Midwood High School - Epilog Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

Page 9 text:

From the unprecedented moment at Hiroshima, through the voyage of the Nautilus, to the launching of Russia's earth satellite, has come an era in which man is confronted by a new, dynamic force of the gods. Today mankind has profound knowledge of these forces. But — this new fire can be bent to his will. He can open the door to an era of new dimensions in prosperous living. No longer must man be content with merely holding his own against the ravages of nature. He can bend this new force to his will. Now, the trackless desert will no longer be a useless waste, but instead will become a source of abun- dance in food. Now —the possibility of escape from the age old-problems of illness and poverty. Now — the elimina- tion of jungle competition for existence, the real cause of war. Now — the prospect of fulfillment, growth, cooperation, peace. Or—he can continue to bring forth new dimensions in destructiveness — the complete annihilation of all mankind. Man must learn to handle hostility and destructiveness within himself. Though man is the master of celestial forces, who, in turn, is the master of man? And man the stumbler and finder, goes on, man the dreamer of deep dreams, man the shaper and maker, man the answerer. Audrey Eisenberg

Page 8 text:

NEW DIMENSIONS TN DB Promethus gave man the gift of fire, and for this trans- gression of the law of the gods, he was nailed to a cliff in punishment. The anger of the gods was aroused for they doubted that man could cope with this force, a force which really belonged only to celestial beings. Perhaps the gods were right. For the children of fire are the steel blade of a sword, the oily shine of a gun barrel, and the tearing, crashing, violent impact of a bullet destroy- ing everything in its path. But—we must also remember that the driving force of a turbine, the precision of a sur- geon's scalpel, the symmetry of a Greek vase, and the warmth of an incubator are also children of fire. Thus, fire can be used for good as well as evil purposes. Today man- kind surpasses Promethus in his ability to produce dynamic and more powerful forces. He is stepping into a new dimen- sion of power in which he again takes life and death into his hands. The speed of a jet plane, the detection and cure of disease, are projections of this new force.

Page 10 text:

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL LAYOUT: JUDY MILLER Dear Seniors: Historians have pointed up the influence of the old frontier of the West, and have emphasized the resulting opportunities for indi- vidual growth and development throughout our past. Horace Gree- ley epitomized this thought with the injunction, ''Go west, young man, go west!'' But now, we find people who feel that, with the pass- ing of the frontier, there has disappeared from the American scene the challenge and opportunity of bygone days. This attitude is in grievous error, for today, more than ever, we are challenged by frontiers that are more exciting and critical than those of the past. The theme of this book — New Dimensions — is based on this concept. There are physical frontiers of science — in electronics, sources of power, and exploration of space — which fairly stagger the imag- ination. The possibility of travel in outer space is now more than a wild dream or a bizarre plot in science fiction. The development of automatic memory systems, which can store up in coded form thousands of items of information, providing them on demand as needed, has led engineers to the prediction that some day there will be more channels of communication between machines than between people. And the exploitation of the atom has posed for humanity the anachronistic or contradictory possibilities of future standards of liv- ing beyond our wildest dreams on the one hand and utter annihilation on the other. But the new frontiers are not merely scientific, physical, or mate- rial. There are frontiers of human relationships, of governmental organization, of the very spirit and soul of humanity, which offer just as exciting and important a challenge. Man's conquest of nature has been astonishing. His failure to conquer human nature has been tragic. But the time has come when this problem must be resolved. Unless we meet this challenge, the progress we may make in the more material and tangible areas can only serve to destroy, not create or construct the better life for which we hope. | offer these thoughts to you because you are part of the younger generation which will have to meet the problems and chal- lenges of the new frontier. This will require every bit of intelli- gence, every sense of values, and every ounce of courage which you have or which you will develop in the future. But the 'new'' frontier also holds a promise of the possibility of a life more interesting and rewarding than any you could have found on the ''old'’ American frontier. You leave us, therefore, to face a world where the opportunities are greater than ever before in man's history — where the nature and very existence of Civilization are in the balance. We hope that we have given you the initial ingredients of proper preparation for this challenge. We now add our best wishes and prayers. Godspeed! Sincerely yours, J. L. BERNSTEIN