Science without the scientific method simply does not work, says Pervez Hoodbhoy. That is the problem Muslim societies have to confront The devastating earthquake of last October shook the foundations of not just the buildings of northern Pakistan. It also showed how shallow the underpinnings of science are even among the graduate physics students that…
The solutions to the global refugee crisis are simple, says Angelina Jolie, if only we had the will to address it Only half a century ago – a blink of the eye in human history – there were at least 40 million refugees and displaced people here in Europe: the product of Hitler’s Germany, Franco’s…
Genetic breakthroughs are allowing us to understand the development of the human brain, say Bruce Lahn and Nitzan Mekel-Bobrov, and also show that we are still evolving What are the essential features that unite us as a species yet set us apart from the countless other species? This question has captivated human curiosity for millennia…
The wave of peaceful revolutions from South America to eastern Europe shows what can be achieved in the Middle East, writes Michael Ledeen For those of us who believe that the western world, and especially the United States, should support democratic revolution whenever possible, the past 25 years have been extraordinarily encouraging. Everyone knows about…
Despite often absurd economic policies, France has produced corporate powerhouses, says Maurice Lévy. Imagine what it could do with sensible ones Paradox – a statement or tenet contrary to received opinion or expectation; sometimes with favourable, sometimes with unfavourable connotation; from L. paradoxum, Oxford English Dictionary France is a paradox. This was well illustrated in…
Intellectual property rights are under attack – above all in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr Henry McKinnell argues that patent protection is vital. Without it, he says, huge benefits to science, health care, education and human life will be lost – Back in 1982 Pfizer was on the verge of shutting down a research programme run…
In this highly personal tract, Elie Wiesel argues that anti-Semitism, which he has devoted his life to exposing and destroying, is still with us At the end of his magnificent and disturbing novel The Plague, Albert Camus issues a warning. His hero, the famous humanist Dr Rieux, who survived the death of many of his…
Information technology has transformed how we perceive and deal with specific risks. But, says Kevan Watts, we still need to get better at managing how these risks interact We live in a world of risk. Everywhere risks are identified, analyzed and managed. It is not that risk is bad, although one might assume so from…
Some say that open source software development is anti-capitalist. Georg von Krogh believes that a combination of open source and proprietary development is best Open source software development is now a cultural as well as an economic phenomenon. Instead of the traditional model of software production, where companies hide the details of code for fear…
Jacques Vergès argues that the International Criminal Court is unconstitutional, applies statutes retrospectively and has unfair procedures. In short, it discredits justice itself Before asking whether some heads of state are deliberately violating international law, it would be useful to ask ourselves about the legality and, even more, the legitimacy of the institutions that are…
