Jack Stilgoe
Senior Researcher
Jack Stilgoe works on science and technology projects and specialises in issues of science, society and public engagement.
- WANTED! - Citizen Scientists Way, way up in northern Norway, reminiscent of a scene from His Dark Materials, scientists are currently busy hiding seeds in a giant underground fridge. In the much warmer fields of Southern France, they have a more vibrant approach to biodiversity. Here, farmers are breeding and growing wheat. Their new varieties of wheat are in fact very old indeed. They hark back to a time when farmers wanted bread that was good to eat rather than easy to make on an industrial scale. The farmers here argue... continue reading on 21st April 2008 in Technology and Civil Society (STACS) ,Science
- Ask me no questions, I'll give you the facts Just caught Ben Goldacre's programme on Radio 4. Ben, for those who don't know, is the man behind the Guardian's Bad Science column. He is keen on using science to debunk snake oil merchants and puncturing the scientific claims that they make. When he first began writing, I thought he was a naive positivist. But, the more I read and occasionally chat to him, the more I sympathise with and learn from his approach to the new politics of science, expertise and evidence. He is tackling some... continue reading on 31st March 2008 Comments (11)
- Trust me, I'm the head of immunisation at the Department of Health Vaccines are an interesting condensation point for debates about science, the public good, personal freedom and choice. As the UK government found a few years back with the MMR vaccine, you get in trouble if you are on the one hand telling people to choose everything to do with their healthcare and on the other coercing them into vaccination for the public good. The evidence, as we found out, won't win arguments that messy. There's a nice book co-authored by Demos friend Melissa Leach that... continue reading on 10th March 2008
- Higher and wider Yesterday, the previously small world of public engagement with science made some important new friends. RCUK and Hefce launched six "Beacons for public engagement," based at British universities, aiming to connect them to their local communities and other public groups in new ways. Ian Pearson, the science minister, seemed excited. And he seems to understand better than his predecessors that public engagement is not, as he put it, "just speaking slower and louder." The... continue reading on 31st January 2008 Comments (2)
- DON'T PANIC!!! So the chancellor wants to be able to save banks in private. He is keen that, when future Northern Rocks rock, the Treasury should be able to help them out without telling the public everything that is going on, in case they 'panic.' Back in September, Duncan wrote about how the prevailing view among economists saw runs on banks as irrational. Given the huge uncertainty about the stability of Northern Rock, getting my money out would seem to me to be the most sensible possible course of... continue reading on 30th January 2008 Comments (1)
- Innovation in platforms In our Public Value of Science and Atlas of Ideas reports, we explored the role of science-based innovation in addressing big global challenges. Looking at science globally, we are faced with the question of what sort of innovation applies to what scale of problem. It seems that the bigger the challenge, the more innovative the solution needs to be. It's something that the new Technology Strategy Board are looking at. They are interested in how to get business and the government working... continue reading on 15th January 2008
- Trust me, I'm almost one We in wonkworld are always ready to give credit where it is due. In 2003, the IPPR trumpeted Gordon Brown's adoption of their nice asset-based welfare idea in the form of the Child Trust Fund. A week ago, my 11-month old son received a letter updating him on the progress of his fund. I clarified some things for him, such as why the database appeared to know his name but not his gender. But I couldn't tell him how the 250 quid invested on his behalf by the government had mushroomed into... continue reading on 15th January 2008 Comments (1)
- Innovation for development The Council for Science Editors, who are behind the most important scientific journals, are publishing a bunch of special issues, editorials and research reports related to global poverty and development challenges. Next week, we will be holding a workshop aiming to make a small contribution to a small area of science, bringing together those interested in developing world issues with those interested in nanotechnology. One of the speakers will be Richard Jones, whose excellent blog discusses... continue reading on 30th October 2007 in Technology and Civil Society (STACS) ,Science Comments (2)
- The synthesizer Demos has this morning hosted a round table with Craig Venter, controversial human genome projecteer and now spearhead of the next Next Big Thing: Synthetic Biology (or Synthetic Genomics if you prefer). Venter was engagingly open about the possibilities and pitfalls of Syn Bio, which promises to combine engineering with biology to design new lifeforms. He pointed to the possibilities of energy and fuel generation from new organisms and warned us that, if an innovative Siberian happened upon... continue reading on 23rd October 2007
- Podcast: One healthy conversation Last Thursday, we hosted a conversation among various people interested in the changes to the ways that patients talk to doctors and to each other. We were delighted to have Harry Cayton and Angela Coulter to prompt the discussion. They have both been at the heart of debates about patient engagement in health for years - Harry as patient tsar at the Department of Health and formerly head of the Alzheimers Society and Angela as head of the Picker Institute.We have recorded their talks for a... continue reading on 19th October 2007 in Demos Podcasts Healthy Conversations