Editorial

The percentage of students who take up the science stream is very small compared to the population and the need of our country. The field of options available for the students who try for medical groups are as good as any of the physical science stream. The range is from geochemistry to biochemistry, textile chemistry to pharmaceuticals.

Whatever the field, one has to be prepared for a long trek to be a specialist in any field. A specialist is a research scientist who never assumes any result without experimentation. Innovation in the methods of analysis is also important.

Artificial colours and pesticides in vegetables and fruits can be easily found out by paper chromatography just as petroleum products are studied. Science has to percolate to the common man.

One studies the fastness of the colour of polyester fabrics as well as other dress materials. We feel the effect of radiation (sun-light) on the skin after passing through these fabrics should be studied not only for checking skin allergies but also for more serious consequences. There is a difference between the perception of colour, the colour (or wavelengths) transmitted and their physical and physiological and neurological effects.

If genetically altered poultry can give eggs which can combat cancer, will the vegetables and fruits genetically altered by the application of radiation will also be good? Have they any adverse effects?

We have a lot to study. We need for the progress of India, not battalions of scientists but divisions! Larger the number of scientists of quality, greater the synergy and the effect is that there are more number of scientists of very high calibre in that group. Quantity and quality are not contradictory, at least in science.