A Century of Nobel Prizes: Science And Humanism - Renewing Dialogue Between Scientific and Humanist Culture Paris, France 8 - 10 April 1999 This meeting brings together Nobel laureates, young scientists, sociologists and philosophers. Topics under discussion will include the universality of human rights, the present changes in science, and the interactions between science and society, science and traditions. The symposium will result in a declaration to be presented at the World Science Conference. The symposium, under the patronage of Jacques Chirac, President of France, and chaired by Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO, aims to renew the dialogue between the two cultures, science and humanism. The 20th century, coming to an end, has been marked by unprecedented progress in scientific knowledge, but also by major setbacks for humanity - totalitarism and genocide. The resulting "general disenchantment" is in keeping with the present radical reassessment of the idea of progress. Modern science and the notion of human rights, which share a common origin - Enlightenment - are today equally contested. In creating the prize that bears his name, Alfred Nobel was one of the first to link scientific progress to the development of peace and the bringing together of peoples. The Nobel prizes will serve as the leitmotiv throughout the symposium, which will study interaction between the development of scientific knowledge and the evolution of society. | |
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