Despite these and other obstacles, science is pursued in the Third World, and in some places, like India and Argentina, it is pursued with vigor. As Michael Moravcsik recently noted (THE SCIENTIST, April 20, 1987, p. 11), scientists in the developing countries produce an estimated five percent of the world's scientific literature. Although this represents a small portion of the whole, it is remarkable—given social, economic, and sometimes political adversities—that the output is as high as it is.
Unfortunately, there is too little concern in the wider scientific community and in governmental agencies of the developed nations about the thy-to-day problems confronting scientists in the Third World. Aside from neglect, there is prejudice as well. Some scientists in the developed countries wrongly dismiss work in the Third World as being of universally low quality.
In this issue Philip W. Anderson mentions that recent and highly important work in superconducting materials ...
