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SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IS A TOKEN OF HUMANKIND'S SURVIVAL - Vladimir Keilis-Borok

In the essay 'Scientific Research is a Token of Humankind’s Survival', Keilis-Borok writes about his profession as a scientist, and views that science is the humankind’s essential guardian and caretaker. According to the writer, being a scientist is more exciting than being a doctor or an engineer because a scientist gets freedom, camaraderie/friendship and independence in doing work. Then honours and promotions depends on hard work. The discovery is a reward in itself.

“Why is it that some of us still decide to become scientists, despite the fact that businessmen, lawyers, and doctors enjoy a much higher income?” Vladimir asked and answered. “A famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy once wrote that a writer is not merely a person who writes; a writer is a person who cannot live without writing. The same, I believe, is true for a scientist. Science is an exciting adventure where major rewards come from the discovery itself. What you get instead of big money is freedom, camaraderie, and independence. The honours and promotions will depend on yourself more than in the other occupations. And you will have the overwhelming feeling of uncovering yet another one of nature’s mysteries.”

There are not many scientists who consider that earthquakes can be predicted, but it was not the case with Vladimir. He always said that earthquake prediction is the Holy Grail of earthquake science. “Earthquakes can and should be predicted, although earthquake prediction is a challenging task”. Vladimir liked to quote British Prime Minister W. Churchill when he heard concerns regarding his earthquake predictions: “This is not the beginning of the end, it’s the end of the beginning”.

REFERENCES: 

Curriculum Development Centre. (2020). English Grade 11. Sanothimi, Bhaktapur: Government of Nepal, Curriculum Development Centre.

Keilis-Borok, V.I., 2004. Scientific research is a token of humankind’s survival. In: One Hundred Reasons to be a Scientist, ed. K. Sreenivasan. Trieste, Italy: ICTP, pp. 124-126.


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