“Science as a system of cyclic process of generation, processing, accumulation and transfer of scientific information” in Theoretical problems of informatics: place of information in the global problems of the world; FID nr. 659, VINITI, Moscow ,1987.

This is a historical moment in the evolutionary process of mankind. It is a moment of great changes, not only in ways of thinking and carrying our activities, but also in attitudes with respect to unceasing innovations. Before we have had time to understand and assimilate an invention of discovery, something new appears which, in turn, has to be understood and assimilated.

This progress, the principal characteristic of which lies precisely in its rapid development, is much more noticeable in technology than in the humanities. Abstract, ideas do not evolve as rapidly. In purely abstract matters related to philosophical thoughts, basically, we still maintain the principles of the eminent Greek thinkers, passed on to Western civilization by the Romans.

In Oriental cultures, typified by the ancient civilizations of India and China, the situation is the same. Spiritual and religious ideas have not undergone many changes over the centuries. But now, in every culture, there is evidence of changes in mentality affecting discoveries. Typical examples of this occurred when it was proved scientifically that the Earth revolves around the Sun. another change in thought came about when the structure of the atom or the nature of energy was discovered.

Today, we view the world in a very different fashion than our forebears did only two or three hundred years ago. This includes notions of the structure of the Universe, the place of Mankind on the Planet Earth, and our individual, unrepeatable, selves.

In so far as transcendental ideas are concerned, the human being has barely evolved. The multitudes of ideas developed from the successive epistemological theories have not answered our questions. Not even the most logical and coherent lines of reasoning based on chemistry and physics can explain the existence of the human being, the phenomenon of his life, or his emotional and sensory reactions. These remain mysteries.

Perhaps the human being has not reached a state of full development. He does not know even a small part of the world in which he is immersed and has no inkling as to the reason for such a situation. Perhaps in the future, when new goals have been achieved, with new discoveries and inventions, we shall find answer to all this puzzles. We shall then know who we are, what our mission in life is and what the future holds for the unique individuals that we are. Then, we shall possess the truth. In certain of my previous articles, I have maintained that once this moment is reached, mankind will have such material and spiritual perfection within its history that there will exist not further reason for existence on the planet Earth and it will be annihilated or will disappear.

These ideas assume that the life of the human being on our planet is a continuous path. As the poet says: “…through one’s steps one carves one’s path…”. We join the path towards the search for that truth by means of science, and we contribute to science through research, the basic component of which is information: in this particular case, scientific information.

This rather lengthy introduction was necessary to focus on our main subject and to emphasize the importance and need for science within the historical development of mankind, one of the foundations of which is scientific information.

In accordance with my usual practice when dealing with a subject, I will lay the foundations on which I based my reasoning and will introduce those postulates. I will attempt to prove. I will therefore begin with the concept and nature of science and later continue with scientific information. I will go on to reflect upon the influence of science on the documentary process: the generation, processing, accumulation and transfer of the aforementioned information, and I will end this paper with a few general digressions.