AUSTRALIA: Science under siege

The very basis of science and of an informed, progressive and enlightened society are under siege, Australia's Chief Scientist Professor Ian Chubb told a conference on Thursday. Chubb said scientists were caught up in a rearguard action against critics who sought to question and tear down "the very ideals, the values, the principles and the practices of science".

But part of the decline in the public's trust of science was the fault of scientists, researchers and scholars themselves as "the guardians of science", he said. If science was not properly valued, then scientists had not been vigorous or vociferous enough in their protection of it or, perhaps more importantly, their communication of it.

"None of us can be complacent. All science risks damage when some science is attacked. Today, climate change - tomorrow, who knows?" Chubb said.

"The risk is real because it is the very core of science that is attacked: its principles, its processes, its standards, its ethics and its people. And scientists are under attack because they get the result that their experiments or observations yield and report things that others don't want to hear."

Delivering the inaugural National Tertiary Education Union lecture at the University of Melbourne, the former vice-chancellor of the Australian National University said that despite its inherent rigour and substance, the integrity of science was being widely questioned.

For whatever reason, some people sought to mock science and scientists to instil doubt and fear among the community so they would resist change when they had to make choices. Yet the well-being of the entire planet depended on science and, as the challenges the world faces become increasingly complex, the importance of science would become even greater.

"[This means] that scientists will have to deal with the exposure that working on these ever-more complex problems will entail. Their very complexity makes them difficult - hard to resolve, hard to articulate, hard to get proposed actions adopted," Chubb said.

"And the responses to complex challenges will not pass uncontested - nor will they be private. To quote the Royal Society, '(Climate) science...must be a vital component of public reasoning in this complex and challenging area'."

For many people in the media and politics "and for the plethora of so-called commentators", undermining science was becoming an increasingly popular pastime. Contempt was regularly directed towards scientists and their findings, "especially when they say something that some do not want to hear".

"While it may be too early to identify whether the chilling effect on what scientists do has had an effect on the study of science - we do need to know how science is faring in our universities for all the reasons outlined earlier.

"Science is awe-inspiring - and we need to stir the imagination of our youth so they pursue a career in science or, at the very least, grow into informed decisions-makers who have some understanding of science and how it works. The time has come to rekindle the excitement."

* To read Professor Chubb's full lecture, click here.


Comment:

Ian Chubb is right. The universities must not cower before extremists and 'entertainers'. I just wish that politicians who are supported by extremists would distance themselves from them. The fact that they never do is an illustration to me of how insincere they are.

The political class is no longer interested in the good of the country. It only looks to the next election. I am talking about all the major parties here, not just one or two of them. I hope that, one day, our elected leaders will stop worrying about their job security and start worrying about Australia.

Giles Pickford, Wollongong

Giles Pickford is correct, however the "political class" is not just composed of declared politicians but includes the 'leaders' of most of the 'peak bodies'. "Don't rock the funding boat" seems to be their motto.

Adrian Gibbs