INTERROGATING THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
Friday 14 July 2000
The Royal Institution of Great Britain
TO REGISTER TELEPHONE: (020) 7670 2986

Many have criticised Prince Charles' recent pronouncement that we should
"restore the balance" between traditional "instinctive wisdom" and that of
scientific rationalism. Nevertheless, concerns about global warming, mobile
phones and genetic engineering, to name just a few examples, suggest that
people are increasingly nervous about the harmful consequences of our own
actions. The idea of precaution and risk avoidance is at the heart of
debate about the future of society.

At 'Interrogating the Precautionary Principle', eminent scientists, social
scientists and writers will question the premises of the "precautionary
principle", justify their views about its applicability to modern society,
and consider what it is that society has become so afraid of.

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DATE: Friday 14 July 2000, registration 10.00-11.00am
VENUE: The Royal Institution, 21 Albermarle Street, London, W1
TICKETS: £25/£20 (phone the RI box office on (020) 7670 2986)
CONVENED BY: Tony Gilland, Professor Susan Greenfield and Dr Helene Guldberg
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SESSIONS:
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11.00am-12.30pm
FROM GM FOOD TO GLOBAL WARMING: PRECAUTION, SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

Speakers:
- Lisa Jardine, author, Ingenious Pursuits: building the scientific revolution
- Norman Levitt, professor of mathematics, Rutgers University; author, 
  Prometheus Bedeviled: science and the contradictions of contemporary
  culture
- Professor Anthony Trewavas, Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology,
  University of Edinburgh
- Professor Brian Wynne, research director, Centre for the Study of
  Environmental Change, Lancaster University

Chair: Dr Helene Guldberg, former publisher, LM magazine

Scientific discovery was once celebrated for enabling greater prosperity,
health and knowledge. Now it is criticised for exposing us to new risks
with potentially catastrophic consequences. Are the uncertainties involved
in modern science of a new order of magnitude or has society lost its
nerve?


2.00-3.30pm
GOVERNMENT, BIG BUSINESS AND CAMPAIGN GROUPS: WHO DECIDES?

Speakers:
- Simon Best, CEO, Geron Bio-Med Ltd
- Professor David Cope, director, Parliamentary Office of Science and
Technology
- Dr Douglas Parr, chief scientific adviser, Greenpeace UK
- John Vidal, environment editor, The Guardian

Chair: Anne Furedi, director of communications, British Pregnancy Advisory
Service

How can public confidence in science and innovation be rebuilt? In a world
of political apathy, where governments are viewed as sleaze-ridden and
multinationals as greedy profiteers, who should decide what risks society
should take? Does the deference to consumer campaigns and media coverage
reflect an abdication of leadership, or an enhancement of the democratic
process?


4.00-5.30pm
A CULTURE OF CAUTION?

Speakers:
- Carl Djerassi, professor of chemistry, Stanford University; recipient of
the National Medal of Science (for the first synthesis of a steroid oral
contraceptive)
- Dr Frank Furedi, reader in sociology, University of Kent at Canterbury;
author, Culture of Fear
- Judy Larkin, specialist in reputation risk management and partner of
Regester Larkin
- Michael Willmott, co-founder and director, Future Foundation

Chair: Professor Susan Greenfield, director, The Royal Institution

Risk and safety have become buzzwords for our time. They permeate
discussions of everything from child-rearing and personal relationships, to
economic development and new technologies. Is there a connection between
these fears?


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This event has been organised in partnership with the Royal Institution as
part of THE INSTITUTE OF IDEAS: a Summer 2000 series of debates around the
themes of freedom, culture, science, thought and morality:

THE INSTITUTE OF IDEAS
An Intellectual Map for the 21st Century
16 June to 16 July 2000

For further details on INTERROGATING THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE contact
Tony Gilland on 07970 658 979 or via email: [log in to unmask] For
more information about THE INSTITUTE OF IDEAS, please call Tiffany Jenkins
on (020) 7269 9227 or visit www.InstituteOfIdeas.com


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Associated INSTITUTE OF IDEAS events:

NATURAL HAZARDS
Friday 7 July, 10.30am-5.00pm, University College London
Produced by: Dr Peter Sammonds, (020) 7679 2422

Speakers include:
- Dr Bob Chaplow, NIREX
- Piers Corbyn, Weather Action
- Lord Julian Hunt FRS, professor of climate modelling, UCL, and former
director, Met Office
- Bill McGuire, professor of geohazards; director, Benfield Greig Hazard
Research Centre; author, Apocalypse; TV's 'Disaster man'
- Dr Mark Saunders, Mullard Space Science Laboratory

www.ucl.ac.uk/geolsci/research/rip/HAZARDS.htm


DETERMINED TO SURVIVE?
Wednesday 21 June 2000, 5.30pm, University of Newcastle
Produced by: Caspar Hewett, (0191) 222 5680

Speakers:
- Christopher Badcock, author, Psychodarwinism: the new synthesis of Darwin
and Freud
- Dr Helene Guldberg, developmental psychologist
- Matt Ridley, author, The Red Queen, The Origins of Virtue, Genome;
columnist, Daily Telegraph


DEVELOPMENT IN DANGER
Thursday 29 June, 10.00am, The Royal Commonwealth Society, London
Produced by: Reshmi Parag for WORLDwrite, (020) 8985 5435

Speakers include:
- Dr Bernard Dixon, European Federation of Biotechnology
- James Heartfield, assistant producer, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
- Kitty Warnock, Panos




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