Essays of a Third World Scientist

ESSAYS OF A THIRD WORLD SCIENTIST OBRAS ESCOGIDAS Selected works by Oscar Varsavsky. Pedro Sánz, Alfredo Eric Calcagno, eds. Centro Editor de América Latina, Buenos Aires, 1983. 416 pp. I met Oscar Varsavsky in a cavernous classroom of the University of Buenos Aires engineering school in the mid-1950s. He was my recitation instructor for a mathematics class, and at the time I was not aware that he had a doctorate or that he was more qualified than the professor. Today I am well aware of his qualifications and his impact on science policy throughout the region. But few people outside Latin America know of the man or his contributions, from his brief affair with communism (he was a member of the first communist cell of science students at a time when the party was illegal and heavily persecuted) to his leadership of a group developing mathematical models for the economies of several Latin American governments and a lot in between. Varsavsky came into public prominence after his 1969 publication Ciencia, Política y Cientificismo (Science, Politics and Scientism). This pamphlet was an attack primarily against the widely held belief that developing countries should build science on the model of the developed. Instead, he claimed, “the development of science should be subordinated to that of technology, and the latter to the model of a country that one aims to build.” Between 1971 and 1975, one year before his death, Varsavsky published four books. Obras Escogidas (Selected Works), contains excerpts from these works on the philosophy of history, development planning, and science and technology policy. It also carries an earlier essay—co-authored by Alfredo E. Calcagno—on mathematical models and a posthumously published essay on the philosophy of science. Despite its overall worth, the book has a major shortcoming the editors have tried to play down Varsavsky’s most controversial writings. The book carries only 36 pages on science policy, the area in which he achieved the greatest impact, and it makes no reference to the controversy that followed the publication of Ciencia, Politica y Cientificismo. Although not published in English, this book should be of interest to readers outside Latin America. American scientists have not written much on the subject of science development in less developed countries. It is necessary for them to be aware that there are scientists, like Varsavsky, who start from a different political framework and look for alternative solutions. Although Varsavsky is able to make some good points, he does not get very far because his own political theory is flawed. He does not have a good understanding of the central issue of the relations between science and ideology. For example, while he correctly points out that science in less developed countries gives excessive weight to abstract, theoretical branches, far removed from the concrete reality in which the scientist lives, he seems to imply that the reason might be an imperialist conspiracy. Other explanations, such as cultural characteristics of the local elites, certainly are possible. The best part of the book is the section dealing with technological development. It establishes Varsavsky as a forerunner of the appropriate technology school of thought. He wa probably the first Latin American scientist who opposed nuclear power at a time when arguements between Latin-American scientitst on the issue dealt not with the substantiative aspects, but centered on who was more nationalistic. He opposed waste of resources and unthinking introduction of the latest introduction of the latest technologies. He argued against the construction of dams financed by international agencies that would serve the needs of foreign corporations. He objected to the decline of railroads in favor of private cars, and the promotion of luxury goods and the stereotypes of mass production. The paper on mathematical models in the social sciences is a clear introduction to the subject, although it contains little on applications. The section on the philosophy of history is weak. Varavsky did not have a good grasp of social theory and it seems he speculates on big subjects without having read the relevant literature. Still, he manages to produce a few good pages, such as a devastating critique of Karl Popper’s Poverty of Historicism. Varsavsky’s writings always seem motivated by a political and moral commitment. Although after his brief period in the Communist Party he never again had any political affiliation, he remained deeply interested in politics. He was convinced that Argentine society was intolerable, and had to be drastically reconstructed. He wanted to produce a rational speculation on desirable futures, and believed that it was the task of scientists to define “in a concrete way, what kind of society they wanted, and how we should proceed from our present situation towards this desired goal, in clear terms, useful for action,” as Calcagno writes in his introduction.

Essays of a Third World Scientist

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