Description
This paper was presented as the first annual John Gerhart Memorial Lecture at the conference of the Africa Genome Initiative held in Cairo in March 2004. In Africa in the Age of Biology, Dr James discusses Africa's long history of scientific, technological and mathematical enterprise, from tokens of the very earliest counting by humans to the sum of knowledge brought to bear in the construction of the pyramids. But he focuses on the challenges of today, and tomorrow, which he suggests Africa's leaders and scholars dare not overlook. Dr James argues that Africa stands challenged to act on its own initiative to focus investment beyond the scale of NEPAD's initiatives, provide political leadership and direct scholarly attention on making the most of genetic developments for the benefit of its populations.

About the Author
Dr Wilmot James is executive director of the Social Cohesion and Integration research programme of the HSRC, based in Cape Town. He is an honorary professor of the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town; an extraordinary professor of sociology of the University of Pretoria; and was recently elected a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAF). Dr James was a Moore Fellow at the California
Institute of Technology for the 2003-2004 academic year.