Friday's Washington Post had an interesting story about Iran's push to become a leader in the sciences. It highlights a visit to Sharif University of Technology in Tehran by Nobel laureate Burt Richter of Stanford Linear Accelerator Center:
"Mr. Richter is an example for us," explained Ismael Hosseini, a 23-year-old electrical engineering student who had managed to get a seat near the stage. "But soon I will be able to listen to an Iranian scientist who has received a Nobel Prize for his or her work," he said. "We are all studying and researching hard to receive this honor."
Iran's determination to develop what it says is a nuclear energy program is part of a broader effort to promote technological self-sufficiency and to see Iran recognized as one of the world's most advanced nations. The country's leaders, who three decades ago wrested the government away from a ruler they saw as overly dependent on the West, invest heavily in scientific and industrial achievement, but critics say government backing is sometimes erratic, leaving Iran's technological promise unfulfilled.
A few days ago we wrote about one of the products of the country's push for scientific excellence, theoretical physicist Yasaman Farzan, who was recently awarded one of the first Young Scientist Prizes from the the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.
