Current Science Policy Research Articles

The Emperor has no Clothes … Let us Paint our Loincloths Rainbow: A Classical and Feminist Critique of Contemporary Science Policy

The British government's White Paper on science together with government research council reports are used as a basis for critiquing current science policy and its intensifying orientation, British and worldwide, towards industrial and military development. The critique draws particulary on Plato and Bacon as yardsticks to address who science is for, what values it honours and where current policy departs from imperatives of socio-ecological justice. Metaphors of the ‘Emperor's new clothes’ and incremental spectral shift in attitude help illuminate both the problems and ways forward. The paper calls for a re-integration of classical perspectives with added insights, often ecofeminist, from philosophy, poetics and a theology of reverence. Predication on the values of love, interconnectedness and orientation towards childrens’ all-round development should be central to curricular reform. Consistent with the views of Plato, the original founder of the Academy, the utilitarian role of science ought to be balanced with a contemplative role of science as the art of knowing ourselves in relation to nature. Only with such a holistic academic approach can it adequately rise to providing a pedagogy of authentic human development, service to the poor and remedies, rather than contribution, to the ongoing destruction of nature.

What can we learn from other countries about teaching science investigation skills to primary children?

Abstract The paper examines the explicit and implicit rationales, in several countries, for the place of science in the primary school curriculum. It relates these to notable contrasts between such countries as UK and Kenya on the one hand, which emphasise the teaching of science investigation skills; and Germany and France on the other hand, which stress the acquisition of knowledge. This comparison is used to highlight questions about the impact of current primary science policy in the English National Curriculum; about assumed links between science teaching and economic progress; and about the ambitions of our broader view of primary schooling in England. It concludes by proposing further international study of the actual learning of investigation skills in the primary phase.

Introductory remarks: Unconventional organisms as models in biological research

The use of unconventional organisms in experimental research is a timely subject that impacts upon current science policy in the areas of animal welfare, biodiversity, and biotechnology. Many recent reports have recommended a reduction in the use of mammals in biomedical research to promote animal welfare by utilizing alternative methods and unconventional model organisms. Currently we lack adequate models for all the biological phenomena worthy of study. Biologists must continue to take advantage of the functional biodiversity of organisms not only to identify new model organisms for studying more optimally those life processes we know something about, but also to discover entirely new biological principles, processes, and products. Increased emphasis on the need to preserve the diversity of life also requires more knowledge of the comparative biology of processes such as reproduction, growth, defense mechanisms, and nutrition. The functional biodiversity of life can be exploited not only for fundamentally new biological insights, but also for expanding the knowledge base needed for commercial biotechnology. There is a critical need of commercial biotechnology for basic functional information on more species, especially microorganisms and plants. The knowledge of biodiversity will mean little to most of mankind unless the motivation exists to use it for commercial benefit.

Continuing the evolution of food safety

Many of the concerns about shortcomings in current food safety law are shared by the food industry with other sectors of society. Views differ as to how best to resolve these concerns, but any such resolution must consider the history as well as the nature of our food law. The gradual evolution of federal food law since 1906 has permitted reasonably effective public protection. Now, more than 20 years after the last major modification, additional changes are needed to reflect current science and public policy. First is the need to clarify the meaning of safety to recognize that absolute food safety is impossible. Provision must also be made to base food safety decisions on a scientific evaluation of the type and extent of risk associated with individual food constituents. To aid in such evaluation, peer review should be provided for at least in those situations involving substantial scientific questions. Finally, the unwarranted inflexibility of the Delaney clause must be modified to permit discrimination among so-called “carcinogens” relative to their type and potency and hence the potential human risk involved.