Monday, December 3, 2007

Strength in Numbers - Missing Link

The Missing Link podcast is a podcast about the history of science. In the fifth episode Strength in Numbers, host Elizabeth Green Musselman (EGM) ponders the position of scientists in society. The scientist, over the past hundred years has developed in some kind of a apolitical technological objectivist and as such is a mere tool in the political discourse and not an agent. She argues, scientists should and can take a stand. Implicit lies the idea there is no such thing as true objectivity. The seemingly neutral numbers of scientific knowledge can be used one way or the other. A thought provoking podcast.

When listening to the podcast, you have to keep your eyes on the ball (as it were), since EGM uses excerpts from recordings she made during a conference. This was done with simple hardware and render sound quality of a very poor level. She apologizes in advance, but one needs to truly carefully listen in.

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