A small circle of knowledge, a large circle of ignorance.

نویسنده

M Alexander

چکیده

Carl Sandburg, in his "The People, Yes," writes of the meeting of an Indian and a white man. The latter, impressed with his own importance, draws a small circle in the sand and says, "This is what the white man knows." The Indian, the much wiser of the two, draws an enormous circle and then correctly points out, "This is where the white man and the red man know nothing." Sandburg's story is an appropriate way of introducing a few summary remarks about this symposium. Just a few years ago, shortly before most of the research presented here was initiated, our knowledge could be described by a small circle. As a result of the work presented at this symposium as well as the work of other scientists and engineers in the last few years, we can view our accomplishments as the somewhat larger circle. However, in reality, the present status is best described by the enormous circle drawn in the sand by the wise Indian. Our ignorance of the topic far outstrips our knowledge. Although much has been accomplished, we still face a vast circle of ignorance. I shall illustrate some of the areas of ignorance, but clearly the choices represent only a small sampling, and those issues are derived from my experience. The conference is concerned with biodegradation to reduce toxicity and exposure. The various presentations have clearly demonstrated that biodegradation does, in fact, often accomplish these ends; however, any objective evaluation of a technology must consider not only its benefits but also its risks. The benefits of the technological uses of biodegradation, specifically in the area of bioremediation, are great. In some instances there can and likely will be an

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