In 1963 British
philosopher Stephen Toulmin warned that decisions about science would
be based on little more than "hunches and prejudices" unless scholars
devoted more attention to scholarship on "science policy." More than
four decades later, John Marburger, science advisor to President George
W. Bush, expressed concern that science policy decisions were largely
uninformed by science policy research and requested that "the nascent
field of the social science of science policy needs to grow up, and
quickly." It is in the interests of both the scientific community and
the broader society which it supports to proceed with Toulmin's and
Marburger's calls to intellectual arms and expect science policy
research to play a greater role in science policy decisions.
In 1963 British
philosopher Stephen Toulmin warned that decisions about science would
be based on little more than "hunches and prejudices" unless scholars
devoted more attention to scholarship on "science policy." More than
four decades later, John Marburger, science advisor to President George
W. Bush, expressed concern that science policy decisions were largely
uninformed by science policy research and requested that "the nascent
field of the social science of science policy needs to grow up, and
quickly." It is in the interests of both the scientific community and
the broader society which it supports to proceed with Toulmin's and
Marburger's calls to intellectual arms and expect science policy
research to play a greater role in science policy decisions.
