Making Science Public

Tag: Politics

  • What’s behind the battle of received wisdoms?

    What’s behind the battle of received wisdoms?

    This is a guest essay by Ben Pile, a writer for Spiked Online and his own blog Climate Resistance. There is a response by Dana Nuccitelli from the Guardian’s Climate Consensus blog here. Andrew Neil’s interview with Ed Davey on the Sunday Politics show last week caused an eruption of comment. For sceptics, it was a refreshing…

  • Event: FREE screening of Kansas vs Darwin + Q+A with director Jeff Tamblyn

    Event: FREE screening of Kansas vs Darwin + Q+A with director Jeff Tamblyn

    In May we are very honoured to welcome US film director Jeff Tamblyn for screenings of his award-winning documentary, Kansas vs Darwin, followed by Q&A sessions with Jeff. The film tells an extraordinary story: This darkly comic documentary explores the epic 2005 Kansas state school board hearings, in which a group of creationist politicians attempted to…

  • Open access and MOOCs: follow the money

    This is a guest blog written by John Holmwood, member of the Leverhulme Making Science Public programme, and founding member of the Campaign for the Public University In the extensive debate that has followed RCUK and Hefce announcements that ‘Gold’ open access under an ‘author pays’ system is to be mandated (with a short transition period) for the publication…

  • Rebuttal to “The privatisation of science is not in the public interest”

    Rebuttal to “The privatisation of science is not in the public interest”

    This post reproduces the main arguments I used when I argued against Alex’s motion that “The privatisation of science is not in the public interest” at the launch of the ‘Making Science Public’ programme at the University of Nottingham on 11th February 2013.  Alex opened with his argument and I responded along the following lines. …

  • The privatisation of science is not in the public interest

    The privatisation of science is not in the public interest

    This Blog post is a summary and more extended reflection on some thoughts presented as part of the ‘Making Science Public’ launch event. In the afternoon we kick-started a debate about issues related to the privatisation of science with two short talks by Alex Smith (tasked with speaking in favour of the motion as set…

  • Making Science Public: a route to better evidence?

    Making Science Public: a route to better evidence?

    Co-authored post with Dr. Sujatha Raman, Deputy Director of Making Science Public. The role of scientific evidence within policy is one of the most vexed issues within politics and public administration. Often such evidence is complex, translated to the public via the media and subsequently used to justify particular policy actions or seen to be…

  • Public remaking science? Seeing Sandy, science and climate change

    Public remaking science? Seeing Sandy, science and climate change

    I wrote just after Hurricane Sandy about the tussle between literalism and lucidity in linking the disaster to climate change, contrasting the careful language used by some academics with the ‘tabloid’ simplification of publications such as Bloomberg Businessweek. Since writing that post, some data has emerged potentially shedding more light on these rather muddy waters.…

  • Science in Public 2013 – Call for Panel Proposals

    UPDATE: You can see the full Call For Papers including details of all the proposed panels at http://scienceinpublic.org/conference/  8th Annual Science in Public Conference, 22-23 July 2013 on ‘Critical Perspectives on Making Science Public’ Call for Panel Proposals The University of Nottingham is proud to host the 8th Annual Science in Public Conference, 22-23 July 2013.…

  • Echoes of Climategate: focusing on uncertainty?

    Echoes of Climategate: focusing on uncertainty?

    The ever-lively climate blogosphere was given an extra jolt recently by a new BBC Radio 4 documentary – Climategate Revisited. The programme assessed the fallout from the infamous publication of emails from the University of East Anglia (UEA) server, rather than attempting to adjudicate on scientific claims or the contents of the emails. The programme…