Transcript Document

What is unique about science
advice from an Academy?
London
November 4, 2008
Bruce Alberts
Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
Co-chair InterAcademy Council, Amsterdam
Editor-in-chief, Science magazine
My Bottom Lines:
1). It is critically important that science, and scientists,
achieve a much higher degree of influence throughout
both their nations and the world.
2). Academies of Science will be instrumental for this
spreading of science and its values.
• Your efforts are important for your nation’s
success.
• They are also important for building a better
world.
Why scientific judgments are crucial
for policymakers
• Science has allowed humans to gain a deep
understanding of the natural world.
• In many cases, we can therefore predict the
effects of current actions on the future.
My life from 1993-2005
A 12-year education in Washington
Policy advice from the US
National Academies
• More than 200 reports a year, 85 percent
requested by the US government
• Full text released to the press, and to the
public on our Website, when report is
delivered to government
• Two types of reports: most “science for
policy”, but many are “policy for science”
The critical take-home lesson from
my 12 years in Washington
Science is much more important
than most scientists think!
In particular, we need:
1). Governments that base their policies on what
scientists predict about the effect of current actions
on the future (global warming is just one of many
examples)
2). Much more of the creativity, rationality, openness,
and tolerance that are inherent to science --- what
Indian Prime Minister Nehru called a “scientific
temper” -- for both the US and all other nations.
.
My favorite quote
“The society of scientists is simple because it has a
directing purpose: to explore the truth. Nevertheless,
it has to solve the problem of every society, which is
to find a compromise between the individual and the
group. It must encourage the single scientist to be
independent, and the body of scientists to be tolerant.
From these basic conditions, which form the prime
values, there follows step by step a range of values:
dissent, freedom of thought and speech, justice,
honor, human dignity and self respect.
Science has humanized our values. Men have
asked for freedom, justice and respect precisely as
the scientific spirit has spread among them.”
Jacob Bronowski, Science and Human Values, 1956
The potential advantages of
“academy-type” institutions
• Merit-based selection of members based
on peer evaluations. Therefore represent
the best of science and engineering
• Governed by members with a selfrenewing membership, stable and
insulated from political interference
A critical mission for science
academies: telling truth to power
• Politicians often tend to cater to those with
special interests, focusing on short term
gains.
• Only a strong, respected voice for local
scientists is likely to provide the
countervailing power needed for a nation to
make wise long-run decisions on many
issues.
Often, only local scientists will have the
credibility required to rescue a nation
from misguided local policies and beliefs
Some recent examples:
• Fear of polio vaccination in Nigeria
• Fear of GM crops in many nations
• Myths about HIV in South Africa
Important recent
report from the South
African Academy of
Sciences
The problems facing some
science academies
• Membership fails to recognize the
organization’s potential for influencing
society and government.
• Failure to adequately respect engineers,
economists, and social scientists.
• Lack of the financial resources required to
support the type of academy staff needed to
produce high-quality policy advice.
IAP Worldwide
Launched in 1993, IAP is a global network of 98 science academies
91 countries
IAP members
The support of “sustainability science”
by the InterAcademy Panel
• Helping the science academies in each
nation develop a larger role in their own
societies, including becoming a respected
advisor to their own governments
• Sharing information and resources as
“public goods” to strengthen world science
(e.g., electronic journals and other Web
publications, programs and resources for
science education, ages 5 to 25)
www.NationalAcademies.org
Full text of more than 3000 books now on-line,
accessible through powerful search engine
For 146 nations, these are available as free PDFs
Through the IAP, the academy
presidents recognized that scientists
need to have a much larger presence in
world affairs.
In particular, how can the world’s
scientists more effectively communicate
their agreement on central issues? ord a
more rational and a more prosperous
place.
The answer:
The IAC was
established by
the IAP in 2000,
with a secretariat
at KNAW in
Amsterdam
The 15 Academy presidents who initially
governed the InterAcademy Council (IAC)
Academy
Population
China
1,240,000,000
India
1,000,000,000
United States
272,000,000
Brazil
171,000,000
Russia**
146,000,000
Japan
126,000,000
Mexico**
100,000,000
Germany
82,000,000
United Kingdom
59,100,000
France
58,900,000
South Africa**
43,400,000
Malaysia
21,300,000
Sweden**
8,910,000
Israel**
5,740,000
Third World Academy of Sciences
* Replaced by
Chile, Iran,
Hungary, Turkey,
and the African
Academy in 2005
Next turnover of
five academies
in March 2009
The promise of world science collaboration
The first report of the InterAcademy
Council was released at the UN General
Assembly in February, 2004
Inventing a Better Future: A Strategy for
Building Worldwide Capacities in Science
and Technology.
• A guide for building high quality institutions
for science and technology in every nation.
• Committee co-chairs from Brazil and Egypt,
plus scientists from 10 other nations.
The first three IAC reports, 2004 to 2006
capacity building
agriculture
women
IAC Panel on African Agriculture
Speciosa Wandira KAZIBWE, Uganda
Peter MATLON, USA
Rudy RABBINGE, Netherlands
Ahmadou Lamine NDIAYE, Senegal
M.S. SWAMINATHAN, India
Bongiwe NJOBE, South Africa
Mohamed BESRI, Morocco
Emmanuel Uche ODIGBOH, Nigeria
Maria Manuela CHAVES, Portugal
Gideon ORON, Israel
Avílio Antonio FRANCO, Brazil
Per PINSTRUP-ANDERSEN, Denmark
Jikun HUANG, China
Elly N. SABIITI, Uganda
Ryuichi ISHII, Japan
José SARUKHAN, Mexico
Renald LAFOND, Canada
Jennifer THOMSON, South Africa
Entebbe, Uganda
4th IAC report released October 2007
Lighting the Way: Toward a Sustainable
Energy Future
Co-chairs:
Steve Chu (USA) and Jose Goldemberg (Brazil)
A problem with international attempts
to help Africa: little coordination
“Hundreds of well-intentioned international aid
agencies, with their own priorities and idiosyncrasies,
seldom cooperate or even communicate with each
other. Instead, they compete for publicity, funding, and
access to potential recipients. Overburdened leaders
in developing countries, whose governments are often
relatively disorganized, confront a cacophony of offers
and demands from donors.”
Jimmy Carter
Can strong national academies of science
help provide the missing coordination?
Could strong academies, working closely with landgrant type universities, help to organize and
coordinate the work of aid agencies, with university
institutes and departments replacing many of the
uncoordinated and competing NGOs?
The urgent need for capacity building
• Those of us in more scientifically
advanced nations must help less
advanced nations develop a greater
capacity in science and technology, as
appropriate to their national needs.
• This in our own interest, as well as being
critical for the rest of the world.