List members may be interested in the following lectures being held at the
RSA in London. Further details can be found at
http://www.rsa.org.uk/fringe/default.html. The lectures will also be added
to the psci-com calendar at http://www.psci-com.org.uk/calendar/.
Regards
++++++++++++++++++
Louise Simon
Information Officer
Wellcome Trust Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine
183 Euston Road
London NW1 2BE
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7611 7316
Fax: +44 (0)020 7611 8726
mailto:[log in to unmask]
The Wellcome Trust is a registered charity, no.210183.
Its sole Trustee is the Wellcome Trust Limited, a company
registered in England, no. 2711000, whose registered office
is 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE.
RSA Fringe Lectures
Scientists and the public - Who needs to understand whom?
Thursday 19 July 2001 at 6.30pm
Recent crises of public trust in the methods and practices of scientists
have developed against a backdrop of increasing cynicism about once trusted
sources of information, With research showing that the public have become
more sophisticated in their understanding of the issues, have scientists
helped to dig their own graves by falling to instil the notion of their own
necessary fallibility when promoting their work to the public?
Anthony Gottlieb, Executive Editor, The Economist and author The Dream of
Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance in
conversation with Lewis Wolpert, Prof. of Biology as Applied to Medicine at
University College, London and author of Malignant Sadness: The Anatomy of
Depression and The Unnatural Nature of Science.
Better safe than sorry? Managing risk in tomorrow's world
Thursday 12 July at 6.30pm
Managing risk - or the public perception of risk - is an increasingly
controversial area of official government policy on science. Public
scepticism has stalled the advance of new technology and yet some
commentators argue there is also a risk in standing still. Is it better to
be safe than sorry or should society agree that there is an acceptable price
to pay for progress?
Speakers to include Prof. John Adams, Professor of Geography, University
College, London, speaker and writer on environmental issues and risk
management, and Prof. Philip Stott, Prof. of Biogeography, University of
London and editor of the Journal of Biogeography (Blackwell Science).
What is expertise?
Thursday 5 July at 6.30pm
How far do scientists actually agree on the methods and philosophy
underpinning their research? What does this mean for the system of
scientific peer group review? And does it undermine the notion of expertise?
Speakers to include Prof. Steven Rose, Prof. of Biology and Director, Brain
and Behavior Research group, The Open University and joint Professor of
Physic, Gresham College, London and Prof. Brian Wynne, Research Director,
Centre for the Study of Environmental Change. Chair: Geoffrey Carr, Science
and Technology Editor, The Economist
Doors open from 6pm. Admission is free but seating is limited. Please
reserve a seat in advance by email: [log in to unmask]
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