Socialism was man's most ambitious attempt to supplant religion with a doctrine claiming to ground itself in 'science'. Indeed, no religion ever spread so far so fast. Yet while socialism had established itself as a fact...Socialism was man's most ambitious attempt to supplant religion with a doctrine claiming to ground itself in 'science'. Indeed, no religion ever spread so far so fast. Yet while socialism had established itself as a fact of life by the beginning of the 20th century, it did not create societies of abundance or give birth to 'the new man'.