Closing the Science Gap
Science has been a powerful force in the history of civilization. Now our society is faced with a number of what might seem to be “scientific” or technical challenges: managing climate change, public health, wildlife habitat and biodiversity, to name a few. However, although these challenges have technical and scientific dimensions, these are not just technical or scientific problems that science can solve on its own.
But it is equally foolish to approach these as purely social, political and economic problems. We desperately need science and technology if only to understand, to discuss and hopefully to share the scope, nature and magnitude of the problems themselves. We can’t afford to ignore the tools of empirical observation, experimental evidence and scientific reason.
But that is exactly what we are doing when we reduce a public policy debate to costs, benefits and politics: we leave the science out. Profound changes in science and society have both contributed to the isolation and marginalization of the culture of science in our society. To address the large social problems with the best science has to offer we must bridge the science gap in our society: scientists will have to overcome their isolation and work together with science media, science educators and social, political and economic leaders using new and more scalable models of science engagement.