On Fri, 13 Dec 2002, Keith Hudson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
[...]
>One of the most trenchant observers of the increasing confusion is Prof
>Andrew Oswald of Warwick University. The following is an extract from his
>article in the Education Review of The Independent of 12 December.
>
><<<<
>. . . . The first thing to grasp is that at a world class level we are
>now badly behind, and Mr Blair. thanks in part to the persistence of some
>admirable advisors, has finally grasped the fact.
>
>Worrying new information has just been released by the Institute of
>Scientific Information (ISD), for instance, to demonstrate that, in lots
>of fields, Britain is now everely short of world-class scientists. The
>numbers can be found at <isi-highlycited.com>
>
>Of the top 100 physicists across the globe, just two now work in Britain.
>Yet Princeton University, a tiny American university in New Jersey, has
>eight.
I wonder what hole in the ground this guy has been living in. I would
bloody well hope tha Princeton had eight of the top physicists. It
is not some generic cypher of a university. It is the home of the
Institute for Advanced Studies, the school that managed to lure
Einstein from europe, and this "tiny" university has managed
to populate its institute with the best brains in the world ever
since, at least in part due to the prestige imparted to the
positions by the former resident, just as Rutherford was drawn
to Cavendish's position, and Hawking to Newton's.
[...]
>. . . . As a whole, we now have just 80 out of the world's best 1200
>scientists.
Hmm. The developed world now numbers around 1 billion. Britain has
what? 60 million? The ratio seems just about right. This is not
about Britain's decline, it is about the steady expansion of
quality education around the world. It is a story of success,
not failure. And we can expect the ratio of Britons to continue
to fall as the education levels in south and southeast asia
continue to advance.
>There we are. We are fast losing whatever scholastic and scientific
>excellence we once had.
Nope, just losing its exclusiveness.
-Pete Vincent
