Scientific Research is a Token of Humankind’s Survival
Vladimir Keilis-Borok
Introduction to writer
(VladimirKeilis-Borok (1921-2013) was a Russian mathematical geophysicist and seismologist. He taught at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was the research group leader of the International Institute for Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics, Russian Academy of Science.
He was also Co-director (and Founder) of the Research Programme on non-linear dynamics and earthquake prediction of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste.
In the essay 'Scientific Research is a Token of Humankind’s Survival', Keilis-Borok says about his profession as a scientist, and views that science is the humankinds’ indispensable guardian and caretaker.)
If you are so clever, why are you so poor? (Popular expression) Why is it that some of us still decide to become scientists, despite the fact that businessmen, lawyers, and doctors enjoy a much higher income? A famous Russian writer L. Tolstoy once wrote that a writer is not merely a person who writes; a writer is a person who cannot live without writing. The same, I believe, is true for a scientist. Science is an exciting adventure where major reward comes from the discovery itself. What you get instead of big money is freedom, camaraderie, independence. The honours and promotions will depend on yourself more than in the other occupations. And you will have the overwhelming feeling of uncovering yet another one of nature’s mysteries.
An instant understanding, the efficiency of thought and action, and a good feeling that comes when the like-minded people work together. (F. Press)
It was 1960, the height of the cold war. I was in Moscow doing research on the theory of seismic waves—tremors in the earth generated by an earthquake. I was absorbed in my problem; I enjoyed the mathematical challenge. I did not give much thought to how it connects with the real life.The summons came from the President of the Russian (then Soviet) Academy of Sciences. He had received a message from the Palace of Nations in Geneva, where technical experts from the Soviet Union, United States, and United Kingdom—three powers possessing nuclear weapons—met behind closed doors. The President showed me a letter from Geneva: an American scientist, Frank Press, quoted my work while arguing with Moscow experts. And, to my great surprise, I found myself in Geneva.
At that time every man, woman, and child on the Earth lived under the threat of annihilation by nuclear weapon. Each superpower had more than enough nuclear bombs to destroy the others in the first strike. But in the 20 minutes it took for the rockets to reach their targets, the other side had plenty of time to launch retaliation strikes ensuring the destruction of their enemies only a few minutes later. This threat of ‘Mutually Assured Destruction,’ with ominous acronym ‘MAD,’ was for some years the only thin thread protecting all of us from the common fatal fate. Continuing nuclear tests meant development of even stronger bombs, introducing even more imbalance into the global nuclear standoff. The three nuclear powers were willing to come to an agreement, putting a ban on the nuclear weapon test. And hence, the technical experts were summoned to solve the problem that arose.
In formal terms, the problem was the following. Suppose that:(i) the nuclear powers had signed agreement to stop the test of the new nuclear weapons, and (ii) one of the participants had violated this agreement and secretly made an underground nuclear explosion. The problem is: how can the other powers detect the violation?
It turned out that this problem had a direct connection with the theory of seismic waves. Underground nuclear explosions produced earth tremors very similar to those generated by earthquakes. How could one distinguish the natural tremors from the ones produced by the explosion? Suddenly, my theoretical knowledge had a direct application in the area of survival of the humankind.
In the atmosphere of the ongoing Cold War, with political tensions hanging over our heads, scientists and engineers from the opposite sides of the Iron Curtain had to find a solution, which outwardly seemed impossible, given all our differences in cultural background. What saved us was a clear and obvious distinction. We were all scientists. Wewere able to work out a common language, based on respect to hard evidence, undisputable ranking by expertise only, and persistent self-criticism. We were able to work out a solution that eventually allowed politicians to reach one of the most important decisions of their times: nuclear test ban.
This episode taught me that as a scientist I have people all over the world who think and interact the way I do. It taught me never to feel lonely abroad. And, above all, it taught me that while there is science, there is hope of survival and well-being for all of us.
A common lore is that immersion in science does not go with practical sense. It is true that on occasions a greatest mathematician of our time was so involved in a current problem that he could leave home wearing shoes from two different pairs. However, if you look carefully, you will find another side to this, which makes scientists the most practical people in the world. All new technologies, all new brands of industry from defence to entertainment stemfrom fundamental research. Among past examples are antibiotics, electronics, biotechnology, synthetic fibres, the green revolution, and genetic forensic diagnosis, to name just a few. And now only the basic research could give us new sources of energy; new mineral deposits; efficient defence from terrorism; cure from cancer; new forms of transportation. People trained in theoretical physics are headhunted by financial institutions; those trained in frontiers of biological research become founders and directors in the pharmaceutical industry. So, knowledge of basic science will give you a head start in whatever career you choose.
It is commonly recognised, that the very survival of our civilisation is threatened by natural and man-made disasters. Among them are earthquakes, self-inflicted destruction of megacities, environmental catastrophes, economic and social crises. Today, a massive release of radioactivity from a nuclear waste disposal, an earthquake in the middle of a megalopolis, an outburst of mass violence, or any other global disaster, can cause up to a million of casualties, render large part of our world inhabitable, trigger global economic depression, or a war in a “hot” region. Such dangers keep growing, although trillions dollars a year are spent to contain them by all known techniques.
The hope and the responsibility for breaking the stalemate rest not on the money but on intellectual resources, though the money is more popular, according to the French proverb: “Nobody is satisfied with his wealth, everybody is satisfied with his wisdom.” Only the basic research can create a springboard for developing new disaster preparedness industry.
Ours is the time of contest over issues not completely understood. (Mc George Bundy)Scientific research is an exciting venture into the great unknown and the token of humankind’s survival. It is the scientists with their tools that are up to the challenge and can ensure that we all safely move with the time.
Finally, I have to remind you that the science is not the beginning and the end. More important for the humankind and for each individual are the human qualities. However, if humanly used, science is their indispensable guardian and caretaker.
NOTES
Iron Curtain: the name for the socio-political border that was believed to exist between Western Europe and the communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe
L. Tolstoy: (Leo Tolstoy) a Russian writer, author of the novel War and Peace
Mc George Bundy: He was United States National Security Advisor to presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.
Glossary
acronym (n.): a word made from the first letters of the name of any organisation, e.g. MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)
annihilation (n.): complete destruction
camaraderie (n.): a feeling of close friendship in a team overwhelming (adj.): a great effect on you that you feel very happy; overpowering
cold war: intense economic, political, military, and ideological conflict between nations
forensic (adj.): of scientific method of finding out about a crime
indisputable (adj.): known to be true
lore (n.): information about a subject
ominous (adj.): making you feel that something bad is going to happen
retaliation (n.): counterattack, revenge
self-inflict (v.): to cause pain or problem for oneselfstalemate (n.): a situation without an agreement or disagreement
standoff (n.): a situation in which one side counterbalances the other a standstill
venture (n.): anew risky activity
war mystery (n.): something that people do not know anything about it; an unknown
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