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[Nov. 12th, 2007|05:44 pm] |
A few months ago, Senator Muskie called for "one-armed" scientists. The
occasion was a Senate hearing on the health effects of pollutants. Testimony
from the National Academy of Sciences and other sources was not as definitive
as the Senator desired. Witnesses insisted upon saying, "On one hand, the evidence
is so, but on the other hand...." Thus, the call for one-armed scientists.
This incident illustrates a fundamental dilemma of the scientist or engineer in
communicating with his patron, the lay person. Laymen conceive of scientific
fact as an absolute shades of gray and uncertainty are not acceptable. Scientific
investigations are to produce unequivocal answers, according to the popular
notion. On the other hand, scientists know that there are very few absolutes
that will stand up for long. Those few that do are enshrined as "laws of nature."
Science, 29 August 1975, Volume 189, Number 4204. |
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