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Dr Anne-Maria Brennan calls for the need to protect cultural heritage of scientific discoveries
"Science not communicated is science not done" urges LSBU Associate Professor in Bioscience and Forensic Biology Dr Anne-Maria BrennanDr Anne-Maria Brennan, Associate Professor in the School of Applied Sciences and member of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, helped highlight the need to protect the cultural heritage of scientific discoveries at a UNESCO conference in Paris.
This is just one of a number of initiatives Dr Anne-Maria Brennan has been involved in as a member of a partner organisation in the UNESCO International Year of Light and Light Based Technologies.
Dr Brennan states: “When people think of world heritage they think of the Grand Canyon, Stonehenge and St Paul's Cathedral. Yet the United Nations is committed to recognising and protecting the world’s educational and scientific heritage.
“Along with safeguarding the original documents, we must ensure they are translated and both the originals and translations are scanned so they are available for researchers to use online. After all, science not communicated is science not done!
“One of the enduring features of science is that each generation of scientists owes a debt to the findings of those who have gone before. Isaac Newton expressed this eloquently when he said 'If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants'.”
Dr Brennan continued: “The work of past scientists is under threat. Many historic documents are held in parts of the world that are experiencing unrest, terrorism and war. This has led to a global network of researchers who I refer to as the ‘documents men and women’, who, like the ‘monuments men’ before them can end up taking great risks to save these great works. This is particularly true in the areas associated with the ancient Silk Road, along which science flourished for over a millennium.”