ABSTRACT
The book has on the whole paid great attention to aspects and factors believed to have had an impact on forming the scientific elite in China. This concluding chapter will first summarize the findings and highlight their significance. To become a CAS member is more than to reach the highest academic rank and to achieve an eminent status in science, because scientists are supposed to offer expert opinion and make decisions in addition to producing knowledge—the expert's role is to highlight the issues by providing the relevant information and to be prepared to enter the realm of controversy, while the policy maker has to weigh up the information and make decisions (Salomon 2000: 38). Therefore, the chapter will examine the societal roles this group of scientists have played in areas related to their expertise and as intellectuals. Finally, by taking a historical and comparative perspective, the chapter also tries to reach a better understanding of China's scientific elite.
