Science and Political Controversy

Science and Political Controversy PDF Author: David E. Newton
Publisher: ABC-CLIO
ISBN: 1610693191
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A shrewd and compelling examination of how political figures throughout history have used scientific findings to achieve their objectives—just as scientists have often put political forces to work to achieve their own goals. The U.S. government has historically been the engine of American scientific achievement, from the birth of nuclear technology to the "space race." However, at times, our government has also misrepresented scientific evidence to advance a political agenda. Science and Political Controversy: A Reference Handbook examines how the government has facilitated research for the public good and the ways in which politicians have manipulated data to serve political ends around a broad array of controversies, from stem cell research to energy development, chemical health risks, and climate change. Written specifically for high school students and general readers without specialized background knowledge on the subject, the work presents perspective essays authored by representatives from governmental agencies, politicians, political scientists, experts in the physical and life sciences, and other stakeholders concerned with the intersection of politics and science. The first section of the book provides background information on the topic that overviews the current problems and issues related to the interaction of science and politics. The second section supplies resources that readers can use for their own research, such as an annotated bibliography, profiles of important individuals and organizations, a chronology of important events, and a glossary of key terms.

Science and Political Controversy

Science and Political Controversy PDF Author: David E. Newton
Publisher: ABC-CLIO
ISBN: 1610693191
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A shrewd and compelling examination of how political figures throughout history have used scientific findings to achieve their objectives—just as scientists have often put political forces to work to achieve their own goals. The U.S. government has historically been the engine of American scientific achievement, from the birth of nuclear technology to the "space race." However, at times, our government has also misrepresented scientific evidence to advance a political agenda. Science and Political Controversy: A Reference Handbook examines how the government has facilitated research for the public good and the ways in which politicians have manipulated data to serve political ends around a broad array of controversies, from stem cell research to energy development, chemical health risks, and climate change. Written specifically for high school students and general readers without specialized background knowledge on the subject, the work presents perspective essays authored by representatives from governmental agencies, politicians, political scientists, experts in the physical and life sciences, and other stakeholders concerned with the intersection of politics and science. The first section of the book provides background information on the topic that overviews the current problems and issues related to the interaction of science and politics. The second section supplies resources that readers can use for their own research, such as an annotated bibliography, profiles of important individuals and organizations, a chronology of important events, and a glossary of key terms.

Controversy

Controversy PDF Author: Dorothy Nelkin
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Incorporated
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Updated and revised to fit the controversial issues of the nineties, the third edition of Dorothy Nelkin's Controversy addresses such hot topics as the diet-cancer dispute, animal rights, oil spill cleanups, genetic testing, surrogacy, and AIDS testing. Nelkin and a distinguished list of contributors explore the political values and beliefs that underlie decisions about science and technology. The rhetoric and tone have shifted, as have the controversies, to a growing expression of moral and ideological sentiments. How is public policy formulated in the absence of clear-cut agreement on goals? What ethical conundrums are involved when conflicting values are at stake? By studying the controversies presented here, students capture a sense of the reasoning that motivates public agencies, government officials, scientists, and protest groups. They also have the opportunity to realistically understand science and technical policy, its social and political context, and its impact on the individuals, on particular communities, and on the general public. Controversy will prove stimulating reading for students and professionals in science and technology studies, sociology, political science, health, ethics, and peace and conflict studies.

Communicating Science Effectively

Communicating Science Effectively PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309451051
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
Science and technology are embedded in virtually every aspect of modern life. As a result, people face an increasing need to integrate information from science with their personal values and other considerations as they make important life decisions about medical care, the safety of foods, what to do about climate change, and many other issues. Communicating science effectively, however, is a complex task and an acquired skill. Moreover, the approaches to communicating science that will be most effective for specific audiences and circumstances are not obvious. Fortunately, there is an expanding science base from diverse disciplines that can support science communicators in making these determinations. Communicating Science Effectively offers a research agenda for science communicators and researchers seeking to apply this research and fill gaps in knowledge about how to communicate effectively about science, focusing in particular on issues that are contentious in the public sphere. To inform this research agenda, this publication identifies important influences â€" psychological, economic, political, social, cultural, and media-related â€" on how science related to such issues is understood, perceived, and used.

Science and Politics

Science and Politics PDF Author: Brent S. Steel
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1483346315
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 633

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Book Description
Recent partisan squabbles over science in the news are indicative of a larger tendency for scientific research and practice to get entangled in major ideological divisions in the public arena. This politicization of science is deepened by the key role government funding plays in scientific research and development, the market leading position of U.S.-based science and technology firms, and controversial U.S. exports (such as genetically modified foods or hormone-injected livestock). This groundbreaking, one-volume, A-to-Z reference features 120-150 entries that explore the nexus of politics and science, both in the United States and in U.S. interactions with other nations. The essays, each by experts in their fields, examine: Health, environmental, and social/cultural issues relating to science and politics Concerns relating to government regulation and its impact on the practice of science Key historical and contemporary events that have shaped our contemporary view of how science and politics intersect Science and Politics: An A to Z Guide to Issues and Controversies is a must-have resource for researchers and students who seek to deepen their understanding of the connection between science and politics.

Controversial Science

Controversial Science PDF Author: Thomas Brante
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791414736
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
This book represents emerging alternative perspectives to the "constructivist" orthodoxy that currently dominates the field of science and technology studies. Various contributions from distinguished Americans and Europeans in the field, provide arguments and evidence that it is not enough simply to say that science is "socially situated." Controversial Science focuses on important political, ethical, and broadly normative considerations that have yet to be given their due, but which point to a more realistic and critical perspective on science policy.

PROXY POLITICS

PROXY POLITICS PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783943620719
Category : Art and society
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description


The Art and Politics of Science

The Art and Politics of Science PDF Author: Harold Varmus
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 9780393061284
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
The nobel prize winning scientist and former director of the National Institue of Health recalls the events of his life and career in science, in an autobiography that also incorporates scientific information about cancer biology and issues in public health.

The Creation Controversy

The Creation Controversy PDF Author: Dorothy Nelkin
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595001947
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
In 1999, by the board of education in Kansas voted to delete all mention of evolution from the state’s recommended science curriculum and also from its educational assessment tests. This decision, and similar decisions in other states, suggest the persistence of creationists and their ability to capture sufficient support to influence educational policies. Although evolutionary ideas have become increasing important to many scientific fields, the creationists still have significant influence on science curriculum. How have religious fundamentalists and right wing conservatives managed to have such influence? In this science-dominated age, why is their such opposition to the teaching of evolution? This book places the Kansas decision in the broader context of the controversy between creationists and evolutionists, as a group of religious fundamentalists who defined themselves as scientists have challenged the most basic assumptions of contemporary biology. Though motivated by religious beliefs, they have tried to bypass the Constitutional requirement for the separation of church and state as they seek to influence legislature and school boards. Looking at the people involved in this social movement and tracing changes in their arguments and strategies, this book links the creation-evolution controversy to broader questions about the meaning of religion in a secular science, public trust in science, and persistent concerns about its social and moral implications.

Controversy

Controversy PDF Author: Dorothy Nelkin
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Incorporated
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
This book of controversies over science and technology describes and analyses the struggles between different perspectives: between those who see technological development as a rational and objective process and those who see this process as primarily political. 'No one has produced a more formidable body of work on technology, politics, and decision-making than Dorothy Nelkin; and I, like many others, have come to look forward to each new instalment. Controversy, a set of case studies edited by Nelkin...easily earns its place on my bookshelf.' -- Knowledge, Vol 1 No 4, June 1980

Science, Politics And The Pharmaceutical Industry

Science, Politics And The Pharmaceutical Industry PDF Author: John Abraham
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000951308
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
Drug disasters from Thalidomide to Opren, and other less dramatic cases of drug injury, raise questions about whether the testing and control of medicines provides satisfactory protection for the public. In this revealing study, John Abrahan develops a theoretically challenging realist approach, in order to probe deeply into the work of scientists in the pharmaceutical industry and governmental drug regulatory authorities on both sides of the Atlantic. Through the examination of contemporary controversial case studies, he exposes how the commercial interest of drug manufacturers are consistently given the benefit of the scientific doubts about medicine safety and effectiveness, over and above the best interests of patients.; A highly original combination of philosophical rigour, historical sensitivity and empirical depth enables the "black box" of industrial and government science to be opened up to critical scrutiny much more than in previous social scientific study. All major aspects of drug testing and regulation are considered, including pre- clinical animal tests, clinical trials and postmarketing surveillance of adverse drug reactions. The author argues that drug regulators are too dependent on pharmaceutical industry resources and expertise, and too divorced from public accountability. The problem of corporate bias is particularly severe in the UK, where regulatory decisions about medicine safety are shrouded in greater secrecy than in the US.; Since the purpose of drug regulation should be to maximize the safety and effectiveness of medicines for patients, the public needs and deserves policies to counteract corporate bias in drug testing and evaluation. John Abraham's realist analysis provides a robust basis for policy interventions at the institutional and legislative levels. He proposes that corporate bias could be reduced by more extensive freedom of information, greater autonomy of government scientists from pharmaceutical industry, the development of independent drug testing by the regulatory authority, increased patient representation on regulatory committees, and more frequent and thorough oversight of regulatory performance by the legislature. This book should be of interest to anyone who cares about how medicines should be controlled in modern society. It should prove particularly rewarding for students and researchers in the sociology of science and technology, science and medicines policy, medical sociologists, the medical and pharmaceutical professions, and consumer organizations.