This reprint volume compiles the works of the author on the building of science in developing countries. The purpose of this volume is to improve the accessibility of the literature on science development for interested individuals especially in the Third World Countries.

This symposium, which was held on March 10-11, 2003, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, brought together policy experts and managers from the government and academic sectors in both developed and developing countries to (1) describe the role, value, and limits that the public domain and open access to digital data and information have in the context of international research; (2) identify and analyze the various legal, economic, and technological pressures on the public domain in digital data and information, and their potential effects on international research; and (3) review the existing and proposed approaches for preserving and promoting the public domain and open access to scientific and technical data and information on a global basis, with particular attention to the needs of developing countries.

Science is a way of knowing about the world. At once a process, a product, and an institution, science enables people to both engage in the construction of new knowledge as well as use information to achieve desired ends. Access to scienceâ€"whether using knowledge or creating itâ€"necessitates some level of familiarity with the enterprise and practice of science: we refer to this as science literacy. Science literacy is desirable not only for individuals, but also for the health and well- being of communities and society. More than just basic knowledge of science facts, contemporary definitions of science literacy have expanded to include understandings of scientific processes and practices, familiarity with how science and scientists work, a capacity to weigh and evaluate the products of science, and an ability to engage in civic decisions about the value of science. Although science literacy has traditionally been seen as the responsibility of individuals, individuals are nested within communities that are nested within societiesâ€"and, as a result, individual science literacy is limited or enhanced by the circumstances of that nesting. Science Literacy studies the role of science literacy in public support of science. This report synthesizes the available research literature on science literacy, makes recommendations on the need to improve the understanding of science and scientific research in the United States, and considers the relationship between scientific literacy and support for and use of science and research.

This book explores two complementary aspects of post-colonial science/technology practice. The cognitive and technical trajectories experienced by many third world nations since decolonization are assessed in terms of a changing dynamic between north and south where the south is increasingly a decisive actor. The thrust and substance of this dynamic has changed continually over the last half century, and with the passage of time the south has become increasingly dominant, albeit in often highly subtle ways. On a second level, it is argued that south/north interactions can only be fully understood in the light of an epistemological perspective. The science-related representations, policies, and practices of the north regarding the south become transparent when seen in terms of northern epistemological traditions and progress. Concurrently, the authors of this book submit that, by grasping the epistemologies held or fostered in the south toward science and technology (as well as toward alternative forms of practice and learning), the actions of southern actors and their dealings with the north acquire important incremental intelligibility.