary period, as shown in the figure. The three stages of globalization
are to be recognized in the past and the present cases.
In the first geographical globalization, the first period of relatively inactive migration was followed by a revolutionary period, i.e., very active migration by a much
larger number of people might be observed until the arrival at the most southern tip
of the South American continent around one hundred and fifty thousand years ago.
After that, an active but a steady migration, not only geographical migration but also
accompanied by much wider social and cultural change or movement (not revolutionary but of higher slope of change than the initial stage), had been observed until
the time of the Industrial Revolution. In other words, we may be able to conclude
that the present globalization that we are facing now may be historically at the second revolutionary period due to the development of transportation and information
techniques in terms of globalization. Thus, when and how it has begun are to be
discussed here, and lastly, to make a little prediction on when and how the revolution
will end.
9 Reinforcement in the Twenty-First Century
above approximation is not at all unnatural from the technological point of view. It
is notable here again that science and technics are to be differentiated as belonging
to different categories [9]. Here, technology stands for solely a branch of science,
even though it is commonly understood to be including not only a science but also
technics in general. The development of technics since the start of the Industrial Revolution gave rise to new scientific arenas such as polytechnics, agricultural science,
and mechanical engineering, which resulted in, e.g., set up of Ecole Polytechnique
in France in 1795, A & M Universities in the USA, and Technische Hochschules in
Germany during the second half of the nineteenth century, immediately followed by
School of Engineering, Imperial University in Japan [9]. Recently, the technology
arena is joined by materials science, information technology, and environmental technology. Once upon a time, the technology arena simply included medical technology,
but it is now a still expanding arena in science [9].
Secondly, development of transportation and information is assumed to be a revolutionary process, not an evolutionary one originated from the Darwin’s evolution
theory for the biological development. In Fig. 9.1, transportation (A) and information (B) show a twisting between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and between
the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, respectively. There, the rate of development
(mathematically the first differential, i.e., slopes) changes in a relatively short period,
which may be more clearly displayed by the plot of the developmental rates, which
shows discontinuity from a 1 to a 2 and b 1 to b 2 for transportational and informational
revolutions, respectively. The α and β show the amount of change at the revolutionary
period, which suggests a change approximated by a quantum leap. In the figure, the
revolutionary period is shown as a point, but it can be one hundred years or even
longer. Remember that the French Revolution, a political revolution, spread over
16 years (1779 Bastille–1815 Waterloo), and the Industrial Revolution had lasted
one hundred years or so until the middle of the nineteenth century [13, 14].
The third is that the regular periods (not a revolutionary period) were of more
or less evolutionary development period, and they are approximated by a line of a
constant slope, which is larger than that of the initial stage. The slope changes only
at the revolutionary period, as shown in the figure. The three stages of globalization
are to be recognized in the past and the present cases.
In the first geographical globalization, the first period of relatively inactive migration was followed by a revolutionary period, i.e., very active migration by a much
larger number of people might be observed until the arrival at the most southern tip
of the South American continent around one hundred and fifty thousand years ago.
After that, an active but a steady migration, not only geographical migration but also
accompanied by much wider social and cultural change or movement (not revolutionary but of higher slope of change than the initial stage), had been observed until
the time of the Industrial Revolution. In other words, we may be able to conclude
that the present globalization that we are facing now may be historically at the second revolutionary period due to the development of transportation and information
techniques in terms of globalization. Thus, when and how it has begun are to be
discussed here, and lastly, to make a little prediction on when and how the revolution
will end.