1960- 1979: IDEOLOGY and PRACTICE in a UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTION for SCIENTIFIC CO-OPERATION and THIRD By
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
T h e International C e n t r e f o r T h e o r e t ic a l P h y s ic s, 1960- 1979: IDEOLOGY AND PRACTICE IN A UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTION FOR SCIENTIFIC CO-OPERATION AND THIRD W o r l d development A Dissertation Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Alexis Hjalmar Alberto De Greiff Acevedo University of London Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine December 2001 IMAGING SERVICES NORTH Boston Spa, Wetherby West Yorkshire, LS23 7BQ www.bl.uk JSHäoian BRITISH Page 2 is blank in the original. Abstract In this work the history of the establishment of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste is studied with particular attention to its first director Abdus Salam and the dynamics of international co-operation in science during its foundation and early years. Some aspects of Salam's social, religious and cultural background, as well as his Cambridge training in physics and mathematics are discussed as essential elements in motivating and enabling his career as a scientific diplomat and administrator. It is argued that although Salam managed to provide an effective justification for the creation and existence of the Centre, the majority of the industrialised countries, as well as the Socialist countries, opposed the initiative. The negotiation process for the creation of the ICTP is studied in detail highlighting the crucial role played by Italy and Trieste. It is also argued that institutional instability created by a lack of both financial support and a permanent scientific staff recognised by the scientific elite undermined the status of the institution as well as the work carried out within its walls. Two contrasting images of the Centre prevailed throughout the period studied: for the elite among the scientific community in the industrialised countries, it was a United Nations development institute for the education of Third World scientists, whereas in the developing countries it was perceived as a scientific centre for mainstream research. The fund-raising strategies, based on the cultivation of a network of personal contacts around the world are discussed, focusing on the relation between the ICTP and the Ford Foundation. Finally, the everyday operation of the ICTP as an academic institution is studied. This entails a discussion of the scientific population of the Centre as well as an analysis of the activities carried out there in terms of training and research. The effect of the ICTP on Salam’s scientific work and the influence of Salam on some features of the ICTP’s scientific practices are also discussed in detail. The history of the ICTP stands as an excellent case study in the contrast that can exist between public rhetoric regarding scientific collaboration between unequal international partners and the reality of that collaboration. Contents Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 8 INTRODUCTION 14 CHAPTER 1. A bdus Salam 's Life Before T he Creation Of T he International Centre For T heoretical Physics 53 1.1 Salam in Pakistan: Early years and Education 60 1.1.1 Early years 60 1.1.2 Salam’s Education in Pakistan 67 1.2 The First Cambridge Years 70 1.2.1 Undergraduate studies 70 1.2.2 Research Student 76 1.2.3 Yukawa theories and QED in the 1950s 77 1.1.4 Salam’s PhD problem 79 1.3 Salam at the Institute for Advanced Studies of Princeton 83 1.4 Salam’s return to Pakistan and back to England: first.academic and political appointments 86 1.4.1 Pakistan 1951-1954 86 1.4.2 Back in Cambridge and Abdus Salam’s missing Nobel Prize 93 1.4.3 First Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College, London 106 1.4.4 First Steps towards a Political Career 110 1.5 Conclusion 117 4 CHAPTER 2. Salam ’s Discourse On Science And T hird World Development 122 2.1 Breaking the barriers of isolation: “The Gondasipur and Toledos of today” 129 2.2 The science versus technology transfer debate 148 2.3 The leading role of theoretical physics 159 2.4 Conclusion 167 CHAPTER 3. T he T ale Of T wo Peripheries: T he Creation Of The International Centre For Theoretical Physics In T rieste 172 3.1 Trieste: internationalist dreams of an orphan city 177 3.1.1 The decline of the border city 182 3.1.2 The internationalist tradition in Trieste 187 3.2 Two figures: Pierpaolo Luzzato Fegiz and Paolo Budinich 189 3.2.1 Pierpaolo Luzzato Fegiz 189 3.2.2 Paolo Budinich 190 3.3 The Negotiations: the Trieste-Rome-Vienna triangle 194 3.3.1 The first contacts and the idea of an international centre 195 3.3.2 Trieste’s candidature: October 1960-March 1961 199 3.3.3 The negotiating at the IAEA (1961 -63) 202 3.4 Conclusion: Effective networks and propitious environments 237 CHAPTER 4. Striving To S urvive W ith Private Funds : T he N egotiations With T he Ford Foundation 251 4.1 Resistance to support of the ICTP 259 5 4.2 Motivations for supporting a young centre 268 4.3 Conclusion: from Europe to the Third World 283 CHAPTER 5. T he International Centre For T heoretical Physics A s A T raining Institution 288 5.1 The ICTP demography: visitors, “Associates” and permanent scientific staff 289 5.1.1 The Visitors 290 5.1.2 The Associates 293 5.1.3 Geographical distribution of Associates 298 5.1.4 The Permanent Scientific Staff 304 5.2 Courses and Workshops 312 5.2.1 Workshops 312 5.2.2 Courses 314 5.2.3 Expansion of the ICTP activities 322 5.4 Conclusion 330 CHAPTER 6. R esearch Patterns At T he International Centre For T heoretical Physics 332 6.1 Putting the ICTP on the map 335 6.2 The publishing pattern of the ICTP 347 6.3 The High-energy Physics “November Revolution” and the Exclusion of the ICTP 354 6.4 Conclusions 368 CONCLUDING REMARKS 372 APPENDIX 1 . Financial Contributions to the ICTP 381 6 APPENDIX 2. ICTP A ssociates 383 SOURCES CITED 396 7 Acknowledgements This dissertation could be done thanks to the generous help of a number of people who patiently accompanied me in this intellectual and human experience. Trying to express my gratitude to all of them is simply an impossible task in this or any '»ther language. If this thesis has any merit, it is largely because I had the fortune of benefiting from their advice and support, and, conversely, they of course are completely innocent of its faults and inaccuracies. First and foremost, I want to thank Andrew Warwick who has been my tutor and friend. Andy’s works in history of science have been an example to me, and having being his student has been one of the great fortunes of coming to London. The careful way in which he read my work has taught me an essential lesson: that the “exact sciences” do not have a monopoly on rigorous reasoning. I i\s support has meant to me an enormous encouragement throughout these years. Andy also gave me the opportunity to teach in his history of science course, a great opportunity. I hope to be able to transmit to my students the enthusiasm for the history of science he inculcated in me. The ever-increasingly stimulant environment of the London Centre for the History of Science has been crucial in my training as a historian of science. At Imperial College, David Edgerton has been a good friend and a great teacher. I would also like to thank Rob Iliffe and Hasok Chang for their continuing encouragement. The Imperial College drinks parties were a fundamental part of 8 Alexis De Greiff Acknowledgements my social experience in London, so I thank the Pub-goers. Aisnlee Rutledge provided me invaluable assistance, many thanks. The community of students, and former students, provided me new ideas, suggestive readings and, above all, vital comradeship. I thank Mauricio Nieto, who in the first place convinced me that I could become a professional historian of science (and for guarding my library), and Olga Restrepo, who convinced my boss in Colombia of the same thing. My gratitude also to Professor Jorge Arias, and to the colleagues of the Observatorio, for their support. The London Postgraduate Science Studies Seminars was a very helpful discussion forum, and I am grateful to its participants. Special thanks to Sam Alberti, Clint Chaloner, Karl Calle, Mike Hawkins, Georgia Petrou and John Waller. Alexandra Guaqueta has been incredibly supportive both emotionally and professionally during my stay in the United Kindgon. In Cambridge (Massachusetts) I learned a great deal from the Harvard Physical Sciences Working Group. I have an enormous debt with David Kaiser, for rich and enlightening conversations, and for his comments, suggestions and advice on earlier drafts. His friendship has been one of the most rewarding “by-products” of this PhD experience. At Harvard I want to thank very specially Jacques Hymans, Edward Jones-Imhotep and Elizabeth Paris, and, at MIT, Mazyar Lotfalia, who introduced me to the development studies and to the problems of technoscience in modem Islamic countries. While doing this research, I have had the opportunity to meet several scholars with whom I have been able to discuss different aspects of my work. I want to thank my good friend Ron Doel, for his encouragement and support during all these years. I am especially grateful to Itty Abraham, Gianni Battimelli, 9 Alexis De Greiff Acknowledgements Mimmo De Maria, Peter Galison, Giuliana Gemelli, Anna Guagnini, John Heilbron, Sheila Jasanoff, Dong-Won Kira, Mauricio Nieto, Gianni Paoloni, Mark Solovey, Abha Sur, and Hebe Vessuri.