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Nature 401, 207 (16 September 1999) | doi:10.1038/45656

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Sensible precautions make good science...

C. Vyvyan Howard1 & Peter T. Saunders2

  1. Department of Fetal & Infant Toxico-Pathology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZA, UK
  2. Department of Mathematics, King's College, London WC2R 2LS, UK

Søren Holm and John Harris strongly criticize the precautionary principle but they seem not to understand it (Nature 400, 398; 1999). They complain that it is not valid for evaluating evidence, when that is not what it is for.