U.S. Scientists and Public Interest Organizations: Aims and Limits
This study examined two mechanisms that allow for interchange between science and society: governmental science policy (often involving the participation of "scientist administrators") and scientists’ voluntary public-interest associations. The resulting book also looked at the activities of citizen-scientists who have organized themselves to promote the welfare of society.
The “ivory tower” of science is a misleading stereotype according to which science and society exist largely in isolation from each other. The public, policy-makers, and many researchers have paid insufficient attention to the mechanisms for interchange between science and society that have developed since World War II. This study examined two such mechanisms: governmental science policy (often involving the participation of "scientist administrators") and scientists’ voluntary public-interest associations. Scientists from many disciplines and students of public policy offered their recollections and materials. The resulting book also looks at the activities of citizen-scientists who have organized themselves to promote the welfare of society. It shows that their numerous and diverse organizations have made major contributions and have helped to prevent science from becoming either too subservient to government or too autonomous.