Science's Social Effects

Issues in Science and Technology, Spring 2007 by Frodeman, Robert, Holbrook, J Britt

If society needs to be educated about science and technology (and it does) scientists and engineers, too, need to be educated about the effect of science and technology on society, as well as the effect of society on science and technology. The broader impacts criterion represents an excellent (perhaps the best) opportunity for scientists, engineers, researchers on science and technology, policymakers, and members of the larger society to engage in mutual education. This promise will be fulfilled only if scientists, engineers, EPO professionals, and researchers on science work together and use the criterion to the fullest.

Finally, concern with the criterion should go beyond helping NSF improve its merit review process, and even beyond helping NSF achieve its larger goals of integration and interdisciplinarity. Insofar as science and technology have effects on our society, asking scientists and engineers to consider and account for those broader effects before they commit themselves to a particular research program, and before taxpayers commit to funding that program, sounds eminently reasonable. This is not to suggest that members of the public should have the final say on every funding proposal. It is to suggest, however, that publicly funded science should not always be judged only on its scientific merit by scientists. We need to explore the possibility of a new ideal of impure science, in which scientists and engineers both educate and learn from others about the relation between science and society.

Robert Frodeman (Frodeman@unt.edu) is chairman and J. Britt Holbrook (jbrittholbrook@unt.edu) is research assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies at the University of North Texas.