The Croonian Lecture, 1990 The interdependence of the behavioural sciences

It is true to say that we live in a time of rapid social change. But it is easy to forget that we also live in, or one could say have lived through, a time ot rapid change in the nature of science. The exponential growth of science, and its magnificent achievements, have been accompanied by its disintegration into a multiplicity of subsciences. It is no longer possible for an individual to be an all-rounder, and that makes it the more important that collectively we should not lose sight of the essential unity of the scientific enterprise. My aim here is to provide a framework to illustrate essential interrelations between the various subsciences that deal with behaviour and its underlying mechanisms, and to emphasize that the research worker must cross and recross the boundaries between them.