Understanding 'science and the public'

Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

Volumn 10, Issue 2, 2003, Pages 131-139

  Gregory, Jane ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Media; Public; Risk; Science; Trust

Indexed keywords

AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT; ARTICLE; BIOSAFETY; BIOTECHNOLOGY; COMMERCIAL PHENOMENA; DECISION MAKING; GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROP; HUMAN; MEDICAL RESEARCH; PUBLIC HEALTH; RISK BENEFIT ANALYSIS; SCIENCE;

EID: 3042828313     PISSN: 14628732     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jcb.3040066     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. Gregory, J. and Miller, S. (1998), 'Science in Public: Communication, Culture and Credibility', Plenum, New York.
2. Royal Society (1985), 'The Public Understanding of Science', Royal Society, London.
3. Durant, J. R., Evans, G. A. and Thomas, G. P. (1992), 'The public understanding of science', Nature, Vol. 340, pp. 11-14.
4. See, for example, Thomas, G. and Durant, J. (1987), 'Why should we promote the public understanding of science?', Scientific Literacy Papers, Vol. 1, pp. 1-14.
5. Extreme examples from the USA include Hirsch, E. D. (1987), 'Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know',
6. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, and Trefil, J. (1993), '1001 Things Everyone should Know about Science', Cassell, London.
7. This insight originates in Lewenstein's work: see Lewenstein, B. V. (1992), 'Public understanding of science in the United States after WWII', Public Understanding Sci., Vol. 1, pp. 45-68.
8. Evans, G. A. and Durant, J. (1995), 'The relationship between knowledge and attitudes in the public understanding of science in Britain', Public Understanding Sci., Vol. 4, pp. 57-74.
9. See, for example, Levy-Leblond, J.-M. (1992), 'About misunderstandings about misunderstandings', Public Understanding Sci., Vol. 1, pp. 17-21.
10. Wynne, B. (1992), 'Misunderstood misunderstandings: Social identities and public uptake of science', Public Understanding Sci., Vol. 1, pp. 271-294.
11. See, eg, Layton, D., Jenkins, E., Macgill, S. and Davey, A. (1993), 'Inarticulate Science? Perspectives on the Public Understanding of Science and some Implications for Science Education', Leeds Media Services.
12. Irwin, A. and Wynne, B. (1996), 'Misunderstanding Science? The Public Reconstruction of Science and Technology', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
13. Bauer, M., Durant, J., Ragnarsdottir, A. and Rudolphsdottir, A. (1995), 'Science and Technology in the British Press, 1946-1990', Science Museum, London.
14. Bauer, M. W. and Bonfadelli, H. (2002), 'Controversy, media coverage and public knowledge', in Bauer, M. W. and Gaskell, G., Eds, 'Biotechnology: the Making of a Global Controversy', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Chapter 5.
15. Zhongliang Zhang and Jiansheng Zhang (1993), A survey of public scientific literacy in China, Public Understanding Sci., Vol. 2 , pp. 21-38.
16. Hornig, S. (1993), 'Reading risk: Public response to print media accounts of technological risk, Public Understandirg Sci., Vol. 2, pp. 95-110.
17. This scheme is due to Jon D. Miller, the leading researcher in the development of the concept of 'scientific literacy' in the USA. See, for example, Miller, J. D. and Kimmel, L. (1998), 'Science and technology: public attitudes and public understanding', in 'Science and Engineering Indicators', National Science Board, Arlington, VA.
18. 'Science and the Public: A Review of Science Communication and Public Attitudes to Science in Britain', Office of Science and Technology and the Wellcome Trust (October 2000).
19. Neidhardt, F. (1993), 'The public as a communication system', Public Understanding Sci., Vol. 2, pp. 339-350.
20. Luhmann, N. (1995), 'Social Systems', Stanford University Press, Standford.
21. Agricultural Biotechnology Council (2002), 'New Choices, New Challenges, New Approaches', Agricultural Biotechnology Council, London.
22. Maddox, J. (1994), 'Defending science against anti-science', Nature, Vol. 368, p. 185.
23. Dawkins, R. (1996), 'The Richard Dimbleby Lecture', BBC1, 12th November.
24. Holton, G. (1992), 'How to think about the "anti-science" phenomenon', Public Understanding Sci., Vol. 1, pp. 103-128.
25. Gross, P. R. and Levitt, N. (1994), 'Higher Superstition: the Academic Left and its Quarrels with Science', Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
26. For a critique see Gregory, J. and Miller, S. (2001), 'Caught in the crossfire: The public's role in the science wars, and other essays', in Labinger, J. and Collins, H. M., Eds, 'The One Culture', Chicago University Press, Chicago.
27. House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology (2000),' Science and Society', HMSO, London.
28. For information about the processes and content of GMNation?, see URL: http://www.gmpublicdebate.org. The final report was published in September 2003; see URL: http://www.gmnation.org.uk/ut_9_6.htm
29. The Royal Society of Arts' project 'Science, Citizenship and the Market', which was in collaboration with the Department of Science & Technology Studies at University College London and directed by Susie Harries of the RSA, provided a rare link between the academic community and the commercial sector on issues in public understanding of science. This project led, in 2003, to the RSA's Enterprise Exchange, which in its first year will focus on science, technology and society. It will bring together technology-based companies with scientists, government, non-governmental organisations, academics, consumer organisations, trade associations, the media, and the insurance and investment communities, with the aim of renegotiating the relationship between business, science and the public. Its immediate objective is to produce a set of guidelines for British business on engaging with public concerns - social and ethical, as well as practical - with the ultimate aim of giving people a greater say in their future as well as improving the climate for the introduction of beneficial new technologies.
30. See, for example, Durant, J., Bauer, M. W. and Gaskell, G. (1998), 'Biotechnology in the Public Sphere: A European Sourcebook', Science Museum, London.
31. Bauer, M. W. and Gaskell, G. (2002), 'Biotechnology: The Making of a Global Controversy', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.