Responsibility of Environmental Scientists and Their Professional Societies

Abstract

scientist in society have been especially conservative, partly because of the methods of science and the need to protect the integrity of scientific inquiry, and partly because historical circumstances have permitted scientists to remain aloof from the consequences of their research. We have been able to maintain a relatively comfortable isolation from public affairs on the grounds that we have complete freedom to follow whatever line of investigation we choose and to interpret our results objectively, unhindered by social or moral pressures that might bias our findings. A corollary of this tradition has been the assumption that other segments of society must implement the results of our investigations and accept the responsibility for whatever use is made of them. The conservative methods and traditions of scientific inquiry have been thoroughly tested and remain perfectly valid, but the traditional view of the academic scientist, isolated from current events and public responsibility, is no longer appropriate to society's needs. In fact, it is a mythical ideal which has been invalidated by at least three factors: (1) the dominant role of science in a modern society, (2) the magnitude of public support of basic research, and the corresponding dependence of science on this support, and (3) the nature of man's relationship to his environment. When the results of scientific research