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The Role of Scientists in Achieving a Better Environment*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Thomas F. Malone
Thomas F. Malone
Affiliation:
Director, Holcomb Research Institute, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana 46208, U.S.A.; latterly Secretary-General, Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU).
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Extract

Roles or expressions of attitude which scientists should play or display in achieving a better environment for Man and Nature need to include (1) a positive and optimistic viewpoint, (2) a proper perspective in time-dimensions, (3) identification of major developments that have profoundly influenced our view of ourselves as humans, (4) development of a rational conceptual framework within which to arrange the activities required to influence the human environment (involving the four basic processes of energy provision, materials-cycling, life-cycling, and information leading to decision-making), (5) relating of these four basic processes to linking Man far more propitiously than latterly to his environment, (6) effective interaction among disciplines and concomitant advising of decision-makers, (7) developing sophisticated insight into the array of societal issues that confront mankind, and (8) tackling the set of environmental hazards that are particularly critical in developing countries.

The paper ends with an appeal to all ‘to reaffirm a robust faith in the destiny of Man.’

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , Summer 1976 , pp. 83 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1976

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References

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