Technology, Government and Protest

...And confrontation does make life more exciting...

...Advice and Dissent is a very good title both for these activities and for the book detailing them...

...Defoliation in South Vietnam was a moral problem...

...Whereas Harry Truman went ahead with hydrogen bomb development against the advice of the General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission, and John F. Kennedy decided to put a man in space despite the opposition of the scientific community, scientists as a group, since they were not at odds with these two Presidents, refrained from generating any great controversies during their terms...

...has expanded the use of the Library of Congress and the General Accounting Office...

...Their accomplishments were impressive...

...They knew weapons and had a familiarity with disarmament discussions...

...In all of these cases, moreover, a general hostility to the government during the '60s influenced the decision to dissent...

...Indeed, the more common view that a consultant can stay on a Federal committee and take an openly anti-Administration position, coupled with the lack of enthusiasm on the campuses for Lyndon Johnson's Vietnam policy and Richard Nixon in general, produced a disenchantment with scientists at the White House...

...Nor is there discussion of the scientific advisory structure within the Washington bureaucracy...

...The damage inflicted on South Vietnam's forests through defoliation was evaluated...

...Those protests, to be sure, have forced politicians to do their homework better: Reactor safety is only one of the issues forced on legislators' attentions following public exposure...

...Reviewed by E. R. Piore Former member, President's Science Advisory Committee This book dramatically describes the role played by scientists in determining governmental policy over the last decade...

...Defense Department programs for chemical and biological weapons were renounced by the White House...

...and has created an Office of Technical Assessment...

...Similar steps were inspired on state, county and city levels as well-through the actions of such groups as the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Colorado Committee for Environmental Information, the Stanford Workshop of Political and Social Issues, to name a few...

...departments of necessity are parochial in their programs, and departmental advisory committees usually reflect the sections they work for...

...Are the confrontation techniques the American scientific community has employed over the last few years, which Primack and von Hip-pel amply document, the best way to assure that scientific and technological inputs are given the proper emphasis by our government...

...With regard to the AIBM, there were two issues that brought scientists into the public arena...

...The other involved the AlBM's impact on disarmament negotiations: Would more rapid progress toward nuclear disarmament be made with or without extensive AIBM deployment...

...At present, though, scientists have no channel to the White House-not even a mail drop...

...But is this realistic...

...Further, the authors appear to believe that a scientist, an engineer, should be treated differently from other people when he advises the President, that scientists should be able to continue serving while taking a public position against a specific program or action known to be dear to the heart of the Chief Executive...

...they advise...

...It contains no references to the accomplishments of the PSAC or to other institutions that assist the Executive branch in scientific and technical areas...

...This is tragic at a time when so much of the nation's future rests on technological necessities...

...Deployment of the Anti-Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (AIBM) was confined to one or two sites...

...In the light of all this, Primack and von Hippel conclude with their assessments of the moral and ethical responsibilities of governmental committees...

...An "oath" is recommended and proposals are made for improving the nature of advisory functions...

...Congress, meanwhile, finding that new legislation relies more and more on technology and science, has turned increasingly to the National Academy for answers and advice...

...A ban on the use of DDT was ordered...

...The National Academy of Sciences, along with its operating arm the National Research Council, is mildly criticized, but its reorganization to deal more effectively with the interaction between science and society is ignored...

...One concerned the weapon's operational capabilities...

...But at those times when the Administration proposes legislation contrary to their recommendations, they often dissent in public...

...On the national scene, partly as a result of their efforts, additional appropriations for the Super Sonic Transport were stopped and work on the plane was discontinued...

...Cyclamate additives in food were prohibited...

...PSAC had been the agency that initiated the debate within the Eisenhower Administration which finally led to the limited nuclear test ban agreement...

...The participants in the confrontations and debates discussed here were in many instances former Washington advisers...

...But Vietnam produced an atmosphere of suspicion among intellectuals, a feeling that the men who were running the country had no regard for the public good...

...Advice and Dissent will not help to rectify this situation...

...There is a subtle implication in this book, however, that the scientist, the technical person, has a higher morality than the average citizen, and because of his great knowledge is in a better position to determine policy for the country...

...Stemming from issues that had their origin in Washington, this volume neatly pinpoints the two pursuits that engage scientists when they do government work...

...the most recent dispute concerns fluorinated hydrocarbons (Freon), the compounds used in aerosol cans that may be depleting the ozone layer...

...Some had served on the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC), some in the Pentagon and in the Disarmament Agency...

...Let me offer just three examples...

...The function of a science adviser in residence at the White House is to resolve conflicting proposals coming from the different agencies...

...But the principal question remains: How can the Federal government, the White House and the Congress, be structured so that the best possible personnel can assist it in ascertaining and understanding how various actions affect our society and our morality...

...As members of committees or consultants to various Federal departments and agencies, they offer suggestions based on their expertise...

...The result was a severe weakening of the post of the Science Adviser to the President (the title was given to the Director of the National Science Foundation), and the abolition of PSAC...

...The choice, it seems to me, is to resign and go public or, having lost the battle within the White House, remain silent, lick one's wounds, regroup, and prepare for the next fight...

...No thought was given to whether this type of weapon was repugnant to the average American...

...Arguments against the SST, on the other hand, stressed takeoff noise, the sonic boom, possible damage from the plane's exhaust to the ozone layer (thereby increasing ultraviolet light on the surface of the earth and in turn increasing the incidence of skin cancer), the prospect of permanent weather modifications, and the predicted manufacturing and maintenance costs...

...Yet until scientists spoke up, the debate centered on how large an area was to be defoliated, how long it would take for the forests to regrow, and what the side effects would be...

...The questions provoking these confrontations are always complex, involving such matters as pure science, current technology, the direction of technology, the electorate's confidence in the ability of engineers, social goals, the future character of our society, international relationships, ethics, economics, and the subtle relationship that exists between the White House and the academy...