Scientists in digital Bangladesh
Sunday, 5 April 2009
Prof. Lutfor Rahman
ON November 23, 2008, a short article with the title; Scientists in Politics, was published in a daily newspaper of Bangladesh. The article was written before the parliament election was held. The main theme of the article was the number of women candidates participating in the election. It was noticed that the number of women candidates was small while the male candidates, who came from different educational and professional backgrounds, were many in number. But the number of scientists in the list of candidates was very negligible.
A significant number of women have been included in the list of the members of parliament in Bangladesh. It was possible for their long time demand for increasing the number of seats for women in parliament. It is a good sign of advancement towards the modern world.
What about scientists or technologists? Do we really need their services? The scientists are still disadvantaged and their scientific activities are ignored and overlooked in the country. Inclusion of scientists in politics is not less important than that of women. There is not a single instance that a country has developed in the modern world by ignoring science or scientists. We need to remember that the social, local and global problems are going to be more and more complex day by day due to global changes or transformation of technologies that affect the whole world. We are not out of danger. Protection is more important than repair. Obviously scientists are better than others in identifying scientific or technological damages. The countries that have a greater number of scientists are more powerful than others. We can take Israel as an example. The number of scientists in Israel is more than the total number of scientists in all the countries of the whole Middle-East combined!
An assessment of the state of science in a country can shed light on how successfully it is developing and will develop in the future. Great scientists can be great thinkers who are able to create a relationship between science and society. We need to believe that we are not different from others if we want to adjust ourselves with the rest of the world in respect of scientific development and technological advancement.
We are obliged to learn from the world political situations and political leaders like Barack Obama who is supported by 76 scientists and Nobel Laureates since his election campaign started.
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The writer is founder Vice-Chancellor of Science and Technology University in Rural Bangladesh. He can be reached at e-mail: lutfor.aait@gmail.com)
ON November 23, 2008, a short article with the title; Scientists in Politics, was published in a daily newspaper of Bangladesh. The article was written before the parliament election was held. The main theme of the article was the number of women candidates participating in the election. It was noticed that the number of women candidates was small while the male candidates, who came from different educational and professional backgrounds, were many in number. But the number of scientists in the list of candidates was very negligible.
A significant number of women have been included in the list of the members of parliament in Bangladesh. It was possible for their long time demand for increasing the number of seats for women in parliament. It is a good sign of advancement towards the modern world.
What about scientists or technologists? Do we really need their services? The scientists are still disadvantaged and their scientific activities are ignored and overlooked in the country. Inclusion of scientists in politics is not less important than that of women. There is not a single instance that a country has developed in the modern world by ignoring science or scientists. We need to remember that the social, local and global problems are going to be more and more complex day by day due to global changes or transformation of technologies that affect the whole world. We are not out of danger. Protection is more important than repair. Obviously scientists are better than others in identifying scientific or technological damages. The countries that have a greater number of scientists are more powerful than others. We can take Israel as an example. The number of scientists in Israel is more than the total number of scientists in all the countries of the whole Middle-East combined!
An assessment of the state of science in a country can shed light on how successfully it is developing and will develop in the future. Great scientists can be great thinkers who are able to create a relationship between science and society. We need to believe that we are not different from others if we want to adjust ourselves with the rest of the world in respect of scientific development and technological advancement.
We are obliged to learn from the world political situations and political leaders like Barack Obama who is supported by 76 scientists and Nobel Laureates since his election campaign started.
...............................................
The writer is founder Vice-Chancellor of Science and Technology University in Rural Bangladesh. He can be reached at e-mail: lutfor.aait@gmail.com)