Jacques Richardson was an author and journalist with wide-ranging interests in science and engineering and in Asian-Pacific civilizations. He served in World War II, was awarded a BA from the University of Michigan in 1947, and began his journalistic career as sub-editor for a weekly newspaper chain focusing on production systems. He went on to become chief correspondent for International Science and Technology, then European director of the American journal Innovation, and later deputy director of the French monthly La Recherche.
From 1972 to 1985 Jacques was head of UNESCO’s Science and Society Section and editor of the seven-language quarterly review, Impact of Science on Society. He was a consultant to UNESCO, UNDP and national governments on environmental management in West Africa and Ethiopia, and for a quarter-century served on the Technology, Culture and International Stability Committee of the International Federation of Automation Control. He edited Integrated Technology Transfer (1974), Models of Reality: Shaping Thought and Action (1984), Managing the Ocean: Resources, Research, Law (1985), a 35-chapter compendium on the complexities inherent in the new Law of the Sea, and Windows on Creativity and Invention (1988) while co-editing many other publications. He contributed hundreds of articles to diverse specialized journals, including Nature and Sciences et Avenir, and was the author of Caring for the Future (1996) and War, Science and Terrorism: From Laboratory to Open Conflict (2002).
It is difficult if not impossible to do justice to the legacy of Jacques Richardson, diplomat, brilliant writer, truly a Homo politicus, global citizen and—above all—a gentleman. In 2021, at the age of 97, he published an article about the yellow-vest movement in France, so aptly titled Once and future purchasing power, the yellow vests and populist economics. Jacques was always a wizard at titles and headings; e.g. our last joint article, on the global North-South divide: Global map appears—peoples colonized—world fractured: how long can the North-South divide endure?
Jacques and I worked long and hard together, especially over the last ten years. The (hypothetical) acronym for this extraordinary relationship might have read BAU (Business as Unusual): an attempt at jointly reaching number 42 which, according to Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. When crafting joint publications, we frequently had phone exchanges several times a day—Jacques called them telecoms. Whenever I gave Jacques a buzz, our conversation began with something like: “Good morning, Jacques. This is Walter calling. How are you today?” “Good morning, my friend. I think I’m alright.” Hard business talk would follow. When we differed, we tried to reach consensus and even had our own code of collaborative ethics: if one of us could not agree on an issue, even a minute editorial detail, we would not take it aboard—from lofty ideas about the history, foundations and philosophy of science to the humble use of quotation marks.
I first met Jacques in November 2003 when I launched the so-called History Project to document the history of the natural sciences at UNESCO. Many colleagues thought it was “mission impossible” but it turned out to be a huge success—finally releasing, in 2006, Sixty Years of Science at UNESCO, 1945–2005, in English and French. The book was a collaborative effort of more than sixty authors, including many former and current staff members, scientists, and historians of science and of international organizations inside and outside UNESCO. Jacques not only wrote five contributions but was one of the editors, specifically coordinating Part IV on Science and Society.
Years without contact followed until, in 2008, the Richardson and Erdelen families met in the streets of Dourdan, nearest town and marketplace close to our new home in Sermaise to which we had moved from Paris in 2005 and also the area where Jacques and his wife Erika usually spent their weekends (in Authon-la-Plaine). We had become neighbors living just a quarter-hour drive away from each other. In 2013, after discussing various scientific topics, Jacques suggested we write “something” about complexity. The “complexity bug” had caught us, but bringing this idea to fruition would require another five years of travel along a “long and winding road” (sensu the Beatles’ song) until the release by Routledge in 2019 of Managing Complexity: Earth Systems and Strategies for the Future. As Jacques wrote on 31 October 2021:
Our idea for the book on complexity dates from autumn 2013, when we began about a year of reading and reflection on this highly detailed topic. We launched writing a year later—which lasted another 3.5 years. The period was prolonged by a false start with a book editor who could not grasp “complexity,” then finding a second publisher and the detailed arrangements necessary. Simultaneously we began imagining journal articles constructible on the foundations of most of our book’s chapters. The experience has been a rewarding combination of self-learning and close mutual assistance. I am pleased to state to my co-author that I am delighted by the adventure.
Jacques’ writings in futures studies and prospective strategy mirrored his preferred areas of interest: the interface between the natural sciences, engineering and society, the identification of grand systemic challenges and ways towards their solutions. He was outstanding in popularizing science and engineering themes; as the publisher of his book Windows on Creativity and Invention put it:
The breadth and depth of his [Jacques’] understanding of science, his knowledge of the history of systems, and his insights into the effects of science and invention have been the key to his success in bringing messages of outstanding scientists and interpreters of knowledge and its impact throughout the world into books related to salient themes—a journey most pleasant.
When Jacques handed me a copy, he had pasted the following text on the flyleaf (names originally typed in black, text in blue, the word flame in red):
Jacques was not only interested in learning from the past, e.g. through backcasting: his primary focus was always the future. Can we make any statements about what is still to come? Clear answer: “Yes we can” but to a limited extent only. It’s in essence the complexity of systems and their dynamics which impedes exact predictions. Buzzwords: foresight, anticipation, future scenarios, or even science fiction prototyping. This interest is reflected in Jacques’ many years’ membership in the editorial team of one of the most well-known journals in the field: Foresight, in which he published some 90 articles.
Our joint publications in Foresight include: The Anthropocene: age of complexity, foresight and innovation (2018), Human migration: managing its increasing complexity (2019), 2030 is tomorrow: transformative change for a mistreated mother Earth (2020)—on the UN development goals, and our last joint paper, on the North-South divide. In 2021 we had published two articles, in Global Policy and the International Journal of Environmental Studies, focused on A world after COVID-19, characterized by a Great Deceleration, and the design of what is Needed yesterday: a world that never was with new ideals, more rational objectives and more rewarding ways of life, facilitated through a Great Reset and the transformation to sustainability. Futures studies indeed.
Paraphrasing the last paragraph of our book on complexity:
Notwithstanding the orderliness of the UN and its approaches to complex problems and, conversely, the irregularity and, often, chaos of terrorism, the risk of system abuse will not disappear … Are there still further complexities for Earth’s inhabitants on their trajectory towards—as expressed in the preamble of the Earth Charter—a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace?
Special thanks, Jacques, for having been my compagnon de route on the road towards this lofty goal.
Thanks to Keith Jarrett and Manu Katché—their music accompanied and inspired my writing.
I am most grateful to the Hon. Margaret Austin, David Dent, and Jacques’ daughters who read drafts of this obituary and suggested improvements.
Jacques Gabriel Richardson, American citizen, born 20 January 1924 in Baltimore, Maryland to John Benjamin Richardson and Adrienne Marguerite (Bit) Richardson; served in the United States Army in World War II (awarded a Bronze Star), later in the Department of the Army and the Officers’ Reserve Corps (1948–1953); studied international relations, organizations and law at Georgetown University Graduate School, 1951–52; spoke French and Japanese. Jacques had membership in, inter alia, the British Interplanetary Society, l’Association des journalistes scientifiques de la presse d’information, the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and l’Ordre du mérite social de Belgique, and was a founding member of the International Council for the Advancement of Science Writing; his interests included photography, music, woodworking, history and biography. A 60-year resident of France and a widower, Jacques passed away on 1 April 2022 in Paris, survived by his daughters Pam, Misha, and Catherine, residents, with their families, of the U.S., Japan and Germany, respectively.
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