The Essence of Science: The Social Responsibility of Communicating

Abstract

When we were students, we were taught that a piece of scientific research was not completed until it had been published. Research was not just a matter of personal discovery, it was a part of a larger scientific enterprise ? an effort to understand how the world worked. But since then, it has become clear that science must be viewed as part of a larger social picture. Especially in ecology and conservation biology, research cannot now be considered complete until its significance has been explained to the general public. Indeed, if a study has no significance to society as a whole then the research should not be supported by government funds. Better general understanding of how the world works is significant for everyone, although sadly much ecological research in both Australia and the United States involves more and more sophisticated studies of more and more trivial problems.