UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies

IS SCIENCE UNDERGOING ITS OWN PROTESTANT REFORMATION?

Steve Fuller (Auguste Comte Chair in Social Epistemology, University of Warwick)

Abstract: In many respects, the devolution of scientific authority in our time – often mistakenly seen as part of a general ‘anti-scientific’ backlash – resembles the fate of Christianity under the Protestant Reformation, when the Roman Catholic Church lost its absolute authority to pronounce on religious matters. I shall explore features of the current ‘public understanding of science’ environment that suggest that science is indeed undergoing its own kind of ‘reformation’, with the internet functioning much as the printing press did in the 16th and 17thcenturies. This talk expands on my concept of ‘Protscience’ (i.e. Protestant Science) that I introduced in my recent book, Science: The Art of Living (Acumen, 2010), and is designed to encompass a range of movements from scientific creationism to New Age medicine.

About the Seminar Series

The London PUS seminar is an interdisciplinary intercollegiate seminar concerned with the broad range of topics that fall under the headings of public understanding of science, public engagement with science, science communication, and science-in-society.  It has been run jointly between LSE and UCL since 1993 and is open to all. Our participants predominantly come from a wide range of academic disciplines, and the science policy and science communication/public engagement communities. It is currently supported by the Public Understanding of Science journal published by SAGE and the Department of Science and Technology Studies, UCL

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