Why Scientific Research Is Imperative for Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development in Pakistan

1 IntroductionThis short paper contains a rather personal view of science and the economic good it can do nations that heed its promise. I have assembled these views over a period of several decades, both as a practicing research scientist and as a science facilitator at the US National Science Foundation (NSF), directing a major field of natural sciences, namely, marine and terrestrial geosciences.This also includes my close involvement with research on global climate change (GCC), which affects all of us. The impact of climate change will be calamitous in countries located in the transition zone between the tropics and temperate latitudes, including Pakistan. Such changes will catch us unprepared if we do not plan in advance and could lead to critical and insoluble socioeconomic problems. My career-long active participation in the transfer of scientific knowledge and technology to both developing and developed countries has given me a vantage point from which to observe how science has been gainfully employed in the service of the public by some countries and what has gone awry in other, not so fortunate, ones.2 Abdus Salam's Legacy in Promoting Science in PakistanProfessor Abdus Salam, Pakistan's only Nobel laureate in science, was passionate about promoting not only theoretical physics, his own field of inquiry, but also other sciences in developing countries and especially in Pakistan, his much-loved native country. It was this passion for knowledge and the desire to promote it in less well-off countries that led him to propose the creation of an international center for theoretical physics under the aegis of UNESCO. Originally, he envisaged locating the center in Pakistan - a request the country denied, citing insufficient resources as an excuse. The proposed institution was eventually established in Trieste, Italy, which country provided the bulk of funding needed. What a great loss for our country and its science. Pakistan's political leadership has erred on the side of inanity ever since. Science, so important to the country's economic wellbeing, has been largely ignored. As a consequence, Pakistan is now among those countries that spend the lowest per capita on nonmilitary research in the world.I met Professor Salam during his visit to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize in December 1979. I was a postdoctoral docent that year at Stockholm University and had the pleasure of attending the Nobel award ceremonies. I was also charged by my university to host Dr Salam for half a day and facilitate his meeting with resident Pakistani students. Dr Salam took time out to discuss each student's ongoing research individually. He tried to convey to our group his conviction that no country could prosper without indigenous science. He also expressed his frustration over the "brain drain" of bright minds to the West, given the lack of research resources in their own countries.One could easily sense in him not only his passion for science, but also his great ambition to transfer advanced knowledge to countries such as his own. He reminded us that the pursuit of science and higher learning was entirely compatible with the teachings of Islam; it was incumbent upon us to disseminate knowledge to our countrymen and to anyone else who could put it to good use. My brief meeting with him left a great impression on me: I have tried to use him as a role model, especially (albeit in a smaller way) in my own pursuit to transfer scientific knowledge to where it might do the most good. It is time that Pakistan, like the rest of the world, acknowledged the greatness of Professor Salam and his generous role in inspiring a generation of scientists around the globe.3 The Importance of ScienceScience and its derivative, technology, lead directly to innovation, which is what powers countries' economic engine. Professor Salam is often cited as saying that, "unless you are very good at science, you will never be good at technology. …