O u r first effort to establish the basis for a directional history is
thus only partly successful. Wha t we have called the "logic of
moder n natural science" is in effect an economic interpretation of
historical change, but one which (unlike its Marxist variant) leads
to capitalism rathe r than socialism as its final result. Th e logic of
moder n science can explain a great deal about ou r world: why we
residents of developed democracies are office workers rathe r than
peasants eking out a living on the land, why we are members of