''Men, Machines and Sacred Cows'' is a 1984 collection of essays by

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

, many originally delivered as lectures. It was published by Hamish Hamilton in 1984. Many of the essays in the book were delivered as lectures by Philip to various

learned societies A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership may ...

and professional associations of which he was an honorary member, including the

British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows, ...

, the Association for Science Education and the

Institute of Radio Engineers The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until December 31, 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the Institute of Electrical ...

. It was reviewed by the botanist Eric Ashby in ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publish ...

'' magazine in March 1984. Ashby felt the essays demonstrated Philip's "mastering this minor art form" of lecturing to associations, professional bodies, and institutes. Ashby highlights the first essay in the collection which is a "witty but robust defence of individuality" that rebukes those who place "political theories and economic and educational systems into a higher priority than the people these things are supposed to serve". Jon Nordheimer, writing in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', wrote that the Prince "uses aplomb and humor to paint broad pictures of British politicians, ecologists and polo players, among others" and the book gave him the chance to "cast a sardonic eye on his own foibles as well as those of others". Nordheimer wrote that there had been no critical reaction to the book and felt that Philip's "...strong views and penchant for offering advice to the experts have annoyed some people, particularly those who see a contradiction in the environmentalist who hunts wildlife or the social critic who views the world from the back seat of a Rolls-Royce or astride a polo pony". One essay, "On the Abolition of Helicopters" satirically calls for the abolition of the

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

, concluding that if abolished "then we shall all be able to hold our heads high as we march steadily back towards the caves our ancestors so foolishly vacated such a long time ago" and that the expediency afforded by using helicopters for business executives has led to "a significant danger that they might be able to accomplish more work and they might even be able to make a bigger profit than their competitors. This is an extremely worrying situation as it implies that these excess profits are made by shamelessly exploiting the consumer". Philip acknowledges the risks of using humour in making political points feeling that "Trying to be funny is a great deal more difficult than trying to be serious. What may strike me as a witty comment can easily turn out to be painfully tactless". Excerpts from the book were published by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' in February 1984.

References

* {{italic title 1984 books British essay collections Hamish Hamilton books Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh