Post-Mubarak Era Seen as Opening for Science

摘要

"Cairo writes, Beirut prints, Baghdad reads." That old saying underscores the importance of Egypt as the traditional center of creativity and learning in the Arab world. As the country's universities prepare to reopen on 26 February after a youth-powered revolution toppled the government, Egyptian and foreign researchers see an opportunity to elevate science, if decades of neglect and corruption can be overcome. "We feel optimistic now that in a free country, with transparency, we will be able to innovate," says Karimat El Sayed, a prominent physicist at Ain Shams University in Cairo. "There's a whole new spirit here," adds Farouk El-Baz, a Boston University earth scientist who arrived in the Egyptian capital last week to discuss the future of science and technology with colleagues in his home country: "There will be more power, time, and money for research." He and other