In July last 12 months, Japan issued a new banknote for the first time in 20 years. The new face of the 1,000-yen invoice is Shibasaburo Kitazato, a bacteriologist referred to as the “father of modern Japanese medicine.” The particular person on the current invoice was additionally Hideyo Noguchi, a bacteriologist. A society that faces scientists on daily basis, not politicians or monarchs. It is a symbolic scene that reveals that science is extra than simply a self-discipline, but in addition a half of nationwide pleasure and tradition.
The panorama of Korea is kind of totally different. The dialog and curiosity of the Korean persons are targeted on housing costs, shares, and digital property. Regardless of age group, the largest concern is how one can name property. The rating of real-time search phrases on portal websites was dominated by inventory shares and actual property insurance policies. The similar is true of how science is considered. If Japan consumes science as a tradition, we completely eat it as an financial device.
Japan’s tradition of respect for science dates again 100 years. It was on a ship certain for Japan that Albert Einstein acquired the Nobel Prize in 1922. Tens of 1000’s of individuals flocked to his 43-day lecture in Japan, creating an “Einstein craze” in Japan. This was a historic occasion that embraced science as a means of catching up with Western modernity and an object of pleasure.
What about Korea. We are proud of ourselves as a know-how powerhouse that makes world-class semiconductors and smartphones. However, private curiosity in fundamental science, which is the root of the know-how, is disastrous. According to a survey performed by the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity, adults’ curiosity in “scientific discovery” was solely 39.2 out of 100. This is simply greater than half of the ‘financial system’ theme (66.8 factors).
The scientist in the Japanese banknote asks. What is science to you. The fluctuating inventory graph in the search field solutions. Science is ‘yield’ in Korea. It is time for social discussions to rediscover the worth of science past financial utility.
[Lee Saebom, reporter of Science and Technology]