About the education section

In Britain and many other ‘Western, developed’ countries, young people are turning away from maths and the ‘hard’ sciences as they choose their A-level subjects — the ones they study for their final years at school. Those that do choose those subjects often don’t go on to study them at university. Those that do take those subjects at degree level often don’t choose science careers on graduation.

We are not saying that this section of the SCW website could reverse this haemorrhage of talent … but it could be one part of the attempt. Computing opens up opportunities for rapid fulfilment, seeing outcomes (or at least potential for outcomes), and intermediate results relatively quickly after starting an investigation.We hope this section could serve as one exchange for exciting ideas and one showcase for the appeal of science.

In developing countries, the situation is different. There is a thirst for knowledge about science and technology but all too often the latest techniques are too expensive to be adopted. Here too computing can help. In addition to the commercial software, open source or public domain programs are also available that can be used almost anywhere to introduce young people to the excitement of the world of science.

This section of the SCW website is not going to reverse underdevelopment, but education has always been the traditional and most effective route out of poverty.

And just in case we’re getting too serious . . . We hope this section will be fun, as well!

Tom Wilkie
Chairman and Editor-in-Chief,
Europa Science Ltd