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How Science Works and How Can Science Most Effectively Inform Policy? - January 23, 2006
- Go To:
- Introduction
White Paper
Lecture Videos and Presentations
Sugessted Reading
Briefing for House of Representatives (PDF)
Dear Colleague Letter from Representatives Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Bart Gordon (D-TN)
Briefing
for Senate (PDF)
Dear Colleague Letter from Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL)
Made possible through generous support from The Winslow Foundation
Congress must make numerous critical decisions that need to be informed by science. These range from deciding the best way to prevent an outbreak of avian flu to developing the most effective energy policies. This briefing, featuring two of the nation’s most respected scientific voices, is designed to provide an overview of the scientific method, that is how scientists go about trying to understand the world, and of how they can best help us in our work. The briefing is not focused on any specific policy question or position, but rather on how science can and should be used by political decision-makers.
The first portion of the briefing, which will be led by Dr. Donald Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief of Science, our country’s leading science journal, will cover such topics as: What is a scientific theory and how are such theories tested? What constitutes a scientific proof? Is there such a thing as scientific fact? What is the role of probability in science and how do scientists deal with uncertainty? How does science tackle so called “non-linear” changes like global climate change or the loss of some species worldwide, when these changes are unprecedented, enormously complex, and on a global scale?
The second part of the briefing will be led by Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg, President of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. (The National Academies comprise the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council.) He will look at the role of scientists in general, and the Academy and other non-governmental scientific bodies in particular, in advising policy-makers, and how these advisory relationships might work most effectively.
Welcome and Introduction
Eric Chivian, M.D.
Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, Shared 1985 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient as Co-Founder of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Biography
How Science Works
Donald Kennedy, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief, Science; former President, Stanford University; former Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration
Biography
How Can Science Most Effectively Inform Policy
Harvey V. Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D.
President of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies; former Provost of Harvard University; former Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health
Biography
PowerPoint (PDF)
Briefing Lecture Video (RealPlayer)
Briefing Q & A Video (RealPlayer)
View the Agenda for our annual course for congressional staff, Environmental Change: The Science and Human Health Impacts.
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