So They Say

Verbatim excerpts from the media on the conduct of science. Frank Press On Social Science Science is not a body of facts and theories, but a way of considering problems and viewing the world. Scientists observe phenomena, develop hypotheses, conduct experiments, analyze findings and generate knowledge. They may measure gamma rays or public opinion, but the process is the same. It is this process that is science. Social scientists contribute enormously to important national issues, and all of us—scientists and the public—are better off as a result. The combined power of both the natural and social sciences can be particularly effective in providing analysis and insight on such matters as arms control and conflict resolution, industrial competitiveness, crime, disease and so many of the other problems that face our society in the years ahead. -Frank Press Editorial: "Social Scientists are Real Scientists" The Washington Post, p. A17 July 4, 1987 Who Knows What the Future Holds? If technology were only a matter of science, prediction would be fairly easy. A list of future technologies published here in 1967 turned out to be scientifically valid: hypersonic flight, holography, superconductivity, irradiated foods, hydrofoils, magnetohydrodynamics, thermoelectricity, weather control. But these technologies didn't live up to what was expected of them. They have been, for the most part, investment flops. The market wasn't ready, or costs were too high, or something else superseded the wonder technology. At the same time, our futurologists of 1967 simply didn't mention two scientific discoveries whose economic effects will be earthshaking: genetic engineering and fiber optics. The trouble is in the timing. The time lag between an innovation and a product development, says the National Science Foundation, may be up to 40 years.... Sometimes scientists don't know how powerful their discoveries are.... Sometimes, though, the scientists have exaggerated notions of what their inventions will do.... -Gail Bronson "Technology: Songs the Sirens Sing" Forbes, pp. 234, 236 July 13, 1987 A Great Technology "Granted it is costly and time-consuming to protect the environment from possible problems related to genetic engineering. But that could ensure the success of the industry," [insect ecology and agricultural sciences professor David] Pimentel said. "I think biotechnology is a great technology, and I want to see it used effectively and safely. All I ask is to make sure that any risk associated with engineered organisms finding their way into the environment is kept to a minimum. "Surely we have learned from our past mistakes with pesticides that it takes many years to regain public confidence in the safety of new technologies once that assurance has been lost." -"Regulating Biotechnology is a Job for EPA, Says Scientist"Cornell Chronicle, p. 5June 25, 1987 Can the British Association Take a Joke? The British Association for the Advancement of Science may not advance the cause of community relations too much when it holds its annual meeting in Northern Ireland in August. A special four-day section is being devoted to humour, with a key lecture on "The Irish joke as a social phenomenon". A professor of sociology will be extending the bounds of scientific discovery, lecturing on the proposition that "the Irish alone are witty". It is a relief to see that the brain drain has not totally deprived us of a scientist or two on this side of the Atlantic who can ruin a good joke by pontificating about it.… The only scientific joke I know was told to me by a leading scientist, and concerned an association which decided to hold its annual meeting in Belfast, found that very few people wanted to come to that city, and so tried to brighten up its programme with a three-day think-in on humour. -David Lister"Laughing Gas"The Independent, p. 14 June 30, 1987 The Cultural Gap Scientists are more likely to enjoy close encounters with the fourth estate, experts says, if they keep in mind the cultural gap between journalism and science. Scholarly papers that appear in refereed journals, for example, ideally feature enough detail to allow other researchers to replicate an experiment. Detail adds precision, but only colleagues in the same field would understand a news story that precise. Instead, science reporters who write for a popular audience try to write accurate stories that "sing," carrying the reader along by the sheer power of writing. -Colleen Cordes "The Cultural Gap and Other Tips for Scientists About Reporters" The Chronicle of Higher Education, p. 15, June 10, 1987 How Things Stand in Israel [B]ut there are many disadvantages in working as a scientist in Israel. Every able-bodied person must spend up to 40 days per year in the army. Take-home pay for full professors amounts to little more than $1,200 per month, a small amount in a country with a high cost of living and double-digit inflation. Teaching loads at universities are heavy, and with only seven universities, the options for moving on within the country are few. Faced with these problems, together with limited equipment, sparse research money and geographical isolation, many Israeli scientists hear the siren call from well-heeled research institutions in the United States and Europe. An Israeli scientist can make as much money in two months at a summer appointment at an Ivy League university as he will the entire rest of the year back home. A summer spent in a US laboratory may provide the only opportunity of the year to collect experimental data. -"Israeli Scientists: Intangibles Maintain a Hold" Nature, p. 571 June 18, 1987 Agricultural Biotechnology: High Input With a Vengeance Some members of the scientific and financial communities claim that yet another kind of high input—biotechnology—can rescue the beleaguered farmer. Already, herbicide-resistant crops are a reality, and milk-gushing supercows are in the offing. Will such "advances" help American agriculture? The answer is mostly no. The agricultural biotechnology that has received the most publicity and corporate attention will not help farmers because it is aimed at increasing productivity regardless of the consequences. Modern agriculture needs profitability, but biotechnology is high input with a vengeance. Research and testing costs are fantastically high, and market durability is low because of intense competition among companies, so products must carry high price tags. At a time when farmers have little money and are taking land and dairy cattle out of production, biotechnology cannot maintain its sales. -David Ehrenfeld "Beyond the Farming Crisis" Technology Review, p. 51 July 1987 On the Big Screen The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History faced a problem in the early 1980s. After years of steady growth, attendance had flattened out to around 400,000 a year and didn't look to be improving soon. Today, the Texas museum is thriving, with attendance expected to reach as much as 1.1 million this year. The big draw: an $8.5 million movie theater, opened in 1983, with a domed-shaped screen 80-feet across featuring images up to 10-times the size of those in ordinary movies. "This is one way to really turn people on to science education," says Elizabeth Wideman, vice president of the Louisville Museum of Natural History.... Not everyone is convinced, however, that such movies, also popular at theme parks and World Fairs, belong in science museums. "I don't know if the films depict a whole lot of science content," says Alan J. Friedman, director of the Hall of Science in Queens, New York.... -Gilbert Fuchsberg"It's Show Time: Science Museums Open Big-Screen Theaters to Boost Attendance" The Wall Street Journal, p. 21July 8, 1987 Insulating Ideas As the cost of large projects goes through the roof, it becomes essential to collaborate internationally if Britain is to continue to play a part in "big science". But the scientific community is going to be extremely reluctant to enter such ventures if one outcome is a decline in how much it can invest in homegrown research. After all, if Britain's nuclear physicists are to spend their time profitably at CERN, they have to prepare decent experiments in their laboratories at home. The solution is obvious. The government has to insulate large science projects from currency fluctuations. As the country has entered many of these projects as a result of political prodding, that does not seem to be an unreasonable demand. Perhaps this could be one item high on the agenda for newcomers in government who have taken over the responsibility for research. If this does not happen, then British scientists may reluctantly conclude that it is not worth their while to join research clubs that come along seeking their support. -Editorial: "The Price of Togetherness" New Scientist, p. 28 June 25, 1987 The Monetary Motive [A]lthough money can and does serve to generate scientific activity, it has not been nor is it likely to be a prime incentive. The length and difficulty of the training required to achieve a career in science are hardly conducive to the goal of money making. And one is not normally involved in scientific research unless one already has a strong interest in dealing with scientific problems. If the pecuniary motive fuels the machinery of science, it does so only in conjunction with the more basic incentive generated by scientific curiosity. Although we cannot determine exactly what amounts of money the individual scientist requires in order to be spurred to do scientific work, these amounts do not have to be enormous. This distinguishes the incentive of the academic scientist from that of the entrepreneur, for clearly the prime motive for entrepreneurial activities is profit.... -Amnon Goldworth"The Moral Limit to Private Profit in Entrepreneurial Science" Hastings Center Report, pp. 8, 10June 1987 Johnnie Walker to the Rescue When Chilean scientists cannot afford new laboratory flasks, they buy bottles of whisky. According to Aldo Solarim of Chile University's medical faculty, the one litre Roux flask, a standard piece of equipment used for growing cultures, has become so expensive in Chile that it is now cheaper to buy bottles of Johnnie Walker, drink the contents, and use the empties in the laboratory. The price of the flasks has doubled in Chile in less than two years, and they break after about two months of use. Dr Solari chose Johnnie Walker because the square bottles fitted nicely into his laboratory apparatus and, "unlike several other makes we have tested", withstood autoclaving. -Tom Wilkie "Bottles of Scotch Aid Chilean Research"The Independent, p. 2 June 18, 1987

So They Say

The Scientist Staff

Frank Press On Social Science

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