Science in the South

Science magazine editorial: Science in the South

"The scientists who created ICTP (the International Center for Theoretical Physics), notably the Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam of Pakistan, were motivated by a goal that is simple to proclaim but difficult to fulfill: to advance the level and role of science in the Southern world by overcoming the debilitating isolation of scientists who work there.

"This goal is more important now than ever before. No country today can survive and prosper in isolation, and economic prosperity is tied to scientific development. The building of scientific capacity needed everywhere is thus in our collective interest and is a shared responsibility. Forty years on, however, we still live in a world in which a majority of scientists, scientific discoveries, publications, and patents come from developed countries."