Frontiers of Illusion: Science, Technology and the Politics of Progress Book

For the past fifty years, science and technology supported with billions of dollars from the U.S. government have advanced at a rate that would once have seemed miraculous, while society's problems have grown more intractable, complex, and diverse. Yet scientists and politicians alike continue to prescribe more science and more technology to cure such afflictions as global climate change, natural resource depletion, overpopulation, inadequate health care, weapons proliferation, and economic inequality.Daniel Sarewitz scrutinizes the fundamental myths that have guided the formulation of science policy for half a century myths that serve the professional and political interests of the scientific community, but often fail to advance the interests of society as a whole. His analysis ultimately demonstrates that stronger linkages between progress in science and progress in society will require research agendas that emerge not from the intellectual momentum of science, but from the needs and goals of society. Daniel Sarewitz worked for four years on science policy issues for the U.S. Congress, first as a Congressional Science Fellow, and then as science consultant to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives. He now directs the Institute for Environmental Education at the Geological Society of America.Read More