General Assembly Session 58 meeting 90

The President

I call on the representative of Lesotho to introduce draft resolution A/58/L.62.

Mr. Moleko (Lesotho)

I have the honour to speak on behalf of Brazil, France, Portugal, the Principality of Monaco, Singapore, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and my own country, Lesotho, in order to introduce draft resolution A/58/L.62, entitled "International Year of Physics, 2005".

In 1905, Albert Einstein, then working at the patent office in Bern, Switzerland, published several scientific articles which profoundly influenced our understanding of the universe we live in. He introduced utterly revolutionary ideas on fundamental questions such as the existence of atoms, the nature of light and the concepts of time and space, energy and matter. He thus opened the way to most of the twentieth-century developments of physics.

Last year, at the initiative of the European Society of Physics and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adapted a resolution proclaiming 2005, the hundredth anniversary of those great scientific achievements, the International Year of physics. Furthermore, in that resolution, the States members of UNESCO asked the General Assembly to do the same.

The aim of the International Year goes beyond the mere celebration of one of the greatest minds in physics of the twentieth century. The Year will provide the world with an opportunity for the largest possible audience to acknowledge the progress and the importance of this great field of science. One will remember that, for example, transistors, computers, lasers and magnetic resonance imagery are pure products of recent decades of fundamental research in physics laboratories, where tomorrow's materials and information technologies are worked out today.

We can stimulate the interest of young people to pursue scientific careers and revive in them a taste for the scientific approach: this must be a national as well as a worldwide endeavour. It is indeed essential to understand that the twenty-first century will have an increasing need for the concepts and the tools provided by the physical sciences in finding solutions to major problems that confront us, such as energy production, environmental protection and even public health.

The international year of physics should also be an occasion to begin a prospective debate on the great need for scientific research in the twenty-first century. The spectacular accomplishments of the past 10 years towards the infinitely small of particles, the infinitely large of the cosmos and the infinitely complex of the states of matter bring fascinating prospects to science as a whole. The history of the sciences teaches us to remember and appreciate that there are always great enigmas in the fundamental laws of the universe of matter, of life as well as the human mind and that the twenty-first century will undoubtedly bring about many scientific surprises.

The debates will also have to relate to all the social issues that accompany the practice of science in general and of physics in particular. It is essential to better evaluate its role in the general culture of humankind. If one measures the impact of the physical sciences on the development of new technologies, one will undoubtedly recognise its importance for the necessary progress of the developing countries. In this respect, the ethical responsibilities of physicists are enormous as well as challenging. The international year of physics will allow all practitioners -- especially women, who are still largely excluded from this field of research -- to participate more actively in its advancement. Political leaders will have to be convinced of the paramount importance of research in physics for the advancement of mankind. The spirit of this celebration is thus directly linked to the Millennium Development Goals.

Countries around the world are preparing special events to celebrate the international year of physics under the sponsorship of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The launching of the year will take place at UNESCO headquarters in Paris from 13 to 15 January 2005.

Already, more than 60 countries in Africa, in Asia, in the Pacific, in Latin America, in North America, in Europe and in the Middle East have started to establish their programmes for the celebrations. These programmes are financed by public and scientific institutions, as well as by private sponsors. Some of the topics to be discussed are the promotion of physics to populations, physics in teaching, physics as the basis of many disciplines and of new scientific and technical developments, the great challenges of the twenty-first century, physics in developing countries and physics for development, and women and physics.

If the General Assembly should declare 2005 the international year of physics, it would strengthen the scope of these celebrations and these discussions. It is not often that physics or anything to do with physics is discussed in this Hall. It is a privilege for me to introduce this draft resolution for the Assembly's support and I would urge members to adopt it by acclamation.

Finally, I want to announce that Croatia and Saint Kitts and Nevis have joined the list of co-sponsors of the draft resolution.

The President

The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/58/L.62.

May I take it that the Assembly wishes to adopt the draft resolution?

The President

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 169?