Silencing science
By: Shaun Hendy
Series: BWB Texts; BWB texts
Publisher: Bridget Williams Books
Published: 2016
Place of publication: Wellington, New Zealand
Language: eng
Number of pages: 128
ISBN-13: 9780947492847; 9780947492854; 9780947492861; 9780947492878
Copyright date: 2016
Subjects: Science; Social aspects; Political aspects; Freedom of information; Freedom of speech
Description: "The nuclear meltdown at Fukushima ... the Fonterra botulism scare ... the Christchurch earthquakes - in all these recent crises the role played by scientists has been under the spotlight. What is the first duty of scientists in a crisis - to the government, to their employer, or to the wider public desperate for information? And what if these different objectives clash? In this penetrating BWB Text, leading scientist Shaun Hendy finds that in New Zealand, the public obligation of the scientist is often far from clear and that there have been many disturbing instances of scientists being silenced. Experts who have information the public seeks, he finds, have been prevented from speaking out. His own experiences have led him to conclude that New Zealanders have few scientific institutions that feel secure enough to criticise the government of the day"--Publisher information.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.

Also available in an electronic edition.
Table of contents: title: 1. Science matters; title: 2. Dirt and doubt; title: 3. Science, meet policy; title: 4. Who speaks for science?; title: 5. The honest broker.