Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Radio Canada International (RCI): Decline in science becoming ‘disastrous,’profs say

Government action has severely degraded science in Canada and the role it should play in devising public policy, and that is bad for democracy, say three professors at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario.

Government scientists are no longer allowed to speak freely to the press or to the public and funding for scientific research has been drastically cut, write the three in an editorial in the Globe and Mail newspaper.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Globe and Mail: Fix the Link where Science and Policy meet

Thomas Homer-Dixon, Heather Douglas (Waterloo Chair in Science & Society) and Lucie Edwards contribute to The Globe and Mail's 'Letters to the Editor' section.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Science-Policy Interface: International Comparison Workshop

From May 21st to May 23rd, 2014 the University of Waterloo’s Heather Douglas organized an impressive international workshop concerning the relationship between science and policy.

Here are more details on the workshop and its participants.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Heather Douglas talks on CBC about government cuts to science

Heather Douglas, Philosophy professor and Waterloo Chair in Science & Society, moderated a town hall in Waterloo addressing federal government cuts to science research. The event was organized by the Liberal Riding Association and featured Dr. Art Carty, executive director of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, and Dr. Brian Dixon, Waterloo professor of Biology and Canada Research Chair in Fish & Environmental Immunology.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Pure Science and the Problem of Progress

How should we understand scientific progress? Kuhn famously discussed science as its own internally driven venture, structured by paradigms. He also famously had a problem describing progress in science, as problem-solving ability failed to provide a clear rubric across paradigm change—paradigm changes tossed out problems as well as solving them. I argue here that much of Kuhn’s inability to articulate a clear view of scientific progress stems from his focus on pure science and a neglect of applied science.

  1. 2017 (1)
  2. 2016 (9)
  3. 2015 (9)
  4. 2014 (14)
    1. November (1)
    2. September (2)
    3. August (1)
    4. July (1)
    5. June (3)
    6. May (1)
    7. April (1)
    8. February (1)
    9. January (3)
  5. 2013 (14)
  6. 2012 (3)