Physics workshop calls for new 'contract' with society
15 April 1999
[LONDON] A group of physicists has suggested that delegates attending the World Conference on Science in Budapest in June should promulgate a declaration affirming the need to protect and support curiosity-led physics.
The physicists argue that "some form of 'contract' between physicists and the rest of society will be required" to ensure the continued health of physics research and teaching, and suggest that, say, one per cent of money spent on research be made available for promoting the public awareness of science.
Arguing that their subject "sets standards of rational though in the face of irrationality", they also suggest that an impartial international body be set up under the auspices of either the United Nations or Unesco to adjudicate "damaging disputes" involving scientific issues, ranging from cold fusion to numerous environmental issues.
"The new body would investigate the extent to which claims are based upon established science or are simply ungrounded opinion, perhaps influenced by pressure groups," the physicists say. "This will provide an authoritative scientific basis for important political decisions."
The proposals emerged from a three-day meeting organized in Debrecen, Hungary, last month, and involving scientists from both Western and Eastern Europe, as one of a series of workshops being held in Hungary in preparation for the World Conference.
According to a summary prepared by Raymond Mackintosh, of the physics department at Britain's Open University, those attending the meeting agree that physics currently faces "serious problems" in the world - in particular in its relations with society and its perceptions by society - and that although many of these affect science in general, a number are specific to physics.
The meeting recommended a number of actions that might be endorsed by the World Conference, including the backing for substantial support for the improvement of the teaching of physics throughout the world, and establishing the means for supporting physics within the new democracies of Europe.
One of the problems identified by those attending the meeting was what the summary describes as a serious "authority problem", with few people able to make rational judgements as to who or what to believe.
"This is reflected in a widespread relativism improperly invoking Einstein," they argue. "Similarly, Heisenberg is improperly invoked in promoting the idea that everything is uncertain anyway. The widespread tendency to adopt conspiracy theories is a potentially dangers aspect of this problem."
The physicists argue that their subject is particularly subject to competition from pseudoscience. "This is an aspect of the authority problem: the public is confused as it is confronted with a mixture of information and misinformation through the media, including the Internet."
The full text of the workshop summary can be accessed via http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/physics/9904013
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David Dickson
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Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 1999 Registered No. 785998 England.