the state of science in south africa
P R E F A C E
tional Research Foundation (NRF) funding in many cases. Compilation of a book of this nature
is unavoidably high-risk in that it purports to provide an overview of the state of science in
each of the disciplines, an ambitious task indeed, and one that is likely to leave a number
of gaps in important sub-disciplinary fields. Our view is that the hosting of the prestigious
TWAS conference presented an opportunity to reflect on the status of South African science
and that this collection should be viewed as a work in progress, and one that will hopefully
have a further life after the hosting of the TWAS conference, perhaps in future editions. This
initial collection can then be developed further and improved upon, without some of the
serious time and other constraints that the Academy has faced in its present compilation.
The introductory chapter by Johann Mouton and Wieland Gevers traces the long and in-
teresting history of South African scientific endeavour, highlighting the post-World War II
boom in science, marked by the establishment of large strategic industries and the Council
for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), supporting rapid technological development
and industrialisation; the ensuing proliferation of other science councils; the development
under anti-apartheid siege of a considerable energy and military/defence research industry;
and an increasing focus on research at some of South Africa’s established universities, such
that the 960s and 970s came to be referred to as an apparently thriving period of South
African science. This was soon overtaken by progressive isolation of South African science
and scientists and serious damage to the science system marked by massive emigration of
the country’s talent, both young and old, related to the apartheid government policies and
their internal and external consequences. The major interventions of the new democratic
government in the post-994 era are documented, of which the establishment of a separate
Ministry/Department of Science and Technology (DST) is the most noteworthy. Aspects of
public higher education institutions in South Africa relevant to their research capacity are
described, including the complex array of ‘historically black’ and ‘historically white’ tertiary
institutions, the evaluation or ‘rating’ system of individual scientists operated by the NRF, and
a number of inter-dependent national and institutional policies, that have greatly increased
the productivity of the country’s active researchers. Bibliometric evidence, documenting
these changes, is provided, as part of an overview of the human capital base and internation-
al visibility of South African science. The chapter concludes by noting that the full mobilisa-
tion of the whole talent pool of the nation is both the biggest challenge and simultaneously,
the greatest opportunity in advancing the country’s science.
Against this backdrop, the disciplinary chapters follow, each with its own character and em-
phasis. In some chapters, the focus is on the human capital and infrastructure base, in others
it is on the research foci and contributions to knowledge, and in at least one chapter, the
emphasis is on an analysis of the circumstances that gave rise to the current state of the dis-
cipline rather than a survey of its state. The diversity enriches the text and provides insights
to the distinctive challenges that each discipline faces.
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