21 Oct 2016 Bill Gates: Science is the Great Giver ( Portfolio )

Until about 1700, there was basically no development. Almost everybody was poor, many were sick. One of every four children died. Average life expectancy was about 40 years, and 99 percent of people were illiterate. But then science came along and we started inventing—electricity, the steam engine, antibiotics, sanitation, vaccines, microprocessors, genetic medicine. Science is the great giver—and we’re just at the beginning of what it can give.