Scientific Temper:

January 02/2012: The 99th edition of the Indian Science Congress which opens Tuesday at Bhubaneswar will have participation from Who's Who of Science & Technology, Agriculture and Allied Sciences including Medicine. Some of the best brains including 15,000 delegates from the country and 20 Nobel laureates and 500 other scientists from all around the world are expected to congregate here. Over a hundred thousand students are also expected at the venue. While it is a matter of great pride that Orissa has got its turn to host this Scientific congregation, there may be a genuine fear that we could end up gaining nothing once it’s all over.

India could claim to have made some strides in science and technology, even in medicine, over the years. The fact remains that we, as a nation, are yet to acquire a scientific temper. The ignoramuses consider sending rockets into space or satellites into orbit as sheer waste of labor and money. Compared to this negative outlook let us look and marvel at how the Meteorological Department, for a change, warned and accurately predicted the course of killer `Thane’ cyclone two days ago. Over the years, the International Space Program has spun off superior technologies for the use of mankind. Not many may remember Indian pharmaceutical industry’s (Cipla’s Nevimune) stellar contribution to deliver cheap HIV/AIDS drugs, breaking the stranglehold of multinationals. But great milestones are few and far between. Achievements of science have to necessarily and naturally percolate to the poor. As yet there is no sign of this happening. First because we remain cut off from the scientific developments taking place all over the globe and secondly because no concerted effort is made to `hook’ people to science. Dissemination of science is, therefore, still a far cry. A typical farmer in the hinterland is as confused about artificial insemination for his animals today as he was two or three decades ago. Science as a stream of study has remained isolated as an exclusive preserve, and very few seem to be willing to do any painstaking research, save for the committed ones who can be counted on finger tips. Our faulty approach to education where students mug up everything for marks in subjects they are least interested in, is to a large extent responsible for this sorry state of affairs.

Plus, Indians have always been great admirers of short cuts, something which is impossible in the field of science and research. Toiling your entire life in pursuit of a single answer might not seem as a bright idea to a majority of youngsters. In fact, most scientists do not even see the glory and die before they can find the answer they were looking for. It needs a kind of obsession that is indeed very rare.In a country such as ours, students embrace courses solely with an eye on jobs. Science is not just about employment. It is all about inquiry and innovation, the fruits of which lay in better yields, products and better health. In that sense, it is one of the biggest facilitators of jobs.There is another side of the story. Even those students who have a scientific temperament, a keen sense of inquiry, and who want to genuinely pursue a career in science, easily get put off. The Government has set up several scholarships for bright students to pursue courses, but the announcements on these are made in the most innocuous manner in some obscure corner of equally obscure publications. Nobody has any clue about what comes of these scholarships and opportunities for higher studies. And, the stipends and fellowships are nothing to crow about as they are not in sync with costs of research and development.

One must clearly understand that both science and technology may be brothers-in-arms but they are not twins. One could possibly lead to another but none stops abruptly at the sight of the other. Science, at its basic form is the art of understanding the ununderstandable (may not be correct English but surely makes the meaning understandable) or simply put, why things are what they are. Taking a step beyond this basic comprehension aspect of science is doing research. The very word ‘re’search implies searching for more answers to things that already exist. This process of researching is certainly expensive because mostly it yields nothing at the end of the alley. Therefore, technology, born out of scientific research is always costly. A new technical product costs more at the initial stages because the consumer is also paying for all those failed experiments. Once that invested money is recouped, prices of those products fall.

The United States of America had held sway over technical advancements of the earth for a very long time. That investment gave them a lead over most other countries. However, when the civil usage of technology reached a kind of plateau, the US redirected its attention to military hardware development. The world was swamped with many ‘smart’ planes, bombs, rifles and everything else conceivable that was used in war times. That gave them a lot of money for a long time. Lately, however, the world started fatiguing from wars. No one started losing battles. Remember the 8 Year war between Iran and Iraq. No clear winners there or in wars after that period. Battles were temporary solace to embittered rival neighbors. Once this mindset started taking roots, the US had, to keep its banks intact, fight wars that it had to create for itself. Science is also nebulous. For example, Stephen Hawking did not hesitate to admit that his Big Bang theory was all wrong. He admitted that he could have been totally mistaken in his assumptions. Similarly, the science community today is challenging Albert Einstein’s theory of Relativity. This could really upset a lot of us unscientific persons because we will not know who to depend on in future. Maybe it would have been wise for Albert to take the Vice Chancellorship of Travancore University of Kerala when it was offered to him!

Therefore, we, while welcoming guests to the 99th Science Congress here at Bhubaneswar would also expect that the brains that are coming here will be contributing mightily to the all round development of not only Orissa but also under developed nations like India. India could use some scientific acumen to develop newer skills in agriculture. That would help feed the teeming millions who go hungry throughout the world and also, side by side, make this nation prosperous too.