Lee Hadden writes: “The Scientist has an interesting story about the fate of science in Iraq.
“Rebuilding Iraqi Science” by Sam Jaffe is found in the July 14, 2003,
issue, beginning on page 22.
At the Natural History Museum, “The looting and destruction
continued. Then the looters became arsonists. Someone tried to light papers
in the library, and Rahab followed them in. After the fire started raging
and the firesetters fled, Rahab poured what little water he could find on
the flames, and then stamped out the rest with his shoes. At one point he
fell to the floor and used his hands to extinguish the flames.
Lee Hadden writes: “The Scientist has an interesting story about the fate of science in Iraq.
“Rebuilding Iraqi Science” by Sam Jaffe is found in the July 14, 2003,
issue, beginning on page 22.
At the Natural History Museum, “The looting and destruction
continued. Then the looters became arsonists. Someone tried to light papers
in the library, and Rahab followed them in. After the fire started raging
and the firesetters fled, Rahab poured what little water he could find on
the flames, and then stamped out the rest with his shoes. At one point he
fell to the floor and used his hands to extinguish the flames. Both hands
are thick with red blisters from his efforts. But Rahab succeeded. Three
different times he put out fires set by arsonists. The library, filled with
hundreds of thousands of books, journals, and scholarly papers on Iraq’s
natural history, were saved. Says Rahab: “I didn’t think about it. I just
knew I didn’t want the books to be lost.”
The Scientist will act as a conduit for getting equipment and offers
of help to Iraq. If interested in donating equipment or materials, or
offering collaborations, please contact the magazine at
[email protected] to receive specific directions about how to
package the material and where to send it. One idea: Donate old journals,
especially those published between 1990 and 2003, when sanctions forbade
their import.
Read more about it at: http://www.the-scientist.com/
“
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