Humans have always tried to understand and communicate their experiences through images and ideas. This human compulsion for expression and explanation gave rise to art, religion, and science. Each of these activities tried in its own way, through spirit, faith, or logic, to give some meaning to the human condition. Over the centuries, first religion and art, then philosophy and science dominated this search throughout history.

The overwhelming success of the scientific approach in modern times has overshadowed all other paradigms and its technological application is now reshaping the face of the Earth. Yet, this very success has spawned many undesirable byproducts, not the least of which is the disintegration of the intellectual community. Due mainly to the proliferation of scientific discoveries and the accumulation of information, there has been a tremendous fragmentation of knowledge and a compartmentalization of the scientific estate.