Even in the age of the Internet, books remain the most practical means of obtaining knowledge. Yet in Beijing or Hanoi, the price of a book in Western medicine is equal to the monthly salary of a doctor. The cost to provide a basic library in modern medicine for each of China's 150 medical schools is beyond the means of the Ministry of Public Health.

The result is a calamity: faculty cannot keep current - students cannot learn what they should - and the system cannot produce enough well trained people to sustain the modernization of the countries.

Under these hardships, China produces more engineers than the U.S., and it manufactures its own microchips. That is a tribute to the determination of the Chinese people who inspire many of us at BTA as we imagine the other miracles they will perform once they gain equal access to knowledge.

China has vowed to create 100 world class universities, but universities are not built overnight, and it may take several generations to produce even a few UC Berkeley's. These countries cannot wait - they need massive inflows of Western books and materials now.

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