I look forward every year to receiving my copy of the Irish Scientist Yearbook. This year's special millennium edition has just been issued. It is the biggest and most comprehensive yearbook of the eight that have been published to date.
The purpose of the yearbook is to provide a snapshot overview of Irish science and, as such, it is of great interest to scientists, Government Departments and agencies, and to the general public.
It is available from all major book and magazine shops and it has also been distributed widely, e.g. to all TDs, all Northern Ireland Assembly Members, and to every second level school library, North and South.
The current bumper issue of 248 pages contains 313 articles, and over 500 colour illustrations. The majority of the articles describe research work in our third level colleges, and articles are also contributed by a wide range of State, semi-state, industrial, commercial, medical and private institutions.
My first reaction to the millennium yearbook is a feeling of satisfaction at the vibrant health of Irish science. The yearbook naturally can describe only a fraction of the research projects underway in Ireland, but one has to be impressed by the range, quality and relevance of the work that is being done.
Science was woefully underfunded in the State until the 1990s, but that situation has now changed dramatically. The ball was set in motion by the 1995 report of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Advisory Council on the importance of STI in a modern high-tech economy. This was followed by the first White Paper here on Irish science published by Pat Rabbitte in 1996.
The Government committed itself to supporting science and funds started to flow. The Government recently targeted information and communications technology and biotechnology as two strategic areas for development and established Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) to oversee allocation of £560 million to establish world-class centres of excellence in these areas in Ireland. SFI and other funding initiatives are described in the millennium yearbook.
The current, and greatly welcomed, support for science is mainly motivated by the realisation of the importance of science-based technology to our economy. But let us not forget the other vitally important reason for supporting science - it is a hugely important cultural activity. It explains the workings of the natural world and it is well worth doing for this reason alone.
No modern society that didn't support basic scientific research could call itself civilised. We must be careful not to drift into a situation where the only scientific proposals deemed worthy of funding are those that promise to produce a quick monetary profit.
The millennium yearbook is packed with interesting information and I can only briefly refer to a few items. For example, there is a report from the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Awareness Programme run by Forfas, assessing the public attitude to STI. Only about one third of Irish adults feel well informed about science and technology and very many believe entry requirements for third level courses in science are much higher than they actually are.
Prof Tom Cotter, Biochemistry Department, UCC, contributed an interesting article on apoptosis - the natural mechanism of controlled cell death. He won the 1999 Boyle Medal awarded by the Royal Dublin Society and The Irish Times for scientific work of exceptional merit carried out in Ireland.
Life is a balancing act between build-up and breakdown. The human body contains trillions of cells. The cells in many tissues regularly divide in two by a process called mitosis. However, the total number of cells remains the same because cells also die off via apoptosis. Every year the average human loses and replaces half their body weight by apoptosis/mitosis.
Other reports that caught my attention in the yearbook include "Sleeping May Be Bad For Your Health" (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland), "The Space Technology Group" (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), "Molecular Nanotechnology" (TCD), "Defective Fat Oxidation and Cot Death" (UCD), "The Effect of Mobile Phone Use On Driving Performance" (UL), and "The Distance Between the Moon and the Earth in the Geological Past" (UCC).
My favourite article in the yearbook is by Conor Foley, a student at Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Blarney, Co Cork. Conor describes the project that won him first prize in the Junior Individual Section, chemistry, physics and maths category, of the ESAT Telecom Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2000.
He investigated the aerodynamics behind how soccer players "bend" the ball when taking free kicks - known technically as the Magnus Effect. Conor built his own wind tunnel to study the air currents around various types of spinning footballs. He demonstrated the origins of the Magnus Effect and showed that the rougher the surface of the ball the greater the effect. Conor wrote his piece in the first person and you can experience the pleasure and excitement he felt as he worked his way through his project. This is what research is all about.
The Irish Scientist Millennium Yearbook (£7 paperback, £12 hardback), is available from book shops or from the publisher, Sampton Ltd, 17 Pine Lawn, Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin (Tel. 01-2896186). The Yearbook is edited by Dr Charles Mollan.
William Reville is a Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry and Director of Microscopy at UCC.