Scientific Kyrgyzstan
Today marks the anniversary of the first publication of the influential magazine “Scientific American”, back in 1845. In those days it was just a 4 page weekly digest of news, mainly from the US Patent Office. Over the years, however, it has changed considerable – now it is published monthly, is a much thicker periodical, famous for both its erudite explanations of complex scientific issues and specially commissioned coloured graphics. It has now branched out, maintaining its own website and issuing podcasts.
As well as reporting on inventions and technological innovations (including one by Abraham Lincoln), it has branched out to explain complex scientific topics to a general, (albeit educated), public rather than to professional scientists who publish the results of their research in specialist journals. However, it is held in high regard I the scientific community and has included articles by many famous scientists, including none other than Albert Einstein.
Back in the UK, I took out a subscription to the magazine. To be honest, much of the content remained unread as it covered topics which weren’t exactly of interest, and sometimes the content went far beyond my level of understanding, but just occasionally there was a gem of an article which I really enjoyed and appreciated. I remember, for example, excellent articles on coding systems and semiconductor technology – well, I was teaching computing.
So much went unread, however, that I sometimes wondered why I had I subscribed in the first place and whether or not I should cancel it. The original decision to subscribe, and the monthly one not to cancel it, was based on one regular article: Mathematical Games, written by Martin Gardner and which ran from 1956 until 1981. Gardner was a prolific writer, brilliant at communicating complex mathematical ideas with clarity to a wider audience and, as the title of the column suggests, making it seem fun – a game.
Amongst the topics that he introduced me to were Conway’s “Game of Life”, Cryptology, Flexagons, Fractals, the game of Hex, Hypercubes – and multi-dimensional geometry, Polyominoes – a sort of Dominoes, The Soma Cube, the game of Hex, Tangrams, Tessalations, and not to mention the art of MC Escher.
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Kyrgyzstan may not exactly be a silicon valley, lacking the resources for impressive laboratories or large and expansive Research and Development facilities, but that does not necessarily mean that it is a scientific backwater. After all, Askar Akaev, the country’s first president was a physicist who specialized in optical and laser technologies and Kurmanbak Bakiev was an engineer.
There is considerable interest in developments in science and technology. Several of the newspapers carry regular columns where they outline some of the latest theories and discoveries.
School and university students regularly participate in international “olympiads”, in Mathematics, Chemistry and other subject areas as well as occasional Science Fairs throughout the country. There is considerable international cooperation on educational matters, attempting to raise the profile and status of learning and scientific research, especially amongst the youth of the country. That’s probably just as well, as many students have to travel abroad to enter courses in the sciences.
Back in June I wrote a postcard about the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences – the main body responsible for scientific research in the country. Here in Kyrgyzstan the term Na-ook which means “science” has a wider interpretation and is best thought of as “scholarship”. As a result, a lot of the work that is sometimes described as “scientific” falls into the fields of economics, history (for example archaeology) and cultural scholarship.
Given the current economic and industrial make up of the country, it is not surprising that the main thrust of attention in scientific and technological development in the country is in the fields of:
- information technologies – including nano technology and developments in in the internet and communications technologies
- the use of water and power resources – one young scientist being awarded a UNESCO medal for her work in the field of water resources; other scholars have been working on wind turbines; a special laboratory for research on alternative energy resources was opened in one of Bishkek’s universities;
- mining technologies
- production technologies – especially in food production;
- the prediction and handling of natural, technological and environmental incidents – seismology
Although these are the main areas of work – it’s not all. For example, two medical researchers have also been awarded medals for their work in lymphology which has applications in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Interestingly, one analyst said that he thought that it was only in medical research that Kyrgyzstan was making any progress.
There are proposals aimed at trying to encourage further scientific and technological innovation. In addition to science fairs for school sturdets, for example, there has been much discussion on plans to establish Technology Parks in the country, based around some of the Universities and offering preferential tax rates. A recent proposal, however, to establish a laboratory in Bishkek dealing with pathogens proved to be controversial and it looks as if the plans have currently been put on hold.
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Perhaps one of the most startling news items I saw this year was one which announced that a Kyrgyz Maths professor announced that he has solved one of the seven Millennium Prize problems – the Navier-Stokes Equation – which, if true, would mean that he is entitled to the one million dollar prize offered by the Clay Mathematics Institute of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
I wonder what Martin Gardner would have made of that. At least he would have understood what the professor was talking about – perhaps if he had written about in one of his columns, I would too.
Bishkek