Articles by Robert Park

The essay by Lawrence Cranberg on plagiarism in science in the Opinion section of The Scientist (Feb. 3, 1992, page 11) provides a splendid example of another problem that often arises in science ethics: How does one distinguish between willful misinterpretation of data to support a preconception and interpretations that are merely illogical? Cranberg refers to an American Association for the Advancement of Science survey that asked: "Should there be established procedures to deal with cases

In March, a panel of experts, convened by the National Research Council to advise the administration on the latest redesign of the space station Freedom, concluded that the proposed $30 billion monster was unsuited for scientific research. Surprisingly, space station proponents made little attempt to refute this harsh judgment. In a letter to NASA administrator Richard Truly, Vice President Dan Quayle, head of the National Space Council, simply dismissed the concerns of the scientific communit

It comes as no great surprise that groups promoting the president’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) have attempted to discredit the recently published American Physical Society study Science and Technology of Directed Energy Weapons (THE SCIENTIST, May 18, 1987, p. 11). The APS study, released on April 23, 1987, addressed the scientific feasibility of a ballistic missile defense utilizing high-intensity lasers and energetic particle beams as weapons. A panel of experts on directed en

George Keyworth, the Washington businessman who once served as science adviser to the President, was fond of calling on the scientific community to "get its act together" and start setting priorities. The words have the sound of reason. Surely not all science is equally important and, if scientists don't set the priorities, someone else will. But, of course, as Keyworth must have realized, it's not that simple. It was, for example, possible for nuclear physicists to reach a consensus of sorts th