Words: Nuno Maulide
Introduction Words: Cláudia Pinto
Photo: Pedro Afonso
“We are all born 100 years before we come into the world.” This is the idea of the Portuguese author and journalist Fátima Campos Ferreira, who describes the family
tree as a “cultural broth”.
We are influenced by those who were born before us, who lived before us, and who brought us into the world. From that day on, we are a sponge that absorbs knowledge,
first through imitation, in a kind of osmosis, and then through acquired skills that develop throughout our lives.
It is not only physically that this legacy is perpetuated. It is customary for us to compare our physical characteristics with those of the people who conceived us. The body speaks, but the mind even more so. We always think like those who taught us and are deeply influenced by the context that surrounds us. This context influenced our parents, who were influenced by our grandparents, in a line of (almost) endless inheritance. Indeed, we are never the same, but it is certain that we absorb much from those who have gone before us because that is the most genuine teaching they have to offer us. We become their heirs: of their thoughts, their traditions, their teachings, their values and their stories, which sooner or later merge with ours and become our heritage.
Legacy can be explained as “that which is transmitted to others who come after”. It can take different forms, with the most poetic form of this term referring to a non-physical and non-textual transmission, such as teachings, values, traditions… But heritage can also be material, and can be found in the streets, with monuments commemorating one or another of the city’s achievements. It can be found in art, which has the particular
(and difficult) task of combining a physical component with an immaterial heritage.
But how can legacy be measured?
Is it even possible? Can science give a scientific answer to a notion that emerges almost from the soul? We talk to Nuno Maulide, a chemist and professor of chemistry, who speaks about science in an informal way. One of his missions is to demystify science and make it accessible to everyone. Legacy in Science and the Complex Web of Knowledge are the words he leaves us with, in this issue so characterised by the notions of legacy.
Scientific Legacy and the Complex Web of Knowledge
by Nuno Maulide
On a regular basis, we are confronted with the big questions on who we are, where we
are going and how our past made us who we are today. The notion of legacy emerges as a guiding principle in this thought process. Could it be that we are, in fact, a product of our past?
Modern science, often considered to be a beacon of progress, follows an incremental paradigm. Each discovery comes about based on those that were made before it, in an endless process of refinement and expansion. We are standing on “the shoulders of giants”, as Isaac Newton put it. Science, by nature, is a cumulative legacy, where each response to a scientific problem generates new, thought-provoking questions.
From this perspective, it’s also interesting to note that Science is a (global) ecosystem of ideas, where individual contributions become intertwined with collective knowledge. Radical discoveries are often born of “serendipity”, an accidental discovery
which defies established logic.
This paradigm, though effective, comes with its own “bone of contention”. As soon as tradition begins pulling its weight, it makes it difficult to break with the status quo. And herein lies, in the end, the underlying paradox: on the one hand, tradition is vital
for knowledge to be enduring: on the other, innovation requires that we break down these very same traditions. Diversity and inclusiveness emerge as additional factors that contribute to this complex equation. Science has a responsibility to be
fertile ground, welcoming different points of view, as it is through the combination of different cultures and origins that we truly are able to challenge paradigms. True innovation arises almost always through a synergy between varied minds.
So, while Science embraces its legacy and builds on its accumulated knowledge, it is also vital that it embraces diversity as a catalyst for innovation. Inclusiveness is not just an ethical principle; it is a necessary strategy to break with the traditions that can, inadvertently, perpetuate inequalities.
The bottom line is this: yes, we are products of our past, but it’s up to us to mould this legacy to make it an inclusive, dynamic and progressive one. In this dialogue between past, present and future, Science is as much a witness as it is a protagonist. Its evolution reflects not only the search for objective truth, but also the constant reinvention of who we are and where we are heading. The legacy of Science, as a result, is history under permanent construction, with every experiment, discovery and innovative mind contributing to those chapters still waiting to be written.
