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In 1941 the Colonial Office made a commitment to fund scientific research into the chemistry of sugar. If sugar cane could be used to make plastics, building materials, drugs and other synthetic products, then it was hoped the British West Indies would find themselves in the fortunate position of being producers of a lucrative raw material for the chemical industry rather than a low-value foodstuff. This was a vision that endowed laboratory research with the power to transform the economic and social life of the British West Indies. But how
Introduction The seas and oceans are the subject of a great deal of scientific research. The aims of this research are to increase knowledge and understanding of, inter alia, the physical characteristics of sea water, wave formation, tidal levels and ocean circulation, and how they vary over time and place; the geology and geomorphology of the seabed; marine fauna and flora
105 4 US aid and the creation of an Irish scientific research infrastructure Introduction This chapter broadens out the focus from Irish sociology to examine Irish scientific research. Its central theme is the way in which resources provided or jointly controlled by US actors underpinned the development of a modern scientific research infrastructure within the state in the period after the Second World War. The scientific fields principally affected by these financial injections were applied research related to agriculture, industry and economics. Money flowed
Never have the scope and limits of scientific freedom been more important or more under attack. New science, from artificial intelligence to genomic manipulation, creates unique opportunities to make the world a better place. But it also presents unprecedented dangers, which many believe threaten the survival of humanity and the planet. This collection, by an international and multidisciplinary group of leading thinkers, addresses three vital questions: (1) How are scientific developments impacting on human life and on the structure of societies? (2) How is science regulated, and how should it be regulated? (3) Are there ethical boundaries to scientific developments in some sensitive areas (e.g. robotic intelligence, biosecurity)? The contributors are drawn from many disciplines, and approach the issues in diverse ways to secure the widest representation of the many interests engaged. They include some of the most distinguished academics working in this field, as well as young scholars.
Exhumation may be defined as the legally sanctioned excavation and recovery of the remains of lawfully buried or – occasionally – cremated individuals, as distinct from forensic excavations of clandestinely buried remains conducted as part of a criminal investigation and from unlawful disinterment of human remains, commonly referred to as bodysnatching. The aim of this article is to review the role of exhumation – so defined – in the activities of CEMEL, the Medico-Legal Centre of the Ribeirão Preto Medical School-University of São Paulo, in international, regional and local collaborations. Exhumations form part of routine forensic anthropology casework; scientific research in physical and forensic anthropology; and forensic casework conducted in collaboration with the Brazilian Federal Police; and are carried out as part of humanitarian investigations into deaths associated with the civil–military dictatorship of 1964 to 1985. This article aims to offer a non-technical summary – with reference to international comparative information – of the role of exhumation in investigative and scientific work and to discuss developments in their historical and political context.
One hundred years ago, the world's largest telescope was at Birr, in the centre of Ireland. The Birr telescope was known as the Leviathan of Parsonstown. William Parsons, the Third Earl of Rosse and the resident landlord at Birr Castle, was a remarkable engineer, who built enormous telescopes in the cloudy Ireland. This book sets the historical, social, religious and astronomical context for this story. There are insights into the Anglo-Irish community and into this atypical Anglo-Irish family; and into the building of the telescope, with limited input from the astronomical establishment. The book contains material on Mary, Countess of Rosse, who had married the young William Parsons, and on the nature of their marriage. There had been a tradition of engineering and architectural initiative at Birr Castle over a lengthy period. Although Parsons was a skilled observer of the Spiral Galaxy, M 51, working in the Irish climate, he was constantly racing against the clock, since the sky might cloud up at any moment. In the subsequent discovery of other spiral nebulae, his civic duties precluded his use of the telescope on a constant basis. At that time, central government did not fund fundamental scientific research. When astronomy at Birr went into decline in the 1880s, the proud place that Ireland enjoyed in the astronomical universe was eclipsed. The Earl must have been disappointed that the ingenious design of the Leviathan would not be replicated in any future large telescope.
one can see, the purpose of using a hybrid hierarchical bureaucracy combining scientific research and the medical hierarchy for validating forms was to minimise doubt. The concept of monitoring – an expression dear to investigators – is interesting here. It makes understanding the surveillance, control and flow of data from the trial – whose structure and practices were just an engine for producing data – possible. It was also an engine for monitoring how forms
Data-informed advocacy is a familiar occurrence in humanitarian circles. Powers showed how activism and information provision were conceptualised as two sides of the same coin. Activism was considered a guiding value in their information production function, while information was perceived ‘as a key component of successful advocacy’ ( Powers, 2016 : 411). In Redfield’s study of MSF, he describes this practice as ‘an overtly motivated form of scientific research, finding
From British rule the independent Irish state inherited an effectively denominational system of university education and a complementary set of science and arts institutions. Under independent rule denominational influence increased and resource starvation prevailed until the end of the 1950s. Then, as the formation of human capital, education began to be treated as an input into economic growth and American initiatives stimulated new research activity. These changes played a vital role in the rebalancing of power between the Catholic Church and the state. Social science, where the Catholic Church had been a monopoly provider, supplies a dramatic case study of the interlinking of this power shift with the process of knowledge generation.
scientific research. Our argument that evidence-based policy and the precautionary principle can and should be reconciled, however, is conditional, not absolute. We offer a proposition for public policy in which limits to the freedom of scientific research are removed in the name of the precautionary principle. Indeed, we argue that it is precautionary not to place limitations on the freedom of scientific research, because there are many possible adverse consequences for prosperity, innovation, welfare, health and society. At the same time, this lack of governmental