Daniel Sarewitz

Biography

Daniel Sarewitz’s work focuses on revealing the connections between science policy decisions, scientific research and social outcomes. How does the distribution of the social benefits of science relate to the way that we organize scientific inquiry? What accounts for the highly uneven advance of know-how related to solving human problems? How do the interactions between scientific uncertainty and human values influence decision making? How does technological innovation influence politics? And how can improved insight into such questions contribute to improved real-world practice? His current activities include a project (with writer Lee Gutkind) on harmonies between science and religion.

Sarewitz edits the magazine Issues in Science and Technology, and is a regular columnist for Nature magazine. His article “Saving Science,” a broad assessment of the current crisis of quality and public value in the American research system, appeared in the summer 2016 issue of The New Atlantis magazine. His most recent book is The Techno-Human Condition (MIT Press, 2011), co-authored with Braden Allenby. Visit the CSPO online library for more.

From 1989 to 1993, Sarewitz worked on R&D policy issues as a staff member in the US House of Representatives, and principal speech writer for Committee Chairman George E. Brown, Jr. He received a doctorate in geological sciences from Cornell University in 1986. He now directs CSPO’s office in Washington, DC, and focuses his efforts on a range of activities to increase CSPO’s impact on federal science and technology policy processes, and its contributions to public dialogue on the social and political aspects of scientific and technological change.

Gallery

C-SPAN Washington Journal – Daniel Sarewitz on the Role of Science (Sept. 21, 2017)