Science for the Globe
David Baltimore*
Science and technology (S&T) can be viewed from many angles. At this year's annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which starts on 14 February in Boston, we look at them from a global perspective. Our ever-shrinking, flattening world invites a global focus on almost any issue. But in the United States, national competitiveness is often the key concern driving S&T policy, whereas the global perspective, which comes naturally to many scientists, is given short shrift. Indeed, a host of topics come to the fore when S&T are viewed globally, including international cooperation on big science projects, economic development, worldwide treatment and prevention of infectious disease, responses to climate change, and mitigation of global warming. In planning the annual meeting, it was evident that all elements had international dimensions, and the meeting reflects this reality.
David Baltimore is president of the AAAS and Robert A. Millikan Professor of Biology at the California Institute of Technology. E-mail: baltimo{at}caltech.edu.
