What do you call a week when you get to meet and hear from the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA James Watson, creator of artificial life Craig Venter, the man of the moment Director General of CERN Rolf-Dieter Heuer, the man who piloted four NASA spaceships and put the Hubble telescope in space Charles F. Bolden Jr. and a few more rockstar scientists?
Phenomenal!
Venter, Watson, Heuer (top right) and Bolden Jr. at the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) 2012 in Dublin.{credit}Subhra Priyadarshini{/credit}
Though these people are far removed from the mandated topic of this blog — science in India — it is not everyday that one gets to sit and chat with such luminaries, and that too all at the same place. Hence, this blog, from the European Science Open Forum, 2012 currently underway in Dublin, Ireland.
And just to make it more contextual, though science like music and infectious diseases has no boundaries, here are some sound bytes from what these people have to say about science in India. (I’m making sure I earn my salary!)
Watson: “India is turning out to be a very interesting breeding ground for biological sciences. I have no doubt this excitement will translate into big achievements very soon.”
Venter: “It was a turning point in science when H. S. Khorana and Nirenberg discovered the genetic code in 1961. Indian science and scientists have it in them to make a mark internationally, though political boundaries hardly matter.”
Heuer: “You know what I think? The potential of the Indian people is here (points to the forehead). And that is immense. Don’t you think so?”
Bolden, Jr.: “75% of India’s space budget is dedicated to human needs…that is perfectly in sync with what we at NASA do. Our mandates are similar. NASA is encouraged with the progress in space technology in India.”
And there’s more.
These optimistic one-liners brimming with confidence over the scientific prowess of India bring us back to the question: Why is the country still so far away from producing its next Nobel Laureate? What does it all boil down to — money, attitude, education system, scientific rigour? What?
As Heuer feels in this short interview, it could be the money that’s stopping us from grabbing our best opportunities. Michael John Gorman, Director of the world famous Science Gallery in Dublin, which is planning a gallery in Bangalore, says the country has just the kind of enthusiasm to do science that the global science community looks out for. That’s the reason they chose Bangalore among the six cities worldwide where they want to create a gallery.
What then is still pulling us back? I know this question has been asked umpteen times in this blog and in the Nature India forum on Nature Network, and dissected threadbare in some of our recent articles (1, 2). Yet after hearing these stalwarts praise science in India to the skies, I can’t but stir up the hornet’s nest again.