Make Science Really International

Internationalize science? Isn't it a!lready international? Not at all. Countries representing only one-quarter of the world's population produce 95 percent of the new science, while the remaining three-quarters contribute only 5 percent. We are, in effect, leaving three-quarters of human brain power unused. Science would progress much faster were this not so. Given the intimate connecbetween science, technology, production and standard of living, a universalization of science would also alleviate many of the world's problems. It has been said that the Third World cannot afford to evolve its own science. Yet money is not the main problem. Currently, developing countries spend about $1 billion a year (hardly a negligible sum), which is only .1 percent of their gross national products. Such an outlay hardly makes an impact on their spending in other areas. The real problem is people. The establishment of a large, well-educated cadre of scientists with a tradition behind them is a long-term project even in countries with practically unlimited amounts of money. What can scientists in the so-called "advanced" countries do to promote this process in the Third World? To begin with, we can recognize the myriad needs around the world and the latent opportunities that exist. Then we need only implement a small program to link needs with opportunities, especially in the areas of education and communication among scientists. We are already doing a quantitatively good job of educating Third World scientists. In the United States, some 100,000 students from developing countries are studying science and technology at any given time. The cost of this education is $500 million a year (not including the amount paid by the students), a figure that never appears in statistics on foreign aid. The money comes from federal, state and private sources through the universities in the form of assistantships or financial support to make up for the difference between the university's expenses and the income from student tuitions. But the effectiveness and appropriateness of the education itself could be greatly improved. First, the process used to select these foreign students could be improved so that the best candidates receive the education. There already exist simple, low-cost selection programs in physics and chemistry that can serve as models for other disciplines. In these systems, scientists interview candidates in the developing countries and then provide the information to universities in the advanced countries, which make the final selections. The cost of the interviewing trip, which is small, is met by university departments in the advanced countries (who, in return, get information they can use in recruiting good students for their graduate departments) and by universities in the countries from which the students come. Scientists can organize such systems without expending enormous funds or establishing massive, complex organizations. Second; these Third World students need more than just the technical training they receive in universities; they need some supplementary education in the context of science in their societies so that they can work to maximum effectiveness when they return home. The contextual issues include knowing how libraries, machine shops, electronics shops, stockrooms, and so forth operate; how science is funded; how science can be assessed and evaluated; how one can improvise equipment; how national science policy is, or should be, made; how to use the communication channels among scientists; how scientists interact with politicians, and so on. Scientists can offer this supplementary education informally and, again, without large cost or red tape. Because science is an objective, universal, collective and cumulative undertaking, communication is essential, yet scientists in the developing countries are disadvantaged in all aspects of scientific communication. They cannot afford to buy scientific journals, which are expensive and have to be paid for in hard currency. When they do get journals, they arrive months late. These scientists do not get invited to international scientific meetings, or if they do, cannot obtain money for travel. Even the internal communication channels in a developing country are poor. A scientist does not interact well with his colleagues, with technologists or with others who use the results of scientific research. Scientists can do much to help their colleagues in the Third World improve communication. Scientific societies that publish journals can arrange for low-cost satellite editions to be published in developing countries and sold in exchange for local, not hard, currency. I know of at least one interested publisher who cannot produce satellite editions because he cannot get permission from the original publishers to do so. This would cost the societies little or nothing, but their administrators do not understand the problems of science in the Third World and will not act unless members pressure them to do so. Another approach is for scientists to stop and visit scientific facilities and universities on their way to attend conferences abroad. This can be done informally by individuals, or through a formal information exchange program that can be easily set up and cost very little. What is mainly needed is an exchange of information. Such stopovers are often possible without additional expenses other than a few days of room and board, which the hosts often can provide. None of these ideas is particularly new or original. What is appalling is that no one really has acted on them. In part, that's because we have waited for government or international agencies to act. What we've learned is that they won't. We scientists have the opportunity to act and if we do not, no one else will. Individually, we can do very little, but if only 5 percent of the scientific community in developed countries would work just one hour a week on this problem, the impact would be tremendous. Moravcsik is a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Oregon, Eugene, 97403.

Make Science Really International

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