For a World Science Association

Now is the time to establish an International Association for the Advancement of Science. Such a move would mark a major step toward regaining for science its international prestige, now so sadly deteriorated. It should be constituted from the national associations for the advancement of science existing today in the United States, Great Britain, West Germany, France, India, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. Floated in the March and June 1986 issues of Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, the proposal has already been received favorably by senior scientists throughout the world. The function of the International Association (IAAS) should be: To make politicians and the public understand the significance of science in the peaceful progress of mankind. To attract again the elite of young persons to scientific careers. To counter unjustified criticism of science. To provide a forum for each of the constituent national associations to exchange its experience with its sister associations. To infuse the international spirit of science into the often nationalistic and parochial meetings of the national associations. It must appear extraordinary to urge the oldest scientific associations in the United States and Europe to form an international association. (The oldest is the German Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Arzte, founded in 1822; the British Association for the Advancement of Science held its first meeting in York in 1831 and the American Association for the Advancement of Science was inaugurated in 1848.) But scientists belong to the most international of all professions. International cooperation in scientific research, irrespective of race, creed or sex, has always been the pride of scientists. Furthermore, each individual scientific discipline, be it chemistry, physics or radio science, has formed its own international union, which is united with all others in the International Council of Scientific Unions. Only the national associations for the advancement of science lack their own international union. They must regain the initiative they enjoyed in the last century by using the great strength of international collaboration. Today, the meetings of the national associations are no longer essential for career promotion or for learning about the latest advances in one's own discipline. They have become a pleasant addition to the annual holiday, for meeting an old friend or two, for social gatherings and for educational excursions; there is of course nothing wrong with these traditional functions, but for today's scientists they have become a luxury in their crowded scientific calendar. Long First Agenda A long agenda awaits the first meeting of the elected officers and professional executives of the national associations. Letters of invitation for the inaugural meeting have gone out to the presidents of 23 national associations to come to Schloss Ringberg, near Munich, in November. The schloss belongs to the famous Max Planck Society, and travel funds may be possible. No doubt finance will be the first item on the agenda, along with a discussion of winning financial support from industry and governments. Other topics undoubtedly will include publishing journals, attracting young members, arranging prestigious lectures by heads of state and science ministers, ensuring free access to the public, developing overall themes for the meetings, arranging dialogues between politicians and scientists, and making the L&AS the official voice of science in international affairs. These and many other relevant topics will be discussed and will prove how much one association can learn from the experience of other associations. Indian-American Cooperation That cooperation between two national associations can be of great value to both was the theme of Lawrence Bogorad, president of the AAAS, at the 74th meeting of the Indian Association in Bangalore, India, in January 1987. He pointed out that over the next 13 years the population of India is expected to increase by 250 million, the total population of the United States today. He stressed the interdisciplinary relationship between population and environment, and how the latter had featured in many of the seminars and workshops that members of both associations attended before the meeting. The first session questioned whether India's remarkable progress in the Green Revolution is sustainable, and called for increased international research and exchange of germ plasm. Another focused on the need to protect natural resources and prevent increasing soil erosion in both countries. A third called for greater exchange of research scientists in biotechnology and molecular biology. U.S. experience in computer education could help India, Bogorad stated; wisely used, it could be of benefit even at the village level. The time had come for India to join the worldwide computer network and to set specific goals for computerization, he said. If further proof of the need for an IAAS was needed, Bogorad's report provided it. To arrange this type of bilateral cooperation will be an exciting and rewarding function of the IAAS. But at first its attention is more likely to be focused on solving the internal problems of the national associations. The AAAS needs to recover its great annual meeting audiences, the British Association needs to receive greater financial support to enlarge its successful Young Scientists program, and the Indian Association must find a solution to the brain drain of its best young scientists. Having attended most of the meetings of the American, British and German Associations over the past 30 years, I feel qualified to make these comments and to call for the inclusion of more young scientists in the Councils of the Associations, to ask for better-trained, better-paid science teachers—to inspire the young again to take up scientific careers—and to plead for a more effective and equitably shared transfer of technology. Such should be the worldwide benefits arising from an International Association for the Advancement of Science. Its formation has now become an urgent task for all scientists. It deserves their support, wherever they may live and work on this planet. Michaelis is editor of Interdisciplinary Science Reviews; Spectrum House, Hillview Gardens, London NW4 2JQ, UK.

For a World Science Association

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