Risk

The Robert C Barnard Inaugural Lecture

Delivered to the American Association for the Advancement of Science Washington DC, September 1999

This is a somewhat perplexing honour: to be asked - as a politician - to address a body dedicated to the advancement of science. I assume you have taken this risk for a particular reason although it is not at all clear to me why. Science and politics are uneasy bedfellows at the best of times. When I tell you that the subject of my address today is a discussion of the role of science in assessing risks (and in particular, environmental risks) you should be doubly discomforted.  Full text