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Headline News, Science Views
HEADLINE NEWS, SCIENCE VIEWS
Edited by
DAVID JARMUL
National Research Council
National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
1991
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Headline News, Science Views
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20418
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Samuel O. Thier is president of the Institute of Medicine
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Headline news, science views / David Jarmul, editor; National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, National Research Council.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-309-04480-4: $24.95. — ISBN 0-309-04384-0 (pbk.): $14.95
1. Science news —United States. 2. Science —Social aspects— United States. 3. Technology —Social aspects—United States.
I. Jarmul, David. II. National Research Council (U.S.)
Q225.H43 1991
303.48'3—dc20 91-7480
CIP
Copyright © 1991 by the National Academy of Sciences
No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or private use, without written permission from the publisher, except for the purposes of official use by the U.S. government.
Printed in the United States of America
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Headline News, Science Views
Contents
Foreword
Frank Press
ix
Editor's Note
xiii
1
SCIENCE AND NON-SCIENTISTS
Getting the Facts Straight About Science
Bill Cosby
3
Who Killed Yankee Ingenuity?
Steven L. Goldman
6
On an Antidote for Science Phobia
Ben Patrusky
9
Physics for Poets, Science for Society
Leon M. Lederman
11
Making Sense of a Risk-Filled World
John Ahearne
14
Making the Link Between Science and Politics
Thomas H. Kean
16
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Headline News, Science Views
2
TECHNOLOGY IN EVERYDAY LIFE
Making Our School Buses Safer
Charley V. Wootan
21
A Computer Future Without a Heart
Samuel H. Fuller and Damian M. Saccocio
24
Toward Motoring Smart
Robert D. Ervin and Kan Chen
27
Easing the Crunch at Our Airports
Joseph M. Sussman
30
Protecting Our Phones from Terrorism
John C. McDonald
33
The New Arsenal of Democracy
Robert B. Kurtz
35
Building Houses People Can Afford
Ezra Ehrenkrantz
39
Designing for an Aging America
Sara J. Czaja
41
Preparing for the Next Big Natural Disaster
Richard E. Hallgren
44
Our $1.5 Trillion Investment
Robert F. Jortberg
46
Tough Choices About Rising Sea Level
Robert G. Dean
48
3
A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Uncertainty and the Greenhouse Effect
Robert M. White
55
Saving Sea Turtles
John J. Magnuson
57
Who Owns Antarctica?
Hugh Downs
60
Genetically Engineered Organisms: Monsters or Miracles?
Nina Fedoroff
62
Rethinking Radioactive Waste Disposal
Frank L. Parker
65
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Headline News, Science Views
Toward a Sustainable Agriculture
John Pesek
67
The Paradox of Pesticides
Michael R. Taylor and Charles M. Benbrook
69
Agriculture and Water Quality
Jan van Schilfgaarde
72
Exploring the Mysteries of 'Deep Ecology'
James D. Nations
74
4
THE NATION'S HEALTH
Food and Health
Arno G. Motulsky
81
The Spitting Image: Baseball Players and Chewing Tobacco
John C. Greene
83
Clearing Our Vision About Alcohol Abuse
Robert D. Sparks
86
Needless Infertility
Howard W. Jones, Jr.
88
Who Is Going to Deliver Baby?
Roger J. Bulger
91
Accidents Are Not Always Accidental
Susan S. Gallagher
94
Changing Behavior to Limit the Spread of AIDS
Heather Miller and Marshall Becker
96
The Dilemma of AIDS Drug Experiments
Robin Weiss and Theodore Cooper
99
Identifying What Works in Medicine
Samuel O. Thier
101
5
MAKING SENSE OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS
Confronting the Facts in American Race Relations
Gerald David Jaynes and Robin M. Williams, Jr.
107
Homeless Children: An Emerging Tragedy
Ellen L. Bassuk
110
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Headline News, Science Views
The Gender Wage Gap
Robert T. Michael
112
Child Care in Disarray
John L. Palmer
115
Effective Drug Treatment
Lawrence S. Lewin and Dean R. Gerstein
117
Making Sense of Statistics in the Courtroom
Stephen E. Fienberg and Miron L. Straf
120
The Economics of Reality
Richard H. Thaler
122
6
SCIENTIFIC HORIZONS
Knowing About Trees
John C. Gordon
127
Together to Mars—But with Deliberation
Eugene H. Levy
130
The Less-Noticed Worldwide Revolution
Peter H. Raven
133
Searching for Buried Treasure
Charles A. Bookman
136
The Energy Crisis Beyond the Persian Gulf
David L. Morrison
138
The Challenge to Human Uniqueness
Herbert A. Simon
141
Making a Map of the Human Chromosomes
Bruce M. Alberts
144
Developing New Contraceptive Options
Luigi Mastroianni, Jr.
146
Farewell to the Night Sky
David L. Crawford
149
Setting Our Science, Priorities in Order
Frank Press
151
7
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Getting Even in International Technology
H. Guyford Stever
157
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Headline News, Science Views
The Growing International Competition for Brain Power
Peter W. Likins
160
Industrial Cooperation in Japan: It's Not What We Think
George R. Heaton, Jr.
162
Offering Tools for Soviet Democracy
Paul C. Stern
165
The Surprising Reality About Hunger
Robert W. Kates
167
Vaccines for the Developing World
Phyllis Freeman
170
Easing the Fear of Giving Birth
Julie DaVanzo
172
New Crops for South America's Farmers
Hugh Popenoe
175
8
DIFFICULT CHOICES
Life and Death: More Than an Expert Opinion
Ralph Crawshaw
181
The New Diagnostic and the Power of Biologic Information
Dorothy Nelkin and Laurence Tancredi
183
Harvesting Organs from Anencephalic Infants
Alexander Morgan Capron
186
HIV Screening and the Calculus of Misery
Ronald Bayer
190
Laboratory Experiments on Animals Should Continue
Norman Hackerman
192
Integrity and Science
Arthur H. Rubenstein and Rosemary Chalk
195
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9
THE NEXT GENERATION
Kindergarten Stress
Eugene E. Garcia
201
Abe Lincoln's Schoolroom
Philip and Phylis Morrison
203
What School Volunteers Can Do
Gilbert T. Sewall
205
The Challenge of Numbers
Bernard L. Madison
208
On Darwin, Bibles and Classrooms
Francisco J. Ayala
211
The Long Haul to a Doctorate
Susan Coyle
214
The 'Mommy Track' in Science
Paula Rayman
216
Dr. King and Blacks in Science
Willie Pearson, Jr.
219
The Civilized Engineer
Samuel C. Florman
222
INDEX
225
All of the articles and author affiliations in this book appear as originally published.
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Foreword
Frank Press
President, National Academy of Sciences
We live in an era of unprecedented scientific and technical achievement. Our lives have been transformed by computers, medical breakthroughs, space probes and a host of other changes—as well as by such dangers as environmental degradation and nuclear conflict. My own field of geophysics, in which we have learned how the continents move across the globe on tectonic plates, illustrates the fantastic progress that has occurred in a wide range of scientific disciplines.
Yet, despite their importance, the many developments in science and technology remain mysterious to millions of Americans. People have little understanding of semiconductors, genetic engineering, global warming and other issues that are changing their lives. Opinion surveys and tests of U.S. students' knowledge show that public understanding of science and technology is weak. Even Americans with advanced training in non-scientific fields often know little about the revolution in biology or the amazing new materials being produced in laboratories. As science journalist Ben Patrusky writes in this book, "When it comes to science, many smart, achieving, curious and otherwise accomplished folk come down with a case of synaptic shutoff. Here we are living in what is truly an astonishing era in human history, a dazzling epoch of scientific and technological achievement—mere prelude to marvels yet undreamed of—and many of
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its beneficiaries are indifferent to, if not altogether bored by, the very enterprise that brought us to this most exalted station.''
This popular indifference poses a challenge to a democratic society facing important decisions about AIDS, drugs, national defense, medical technology and other issues involving science and technology. How can voters and policymakers act wisely about issues they do not understand? Our economy requires excellence in science and technology, from the factory floor to research in such cutting-edge fields as optics, biotechnology and microelectronics. International competition in both basic research and technology is increasing steadily, and people's jobs and prosperity are certain to be affected by how well our nation fares. Americans also will encounter many questions involving science and technology in their daily lives, from evaluating the risks posed by radon or pesticide residues to deciding whether to purchase safety devices for their automobiles, what to eat and how to preserve the environment. In the world of the 1990s and beyond, knowledge about science and technology is not a frill but a necessity.
The path that separates scientists from non-scientists runs both ways. Many scientists, engineers and other technical experts make an inadequate effort to explain their work and concerns to their fellow citizens. Even if their specialty bears directly on important issues of the day, these experts may be reluctant to venture beyond their classroom or laboratory to speak with public officials, journalists or even at a neighborhood gathering. Many of them, trained in the rational ways of the scientific method, find the larger world maddeningly illogical and imprecise. Yet this is precisely why more of them need to roll up the sleeves of their lab coats and share their special expertise with the larger society. Former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean, writing in this volume, is correct in arguing that, ''In these days of complex problems and high-tech solutions, it is essential that those who understand the laws of nature be more involved in the making of the laws of man."
Headline News, Science Views seeks to bridge this gap between science and the rest of society. It features 75 brief
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essays by some of our country's most prominent scientists, engineers, physicians and other experts. The authors discuss terrorism, space travel, rising sea level, sustainable agriculture and other issues in language that is remarkably free of jargon. They outline issues in a way that makes science and technology interesting even for people who struggled to pass high school chemistry. All of the articles originally were syndicated nationally by the National Academy Op-Ed Service. The volume was edited by David Jarmul, who has directed the service since its inception in 1983. We hope Headline News, Science Views will help bring the worlds of scientists and non-scientists a little closer. Neither group is well-served if, like the continents, they continue to drift apart.
Washington, D.C.
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Editor's Note
The articles in this book originally appeared on the editorial and opinion pages of daily newspapers. They were distributed by the National Academy Op-Ed Service. Begun in 1983 under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine and National Research Council—the institutions whose reports serve as the basis for many of the articles—the service provides more than 250 newspapers with timely articles by scientific and technical experts. The papers receive the weekly articles free with exclusive rights within their cities. Among those that have published stories from the service are The Atlanta Constitution, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Detroit News, The Houston Chronicle, The Miami Herald, Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The San Francisco Chronicle and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch .
The wonderful cartoons and drawings in this volume were published originally by editors at subscribing newspapers. The artists and editors granted us permission to reprint the illustrations here.
The service would not exist without the continued support and encouragement of the editors at the subscribing newspapers, who have helped us bring these complex scientific and technical issues into the arena of public debate.
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We also are indebted to hundreds of study committee members, staff officers and others within the Academy who have shared their expertise and offered advice on story ideas. The entire staff of the Academy news office supports the Op-Ed Service in many ways, from reading drafts to gathering clips; Gail Porter, former director of the office, and Patricia Worns, the copy editor, contributed to every article in this volume.
Our greatest thanks is reserved for the authors, who took time out from busy schedules to prepare these articles without pay and under tight deadlines. Making the transition from scientific text to newspaper prose was not always easy, but it was made much smoother by authors whose prominence was matched by their patience, eloquence and genuine desire to reach out beyond the scientific community to the American public.
David Jarmul
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HEADLINE NEWS, SCIENCE VIEWS
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