Jack Stilgoe
Senior Researcher
Jack Stilgoe works on science and technology projects and specialises in issues of science, society and public engagement.
- Slippery Syndromes On Wednesday, we heard from Simon Wesseley in the third Demos Science Cafe. He talked about his career spent at the heart of controversies about illnesses that refuse to be understood. He described how arguments over Gulf War Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and a host of others force us to confront the politics of knowing about and intervening in illness. His analysis suggests that these things can mostly be understood as illnesses of modernity, implying that the explanation is... continue reading on 25th July 2005
- The dust of uncertainty So, there have been some explosions in London (7 incidents at last count). Public transport has ground to a halt. The news is telling us very little while pretending to tell us a lot. It's too early for clear thinking about what this might all mean, but as I was Cycling across town, the sights, sounds and silences seemed to speak volumes. The dust has not settled, and is unlikely to settle for a while. My journey in to the office took me past sirens, cordons, queues and gaps where buses should... continue reading on 7th July 2005
- Alt. med science caff On Wednesday we hosted our second health-based science caff. We had Toby Murcott, author and minstrel science journalist, talking about alternative medicine. Now, we're not the first people to point out that alternative medicine gives us plenty to get our science policy teeth into. But what pleased me was that the discussion was so open, so balanced and so wide ranging.Debates about unorthodoxy can easily form up around the "It's true!.. No, it's snake oil" axis. That's fine, but a bit dull.... continue reading on 17th June 2005
- Cheltenham Sparring But it was great to have such a range of views, from speakers and audiences, about science. A bunch of conversations I had reminded me that there is still a lot of nervousness about public engagement. A lot of the people in Cheltenham would see themselves as defenders of science. They would argue that politics needs to be taken out of science to make it more effective, more neutral and better for the public. They see public engagement as putting politics back in, which spoils things.Many of... continue reading on 13th June 2005
- Sing us a song, you're the nanoman Running really low on nano puns. No bad thing.Just got back back from the annual Nanotechnology schmoozathon in Los Angeles. For most of the four days, I was more ethnographer than contributor. But there was a thoughtful session on "nanotechnology and society". I talked about See-through Science and our Nanodialogues project. Others, including Julia Moore and Don Reed, discussed the lessons from the GM saga. There was also talk of risk research and standards-setting. The odd thing was that,... continue reading on 13th May 2005 in The Nanodialogues
- If you go down to the polls today... I never did understand the second line, "you're sure of big surprise." If I'm sure about it, how big a surprise can it be? Must be something to do with probabilities and outcomes. I digress. The only poll that matters today is the one stuck to the wall behind me. The Demos sweepstake, predicting size of majority and voter turnout, is now closed. Turnout ranges from 52-71%. And the size of the labour majority goes from a nano-18 to a mega-126. Though not wishing to name names, the 52% guess... continue reading on 5th May 2005
- ... and now for the science bit ?The personalised is political? - pharmacogenetics and medical futures Thursday 19th May, from 5pm to 6:30pmDemosThird FloorMagdalen House136 Tooley StreetLondon SE1 2TUCome along to the first of the Demos Science Caf?s. These monthly events are an opportunity for scientists, policymakers, journalists and social scientists to draw out the policy implications of current scientific issues.At each caf?, we?ll hear from a visiting speaker about their work. The discussion will then be open to our... continue reading on 3rd May 2005
- Nice one... The BBC is currently broadcasting a mini-series on the 'Golden Years', exploring how different countries deal with older people and the challenges of an ageing society - responses range from interactive dolls for lonely Japanese widows to provide companionship to Italy's 'adopt a granny' scheme. Although I am not convinced by every single one of the different initiatives, I think this approach to talking about the ageing society represents an improvement to our usual debates about the 'pension... continue reading on 13th April 2005
- We are the hollow men, We are the stuffed men, Leaning together, Headpiece filled with straw As a way of maintaining blog momentum and lightening whichever moods need lightening, I would strongly encourage our American (cable-enabled) readers to check out The Hollow Men on Comedy Central tomorrow (Thursday). The last time I saw them, they were gigging to an audience of about 50 above a pub on Highbury Corner. Now they're all grown up. continue reading on 23rd March 2005
- Nano Nano Lord Sainsbury announced yesterday his new grants for public engagement with science, one of which is funding a new Demos project with Lancaster University. After See-Through Science, we are squaring up to our own challenge and doing some innovative public engagement experiments with a handful of organisations who have different approaches to 'science' and 'the public'. For more info on this project, which we call Nano-Dialogues, email me.Last night, I was part of another form of... continue reading on 18th March 2005 in The Nanodialogues