Editorial – Insignificant details, pleasure and discovery
Marcel Proust, the great French writer, is best known for his book À la recherche du temps perdu. Memories take the central role in the novel, where apparently insignificant details prove to be the most important. A well-known scene is when a madeleine cake allows the narrator to experience the past completely, as a whole, in resonance with his present existence. Marcel Proust showed, though his wonderful writing, that recognising the importance of apparently insignificant details is a source of pleasure and happiness.
Editorial – Horizon 2020, opportunities for research and commitment to society
In a not so remote past, scientists were a close-knit society, spending much of their time in isolated laboratories or academic institutions, sometimes referred to as ivory towers. Now however, on a par with globalization and the emergence of the information-based society, there is a growing commitment of scientists to share knowledge and opinions with society in general. And indeed it is a duty to explain how public funds are employed in the development of basic science and technology for the advancement of society…
