Fletcher Professor of International Environmental Policy William Moomaw made a key observation in his interview published in today's Daily. The Tufts professor shared a slice of this year's Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his service on the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Moomaw noted the distinction between the science and policy analysis carried out by this panel and the corresponding publicity work done by fellow Nobel recipient Al Gore.
As issues of science - from global warming to stem cell research - are increasingly becoming fodder for public policy debates, our society is in need of articulate individuals who can disseminate understandable information to a large population who has no background in ecology, geology or biology.
If our scientists do not start reaching out to this public, Mr. Gore is going to find a large amount of work cut out for him.
It is difficult to overstate the problem of scientific illiteracy in this country. A recent study of Harvard graduates graduates interviewed at commencement revealed that only a small minority could correctly explain simple natural phenomena, such as why the weather turns colder in winter.
In all likelihood, these will be the men and women writing policy proposals aimed at reducing carbon emissions. It's also no secret that the science and math scores of our students lag far behind those of their European and Asian counterparts.
The political forum is not an appropriate place for hashing out scientific disputes. We are wasting our time listening to politicians completely untrained in geology or climatology who marshal random bits of evidence to support their respective policies.
That being said, we also shouldn't blindly accept conclusions coming from some mysterious band of quirky scientists doing work in their laboratories far removed from us. We need to demand more from these scientists who should be making an effort to make their work accessible to the public.
A significant number of Americans do not believe in evolution and are skeptical of the existence of global warming. Those in the scientific community should not condescendingly spurn this population; by doing so, they are only alienating that segment of society.
Tufts students studying engineering and science would do well to keep this scientifically illiterate public in mind as they go through their courses. Conversely, those Jumbos studying political science or international relations need to realize that they will be working in a world where science and policy are becoming more and more intertwined.
If you are a history major, make a point of asking your chem-major roommate about his classes. Take the biology that you signed up for just to fulfill a distribution requirement seriously.
If we don't realize the gravity of this science/policy dichotomy soon, it won't just be our country that suffers.
Our whole planet is at risk.
