Over the course of
human history, many of the greatest scientific and technological advancements
have originated in Europe. European nations
have a rich history of producing some of the most influential thinkers ever to
live, and the pursuit of scientific innovation in Europe
has long been supported by leaders and citizens alike. The pervasive interest in scientific
development present in many European nations has resulted in the invention of
the steam engine, the mechanical clock, the microscope, the light bulb, the refrigerator,
and countless other items which are today considered indispensable. Europe’s focus on the sciences has also led
to a number of the most important medical breakthroughs in human history; the Dutch
physician Andreas Vesalius is
known as the father of human anatomy; the English doctor William Harvey was the
first to describe the human circulatory system; and the Hungarian physician Ignaz
Semmelweis was the first doctor to introduce hand disinfection standards,
drastically reducing germ-related fatalities.
This is to say nothing of the tremendous contributions of European
nations to the social sciences, including Wilhelm Wundt, the father of modern
psychology, and the three men generally credited with founding modern
sociology, Max Weber, Émile Durkheim, and Karl Marx.
In recent times, the
involvement of the European Union in the scientific and medical communities has
been no less prevalent. A little over a
decade ago, scientists belonging to the Fraunhofer Society in Germany developed
the MP3 compression algorithm, which is currently used by nearly all music
production companies. French scientists
from Joseph Fourier
University have provided some of the
most tangible evidence for global warming by measuring CO2 and methane levels
in ice samples taken from Antarctica. In the medical field, doctors from Berlin were the first to discover a cure for HIV by
performing a specialized bone-marrow transplant on a patient with the disease,
and researchers at Oxford University in England recently developed a
preliminary vaccine for Dengue Fever, a disease which afflicts 230 million
people annually. Additionally, Several
European Union countries are at the forefront of gene therapy treatments for
patients with otherwise fatal diseases.
In the past couple of years, doctors at the French National Institute
for Health and Medical Research have used gene therapy to halt the progression
of adrenoleukodystrophy, a fatal neurodegenerative disease, on two separate
occasions.
Unfortunately, the
future of scientific progress in the European Union appears less certain than
it has in decades. The general public
seems to be caught up in some sort of fundamental religious fervor, and as a result
the leaders of many European nations have begun to condemn scientific progress
in the hopes of appeasing their citizens.
It is crucial that this trend be reversed, or else it will invariably result
in drastically reduced funding in the areas of science, technology, and
medicine, and Europe may very well find itself
in a new Dark Age. I may be slightly
overstating the problem, but I do believe it is necessary to convince the
public that their religious values are not irreconcilable with the idea of
scientific progress; that it is truly in their best interest to support the various
scientific fields. To do this, I plan on
releasing a number of public service announcements, television shows and radio programs designed to make issues relating
to science and technology more accessible to the general population. I will also seek funding from the governments of several nations with the goal of establishing scientific education centers throughout the European Union. I believe the main problem is that the public
does not understand much of what is undertaken by scientists and researchers,
and as a result many people feel alienated by these new ideas and instead turn to what is familiar, which includes fundamental religious values.
As of right now, it is my responsibility to familiarize the public with current
technological and medical developments, and to make people realize that religion
and science are far from incompatible.
-David Willetts, Minister of Science, European Union
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