Welcome to The New Atlantis

The Ethics and Public Policy Center has just launched a new journal, The New Atlantis, to probe and analyze the social and ethical issues raised by technological progress. The new journal takes its name from Francis Bacon's 1627 fable about the development of his new science in which "The end of our foundation is the knowledge of causes, and secret motions of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire, to the effecting of all things possible."

The New Atlantis recognizes that the politics of the 21st century will turn on technological issues, especially biotechnological advances. The initial editorial by Eric Cohen is more skeptical of the blessings of modern technology than it needs to be, but one must salute the editors' intent to discuss these vital issues seriously.