Editor's Summary
1 February 2007
Where did we go wrong?
Elof Carlson wrote Times of Triumph, Times of Doubt after puzzling over why so many of his students turned their backs on science, feeling that "science had let them down through its bad outcomes". By following a series of case histories he examines the gulf between scientists' good intentions and those 'bad outcomes'. In reviewing the book for Nature, Ian Wilmut endorses Carlson's contention that everyone in the scientific community has a responsibility to assess their work realistically and to broadcast both the risks and benefits. Let us have ambitious research, but cautious application, he says.
Books and Arts: For better or for worse
Science must be applied carefully if we are to reap the benefits but minimize the risks.
doi:10.1038/445485a