Developing Countries and the Fruits of Science

Leonardo. Vol. 11, pp. 214-216. c I Pergamon Press Ltd. 1978. Printed in Great Britain. 0024-UY4X ‘78~U7UI--O214$02.00~0 DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND THE FRUITS OF SCIENCE 1. Once upon a time there was a man who lived in a little house. He was a poor man, and had to work hard to provide for himself the bare necessities for survival. His hut was on a flat piece of land, surrounded by weeds and scrubby brush, just as it was when he came to settle there. When, at the end of a long day’s work, he sat down to rest after his evening meal and looked out the window at the jumble of greenery surrounding him, he felt dissatisfied . It surprised him that this should be so, even with a full belly and a chance to find some leisure. But then he realized that he was unhappy because he remembered a trip to the mountains and recalled the miraculous feeling of beholding tall trees overhead, the awe inspired by their reaching to the sky, the pleasure of listening to the rustling of their leaves. That wonderful experience was in sharp contrast with the stark reality of the ugly weeds around his house. He decided that he must have some trees. It was not easy to turn this resolution into reality. He spent daysand weeks observing the trees in the forest and trying to transplant them into his yard. And finally he succeeded. Trees began to grow where only weeds had been, and he felt happy and contented, even though he was still struggling hard just to survive. Years passed and the trees matured. and one year, to his amazement and surprise, they began to yield fruit. The fruit was large and juicy and most desirable to look at and to eat. Year after year the amount of fruit multiplied, and he became wealthy and well nourished.eating some of the fruit and selling the rest. As he grew older, he enjoyed an easier and more pleasant life. About that time a young man moved to his area and built a house next to his. He was a poor fellow and, like his neighbor in his younger days, worked hard to survive. As he sat, after a long day’s work, on the porch of his house, his eyes kept gazing at the wonderful fruit growing across the fence in his neighbor’s yard. He envied the neighbor for being so rich. From time to time, he was also taken by the feeling of how nice it would be to be shaded by those beautiful green leaves and waving branches, but he quickly dismissed this feeling as not appropriate for a poor man. Finally, he resolved that he must also have some fruit like that, and he must have it quickly. He reasoned that, as he was poor and getting older, he could not wait much longer to become more affluent. He decided, therefore, that he would produce the fruit and the fruit only. His reasoning was simple. First he decided that most of the *Physicist. Institute of Theoretical Science. University of Oregon. Eugene. OR 97403. U.S.A. (Received 29 Nov. 1977) roots, branches and leaves on the tree were useless, so he could reduce their number. Let the rich bother with waste. Second, he came to the conclusion that with the neighbor’s trees already there, he could avoid the arduous task of transplanting trees from the forest. He asked his neighbor for some twigs from the fruit trees and stuck them into the ground in his back yard. But no fruit was produced. in Fact. the twigs wilted and died. He tried again: only this time he obtained small saplings from his neighbor. They began to grow, and so he proceeded to tend them in his own way. He trimmed the roots from time to time, so they should not reach too far into the ground and use up too much nourishment and water. As small branches and some leaves began to grow, he cut off all branches but one(the one that looked similar to the branch carrying fruit on his neighbor...