archive-1: SETI Sagan: Should scientists become players in public policy?
SETI Sagan: Should scientists become players in public policy?
Larry Klaes ( lklaes@bbn.com )
Wed, 27 Jan 1999 13:55:13 -0500
>Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 09:23:24 CST6CDT,3,-1,0,7200,10,-1,0,10800,3600
>X-OldDate: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 07:24:26 -0800 (PST)
>Sender: carlsagan-owner <carlsagan-owner@craigerware.avalon.net>
>Reply-To: "Carl Sagan List" <carlsagan@craigerware.avalon.net>
>From: TracyEllen <tracy75@yahoo.com>
>To: SAGAN LIST <carlsagan@craigerware.avalon.net>
>Subject: Sagan: Should scientists become players in public policy?
>
>This is a very interesting article which brings to light an important
>issue. It's somewhat related to the earlier post concerning the
>current lack of 'superstar scientists' who focus public attention on
>issues of tremendous importance. In my opinion it SHOULD be public
>policy for scientists/science to be involved in all public debates.
>Seems like good common sense to me.
>
>Tracy
>
>Should Scientists Become Players In Public Policy Debate?
>
>ANAHEIM, Calif. - As the 20th century draws to a close, scientists are
>under increasing pressure - and some say, obligation - to use their
>research data and their status to influence public policy. That
>decision to mix politics with science, says Mary Jo Nye, is fraught
>with peril.
>
>The Horning Professor of Humanities at Oregon State University, Nye
>delivered the annual George Sarton Memorial Lecture Sunday at the
>annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of
>Science (AAAS) in Anaheim, Calif.
>
>In her talk, Nye said that scientists who choose to take public stands
>on issues risk attack from members of the public who question their
>objectivity and neutrality, and from fellow scientists who may dispute
>their interpretation of data, or feel that science and politics should
>not mix. When scientists argue publicly over data, or accuse each
>other of partiality, public confidence in science can be undermined.
>
>However, Nye added, if scientists do not become involved in public
>policy debates, the result can be a decision-making process involving
>complex, critical issues that aren't fully understood.
>
>"Scientists have come to feel a social and political responsibility to
>bring scientific and technical data to the public in order to
>influence decisions on complicated matters of national and global
>significance - not only questions of war and peace...but on specific
>strategies for armament and disarmament, for nuclear energy and
>nuclear waste, for endangered species and natural habitats, and for
>global temperature change," Nye said.
>
>Nye is a professor of the history of science at Oregon State
>University, which is the alma mater of the late Linus Pauling, the
>only individual to win two unshared Nobel Prizes. Pauling was one
>major 20th century scientist who discovered the rewards, and hazards,
>of taking a public stand on a controversial issue and of arguing with
>fellow scientists in public, Nye said.
>
>Pauling's efforts to halt the testing of atomic weapons garnered him
>the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize, but also earned the wrath of fellow
>scientists and the alienation of some academic and government leaders.
>
>The chasm separating science and politics first began to close during
>World War I, when chemists became involved in their respective
>governments' efforts to create chemical weapons. Several scientists on
>both sides of the Atlantic Ocean became involved, either in protesting
>the war or signing manifestos defending their country's actions.
>
>A small group of scientists led by Albert Einstein advocated that
>scientists band together and not become involved in war-related
>research or governmental advocacy, Nye said.
>
>"When the war ended, though, most of these scientists went back to
>doing what they were doing before the war, which usually was
>unrelated," Nye pointed out.
>
>A second major phase that brought scientists into the public arena
>occurred in the 1920s and 1930s, when the stock market had crashed and
>Fascism was on the rise. A handful of scientists led by Paul Langevin
>and Jean Perrin took on highly visible roles in socialist,
>anti-fascist, and pacifist organizations - all committed toward
>improving the lives of the working class.
>
>"Politically, it was very much a 'campaign for science,'" Nye said,
>"which stressed the need for broader scientific education, increased
>funding for scientific research and better coordination of fundamental
>and applied research. The assumption was that socialism was better for
>science than was capitalism or fascism."
>
>At the same time, a group of left-wing scientists in Britain began
>writing newspaper and magazine articles, and organizing fellow
>scientists to discuss their responsibilities to improve education and
>industry as well as science. Then during World War II, the Manhattan
>Project and other war-related research took the question of scientific
>involvement to a new level, Nye said. Questions arose as to whether
>scientists should study atomic energy for military use - and whether
>new research findings should be kept secret or shared. Once the atomic
>bomb was developed and used, would the United States share the
>technology, and with which countries?
>
>"Much of the debate focused on an Atomic Energy Commission, which
>surely would be set up after the war," Nye said. "The big question
>was: would it be run by civilians, in which it likely would be open?
>Or by the military, which would keep the research secret.
>
>"This fear of atomic weapons, and the pervasive atmosphere of
>distrust, was the very origin of the Cold War," she added.
>
>The arguments continued after the war, spurred on by fear of an
>escalating arms race. Like Pauling, British physicist P.M.S. Blackett
>played a visible, and highly controversial role. A respected
>scientist, Blackett had earlier argued - behind closed doors - that
>Britain should not enter the arms race and that the U.S. and Britain
>should trust the Soviet Union. He lost on both accounts.
>
>"So Blackett took his argument to the public," Nye said. "He published
>a book analyzing military strategy and claimed that the bombing of
>Hiroshima and Nagasaki had changed the way military leaders would wage
>war, prompting them to use strategic bombing instead of 'conventional
>warfare.'
>
>Nye said Blackett believed such bombing was effective at destroying
>cities, but ineffective at winning wars. He provided in-depth
>arguments outlining the bombs' "explosive power," or TNT equivalent,
>and other technical data.
>
>"Regardless of whether you agreed with his reasoning, Blackett did one
>thing that stood out - he brought technical arguments into the public
>forum and prompted scientists to publicly debate research data," Nye
>said.
>
>And now, she said, there is no going back.
>
>"The 20th century has seen scientists who have taken their expertise
>and reputations into public forum inevitably risk censure both from
>within and without the scientific community," Nye said. "And there may
>be risks to the public's confidence in science when scientists bring
>into public discussion technical matters on which experts themselves
>cannot agree, and on which non-experts feel free to express an opinion.
>
>"But in the long run," she added, "some notable scientists have
>thought the perils are worth the risks."
>
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