Science, technology and development

Abstract

The purpose of these two papers is to discuss hypotheses which may help to explain the limited growth of science and technology in the under-developed economies, and to explain also the restricted social function of science in these countries. For the moment the discussion of what to do about this state of affairs - in other words about policies - is given a secondary place. This, not because policy is unimportant or irrelevant, but because policies which are worked out without adequate understanding of the problems they are meant to solve are unlikely to work. The purpose is to diagnose the existing state of affairs.