Bombs, Bird Flu and Bosons: Making – and Communicating – Scientific Findings under Uncertainty

The life of science is not now, and perhaps never has been, exclusively about toiling in laboratories and prying secrets from the world. Scientists are social creatures, and their work has implications for other people, and for society. In addition to the standards of scientific integrity in open society (don’t cheat, especially when others are paying for and relying on your research), investigators must be mindful of how their work will be communicated, understood, misunderstood and acted on. When the stakes are high, as they often are, this means that probabilistic findings must be communicated carefully and with nuance. It also means that scientists must do a better job of helping to improve science literacy: panic, over-reaction and – worst of all – indifference – to scientific findings are among the fruits of the tree of ignorance.