"Hard Science"

Chris Mooney has a good article in the April 23, 2008 issue of The New Republic. Subtitled "Laboratory geeks need to toughen up," the article calls for the U.S. science community to become more effective in protecting its interests in the Congress and in the Executive Branch of Government. The article begins:

The idea that the Bush administration has placed science under attack is so commonplace now that it's almost cliché. It's hard to think of a government agency staffed by scientists that has not seen voluminous scandals over the past several years involving either the suppression and twisting of information or the intimidation of researchers. The most explosive instances involve climate change and reproductive health, but more obscure matters--like, say, how to protect the threatened marbled murrelet--have scarcely been immune.

Comment: I think those who have important information which is not widely shared have a responsibility to try to see that that information is shared and utilized. Scientific knowledge and understanding is not easily shared with the lay public, nor indeed with policy makers and the implementers of policies. The scientific responsibility is not only to publish finding in professional journals, but to work to see that it is properly used. That means taking public action. JAD

Mooney identifies two places where you can take action now:

• Scientists and Engineers for America
• Science Debate 2008