World Science Report 1998

The third in a biennial series published by UNESCO, the World Science Report 1998 looks at the current state of science around the globe through the eyes of an international team of experts. Who is carrying out research and development, where and with what means? What has changed over the past couple of years? Informative and thought-provoking, each essay describes how research and development are organized in a given region or group of countries and identifies and discusses emerging trends in research and science education, including region- or country-specific issues. Wherever possible, the author's opinion is backed up by numerical data presented in an easily accessible form as tables or diagrams. The second part of the Report examines three contemporary issues that have in common their global nature and ramifications for society as a whole. Separate chapters look at how science is helping to safeguard our two most basic commodities - food and water - in a context of rapid demographic growth and environmental stress. Globalization, a leitmotiv throughout the first part of the Report, is also the subject of the concluding chapter, which discusses its impact on scientific communities in the developing countries.