Science and Technology in the Twenty-First Century

ASM Lecture Series

Science and Technology

in the Twenty-First Century

Ahmed Zewail

Nobel Laureate

Calzfornia Institute of Technolo~y

Pasadena, USA

(

SAlNS

MALAYSIA

Academy of Sciences Malaysia

Akademi Sains Malaysia

(Academy of Sciences of Malaysia)

902-4, Jalan Tun Ismail

50480 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

Tel: 603-2694 9898

Fax: 603-2694 5858

E-mail: samsudin@akademisains.gov.my

OAkademi Sains Malaysia 2002

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Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Zewail, Ahmed, 1946Science and technology in twenty-first century I Ahmed Zewail.

(ASM lecture series)

ISBN 983-9445-08-1

I. Science--21" century. 2. Technology--21" century. I. Title. 11. Series

509.05

Science and Technology in the Twenty-First Century

1

INTRODUCTION

Assalamualaikum w.r.t.,

Ladies and Gentlemen

The title of my lecture implies that I will make predictions about science and technology

(S & T) in the twenty-first century, but I know better - one should be cautious about

making predictions as many in the past have proven to be off the mark. Take, for example,

the prediction made in 1943 about the future of the computer by Thomas J. Watson,

founder of IBM: "I think there is a world market for about five computers." In retrospect,

this is a remarkable statement given that today we have billions of computers!

It is in the nature of science that we scientists search for the truth in the unknown,

which is so vast and complex that our predictions will always be constrained by our

ignorance of the future. The renowned historian of science Karl Popper described the

state of knowledge this way: "Our knowledge can only be finite, while our ignorance

must necessarily be infinite."...