Sixty Years of Science at UNESCO 1945-2005; 2006
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Sixty Years of Science at UNESCO 1945–2005 UNESCO Publishing 18/10/06 16:45:21 SIXTY YEARS OF SCIENCE AT UNESCO 1945–2005 660Years0Years OOff SScience.indbcience.indb 1 118/10/068/10/06 117:47:227:47:22 The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France Typeset by UNESCO Publishing/Roberto Rossi Printed by Imprimerie Barnéoud, Bonchamps-lès-Laval Cover design based on Science and Technology UNESCO poster by Shoichi Hasegawa © UNESCO 1986 ISBN 10: 92-3-104005-7 (softcover) ISBN 13: 978-92-3-104005-4 (softcover) ISBN 10: 92-3-104047-2 (hardcover) ISBN 13: 978-92-3-104047-4 (hardcover) © UNESCO 2006 All rights reserved Printed in France 660Years0Years OOff SScience.indbcience.indb 2 118/10/068/10/06 117:47:237:47:23 SIXTY YEARS OF SCIENCE AT UNESCO 1945–2005 UNESCO Publishing 660Years0Years OOff SScience.indbcience.indb 3 118/10/068/10/06 117:47:247:47:24 Suggested citation: Petitjean, P., Zharov, V., Glaser, G., Richardson, J., de Padirac, B. and Archibald, G. (eds.). 2006. Sixty Years of Science at UNESCO 1945–2005. Paris, UNESCO. Editorial Committee General Editor: Jake Lamar Assistant Editor: Brian Smith Project Director: Bruno de Padirac Historical Coordinator: Gail Archibald Section Coordinators Part I: Setting the Scene, 1945–1965: Patrick Petitjean Part II: Basic Sciences and Engineering: Vladimir Zharov Part III: Environmental Sciences: Gisbert Glaser Part IV: Science and Society: Jacques Richardson Under the overall authority of: Walter Erdelen Assisted by: L. Anathea Brooks 4 SIXTY Years of Science at UNESCO 1945–2005 © UNESCO 2006 660Years0Years OOff SScience.indbcience.indb 4 118/10/068/10/06 117:47:247:47:24 CONTENTS FOREWORD 13 Koïchiro Matsuura PREFACE 15 In praise of UNESCO and its principles M. S. Swaminathan A PERSONAL NOTE 18 The history of the History Walter Erdelen GENERAL INTRODUCTION 21 Editorial Committee PART I: SETTING THE SCENE, 1945 –1965 27 INTRODUCTION 29 VISIONS AND REVISIONS Defining UNESCO’s scientific culture, 1945 –1965 Patrick Petitjean CONCEPTION AND CREATION OF UNESCO 35 AN UNSUNG ANCESTOR 35 The International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation (IIIC) and science Jean-Jacques Renoliet HOW THE ‘S’ CAME TO BE IN UNESCO 36 Gail Archibald BRAVE NEW ORGANIZATION 40 Julian Huxley’s philosophy John Toye and Richard Toye BLAZING THE TRAIL 43 Needham and UNESCO: perspectives and realizations Patrick Petitjean SIXTY Years of Science at UNESCO 1945–2005 © UNESCO 2006 5 660Years0Years OOff SScience.indbcience.indb 5 118/10/068/10/06 117:47:247:47:24 SIXTY YEARS OF SCIENCE AT UNESCO 1945–2005 INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION 48 FINDING A FOOTING 48 The sciences within the United Nations system Patrick Petitjean GIVING SCIENCE FOR PEACE A CHANCE 52 The post-war international laboratory projects Patrick Petitjean COOL HEADS IN THE COLD WAR 57 Pierre Auger and the founding of CERN Patrick Petitjean OF MOLECULES AND MEN 60 UNESCO and life sciences during the Cold War Bruno J. Strasser NOURISHING SCIENCE, ON LAND AND SEA 65 FAO collaboration with UNESCO and the creation of the IOC, 1955 –1962 Ray Griffiths PIERCING THE IRON CURTAIN 68 UNESCO, marine science, and the legacy of the International Geophysical Year Jacob Darwin Hamblin THE ‘PERIPHERY PRINCIPLE’ 71 CROSSING BORDERS 71 Contributing to the development of science in Latin America Patrick Petitjean GOING GLOBAL 72 UNESCO Field Science Offices Jürgen Hillig MEANWHILE IN THE MOTHERLAND 75 Regional Office for Science and Technology in Africa (ROSTA) Robert H. Maybury SCIENTIFIC NGOS AND UNESCO 77 A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP 77 The early years of the UNESCO-ICSU partnership Patrick Petitjean A FAILED PARTNERSHIP 78 The WFSW and UNESCO in the late 1940s Patrick Petitjean SOCIAL ASPECTS OF SCIENCE 81 MEETINGS OF MINDS 81 UNESCO and the creation of the International Union of History of Science Patrick Petitjean 6 SIXTY Years of Science at UNESCO 1945–2005 © UNESCO 2006 660Years0Years OOff SScience.indbcience.indb 6 118/10/068/10/06 117:47:247:47:24 CONTENTS ON THE ROAD 83 UNESCO’s travelling science exhibitions Alain Gille THE ULTIMATE ODYSSEY 85 The birth of the Scientific and Cultural History of Mankind project Patrick Petitjean SPREADING THE NEWS 88 The natural sciences in the UNESCO Courier, 1947 –1965 Lotta Nuotio PART II: BASIC SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING 93 INTRODUCTION 95 AT THE HEART OF IT ALL The basic and engineering sciences as the key to civilization Vladimir Zharov MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY 104 CALCULATED RISKS 104 Initiatives in pure and applied mathematics Franck Dufour QUANTUM LEAPS FOR PEACE 107 Physics at UNESCO Franck Dufour TAMING THE ATOMIC TIGER 110 The creation of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics André M. Hamende WARM RELATIONS AFTER THE COLD WAR 114 The Physics Action Council, 1993 –1999 Irving A. Lerch OPENING SESAME 116 A landmark of scientific cooperation in the Middle East Clarissa Formosa Gauci FINDING THE RIGHT CHEMISTRY 120 The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and UNESCO Mohammed Shamsul Alam INFORMATICS, INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES 126 MAKING EVERYTHING COMPUTE 126 ICTs at the crossroads of applied mathematics, physics and chemistry Rene Paul Cluzel SIXTY Years of Science at UNESCO 1945–2005 © UNESCO 2006 7 660Years0Years OOff SScience.indbcience.indb 7 118/10/068/10/06 117:47:257:47:25 SIXTY YEARS OF SCIENCE AT UNESCO 1945–2005 ORGANIZING INFORMATION 129 The origins and development of UNISIST Jacques Tocatlian THE WAY IT WAS 131 UNESCO and informatics, a memoir Sidney Passman BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 134 TO BE OR NOT TO BE 134 UNESCO’s biological and microbiological programmes Franck Dufour, Julia Hasler, Lucy Hoareau MAKING CONNECTIONS 143 International Biosciences Networks (IBN) Julia Marton-Lefèvre ENGINEERING SCIENCES 147 THE SPIRIT OF INNOVATION 147 Engineering and technology at UNESCO Tony Marjoram APPENDIXES: PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON ENGINEERING 158 James McDivitt 158 Charles Gottschalk 161 Edward Beresowski 163 Benjamin Ntim 165 FUEL FOR THOUGHT 167 UNESCO initiatives on renewable energy sources Osman Benchikh SCIENCE EDUCATION 176 LIVE AND LEARN 176 The early days of science education at UNESCO Albert Baez WORKING KNOWLEDGE 182 Symbiosis of programmes in science teaching, environmental education, and technical and vocational education Saif R. Samady PART III: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 193 INTRODUCTION 195 EARTH MATTERS The environment and sustainable development focus in UNESCO’s science programmes Gisbert Glaser 8 SIXTY Years of Science at UNESCO 1945–2005 © UNESCO 2006 660Years0Years OOff SScience.indbcience.indb 8 118/10/068/10/06 117:47:257:47:25 CONTENTS NATURE TO THE FORE 201 The early years of UNESCO’s environmental programme, 1945 –1965 Malcolm Hadley THE ESSENCE OF LIFE 233 UNESCO initiatives in the water sciences Sorin Dumitrescu A PRACTICAL ECOLOGY 260 The Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme Malcolm Hadley ROCKY ROAD TO SUCCESS 297 A new history of the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) Susan Turner THE FINAL FRONTIER 315 UNESCO in outer space Robert Missotten SAFETY FIRST 320 UNESCO’s initiatives in natural disaster reduction Badaoui Rouhban OBSERVING AND UNDERSTANDING PLANET OCEAN 332 A history of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Geoffrey Holland BUILDING BLOCKS FOR MARINE SCIENCE 354 A history of UNESCO’s Marine Sciences Division (OCE) Dale C. Krause, Selim Morcos, Marc Steyaert and Gary D. Wright, in consultation with Alexei Suzyumov and Dirk G. Troost BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS, BUILDING BRIDGES 371 Coastal Regions and Small Islands (CSI) Platform Dirk Troost and Malcolm Hadley THREADS OF LEARNING AND EXPERIENCE 383 Recording and valorizing traditional ecological knowledge Malcolm Hadley LINKING BIOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY 385 Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) project Douglas Nakashima and Annette Nilsson A GIFT FROM THE PAST TO THE FUTURE 389 Natural and cultural world heritage Bernd von Droste zu Hülshoff ACTING TOGETHER 401 Promoting integrated approaches, and the paradigm shift from environmental policy to sustainable development from Stockholm 1972 to Johannesburg 2002 Gisbert Glaser SIXTY Years of Science at UNESCO 1945–2005 © UNESCO 2006 9 660Years0Years OOff SScience.indbcience.indb 9 118/10/068/10/06 117:47:257:47:25 SIXTY YEARS OF SCIENCE AT UNESCO 1945–2005 PART IV: SCIENCE AND SOCIETY 429 INTRODUCTION 431 THE SHOCK OF THE NEW The contemporary age begins Jacques Richardson HELPING HANDS, GUIDING PRINCIPLES 434 Science and technology policies Jürgen Hillig PUSHING AND PULLING 452 Scientific research and industrial applications Jacques Richardson CRUNCHING NUMBERS 453 Science and technology statistics at UNESCO Ernesto Fernández Polcuch CLOSING THE CULTURAL GAP 460 Science and society Jacques Richardson TAPPING AT THE GLASS CEILING 465 Women, natural sciences and UNESCO Renée Clair QUESTIONING AUTHORITY 474 Science and ethics Jacques Richardson HARD TALK 476 The controversy surrounding UNESCO’s contribution to the management of the scientific enterprise,