AAAS concludes sesquicentennial Science and Society series
by Irma S. Jarcho
In commemoration of their one hundred and fiftieth anniversary, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) continued to feature "Essays in Science and Society" in each issue of Science through the end of 1998. Every week a prominent scientist, write, artist, or journalist offered comments on an aspect of "Science and Society." I have reviewed the essays through August in the Spring and Fall issues of 1998; here I cover the remaining essays. Once again I have had to limit my choices to conform to the scope and mission of the Clearinghouse. Readers are urged to read the whole series.
Geerat Vermeij considers that he grew up in an era of unprecedented opportunity so that the fact that he was blind did not prove a deterrent to a distinguished scientific career. Yet he sees ahead the pitfall that economic growth cannot continue forever. He considers that science must help to guide us through an orderly transition from a growing to a dynamically stable economy -- a transition that will cause far-reaching changes.
Sandra Harding, who directs the Center for the Study of Women at UCLA, contends that improving women's opportunities in science has benefitted both the sciences and the cause of women in general, for the example of women's successes in fields thought to be most resistant to them has provided powerful encouragement to women seeking equality in other endeavors. C. Everett Koop details his pioneer life as a pediatric surgeon.
Muhammad Yunus, who witnessed the 1974 famine in Bangladesh, studies the contrast between his lectures on optimal strategies for economic development when just outside his classroom people were dying of hunger. He paints an encouraging picture of the success of the Grameen Bank, which makes small loans for individual initiative, mostly to women. Some 2.3 million Bangladeshis, spread over 37,000 villages, have borrowed from Grameen.
Nathan Myhrvold bewails the fact that basic research within the technology industry is no longer fashionable. More and more emphasis is being given to applied research and product development. I particularly liked his dictat that "There is no useless research" and that many discoveries will reach their full potential given enough time.
Kenneth R. Manning in his essay on "Science and Opportunity" traces the difficult development of minority participation in science. At the 1913 annual meeting of the AAAS J. McKeen Cattell, publisher of Science, declared that "There is not a single mulatto who has done credible scientific work." He completely ignored the large and growing number of blacks from Bannister to Just. The struggle for recognition of minorities in science was a long and arduous one, and Manning details it well.
Reversing the thrust of the series, Sydney Brenner writes on the effects of society on science and on how society affects the type and quality of research performed, primarily through its command of the purse strings.
Carolyn Shoemaker, codiscoverer of the Shoemaker-Levy comet which so spectacularly impacted Jupiter warns of the astronomical phenomena closer to Earth that pose a threat to society. The study of impacts as a continuing process has immediacy for us all.
The last essay in the series, by Jane Goodall, discusses the insights into the minds of animals provided by her own observations of the chimpanzees in the Gimbe National Park, the intensive studies of Project Washoe, and other attempts at communicating with chimpanzees and gorillas.
The above series of notes on these essays cannot begin to do justice to their variety and interest. A careful reading of all of them will well repay the effort.
Science and Society Essays in Science Author Date Title Geerat J. Vermeij 4 September Fossils and the Social Future of Science Sandra Harding 11 September Women in Science and Society David Suzuki 18 September A Personal Journey through Genetics and Civil Rights C. Everett Koop 25 September Protecting Medicine in the 21st Century Lydia Makhubu 2 October Bioprospecting in an African Context John Lynch 9 October The Mouse With the Flying Bicycle Muhammad Yunus 16 October Alleviating Poverty through Technology Nathan Myhrvold 23 October Supporting Science Paul Berg and Maxine Singer 30 October Inspired Choices Kenneth B. Manning 6 November Science and Opportunity Elisabeth Crawford 13 November Nobel: Always the Winners; Never the Losers Sydney Brenner 20 November The Impact of Society on Science Carolyn Shoemaker 27 November Space: Where Now and Why? John Ziman 4 December Why Must Scientists Become More Ethnically Sensitive John Brooke 11 December Science and Religion: Lessons From History? Jane Goodall 18 December Learning from the Chimpanzees: A Message Humans Can Understand
Home Spring 99 Full Screen
The TEACHERS CLEARINGHOUSE FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY EDUCATION