Jerry Coyne’s recent book could not have come at a better time. The science-religion debate is out of control. In the first chapter of this book, Coyne lays out the problem: the notion that science and religion are compatible is detrimentally influential and widespread despite overwhelming and mounting evidence that the two are irredeemably atContinue reading “The Problem and the Problems with the Problem–Notes on Chapter One”
Category Archives: Situated Science
Trust in…Whom?
Over the last few weeks in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Situating Science has presented two installments in the national lecture series “The Lives of Evidence.” On February 28, Carl Elliot from the University of Minnesota gave a talk entitled “An Atypical Suicide: Psychiatric Research Abuse at the University of Minnesota.” In this talk, Dr. Elliot toldContinue reading “Trust in…Whom?”
The War on Science and its Secular Cloak
Recently I’ve been reading The War on Science by Chris Turner. Turner chronicles the Harper government’s steady dismantling of Canada’s environmental science infrastructure and the instantiation of anti-environmentalism into public policy. Turner documents Harper’s apparent insistence on thwarting environmental research and erecting barriers between evidence and policy. Turner places his critique in an historical contextContinue reading “The War on Science and its Secular Cloak”
Science, Evidence, and Narrative
Science, Evidence, and Narrative I’ve heard it said that the way we see the world in some ways determines the world we see. I think this is true, though I’m not well equipped to delve into this from any deep philosophical vantage point. And I don’t mean to suggest any type of supernatural causation instantiated viaContinue reading “Science, Evidence, and Narrative”
Evidence, the Death of Evidence, and Finding Some Good Questions
The recent announcement by the Canadian Federal government of the closing and consolidation of Fisheries and Oceans libraries has the media, once again, reporting outrage on what appears to be the present government’s war on science. A quiet outrage has developed among academics and researchers as they mourn the loss of priceless data and artifacts. I callContinue reading “Evidence, the Death of Evidence, and Finding Some Good Questions”
Hype in Science: How can respectable journals publish such c**p? oh, and peer-review
On December 7, 2013, the Atlantic Node of Situating Science Strategic Knowledge Cluster hosted a one day public series of discussions exploring six case studies of overselling, misrepresentation or biasing in the presentation of scientific research. Included in these case studies was a discussion of the NASA supported research article published in Science that claimed the discovery of bacteria from arsenicContinue reading “Hype in Science: How can respectable journals publish such c**p? oh, and peer-review”
Citizens and Science: Really?
On Monday, October 21, 2013, Dr. Yves Gingras (UQAM) opened the Science and Society Sympoium 2013 with a talk entitled “The Transformations in the Relations between Science, Policy and Citizens.” Humorous and insightful, Dr. Gingras inspired a great deal of conversation and set the tone for a very productive three days that focused on howContinue reading “Citizens and Science: Really?”
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