Letter: Trust science not maverick scientists

Letter: Trust science not maverick

scientists

GEOFFREY LEAN rightly puts the politics of BSE in the context of other events that characterise the new threats to human health and security - asbestos, lead, radiation, pesticides, global warming, ozone depletion.

Researchers and risk assessors rather than the police and military are, as a result, now probably the greater defenders of human security. Why? Because there are no single statistics or soundbites to tell these kinds of stories. Like a jigsaw, the picture emerges not from counting the pieces but from painstakingly putting them together. The new prophets of our age are those who comprehend the picture before all the pieces are in place. Our politicians continue to fail us by putting profits before prophets.

Dr Christopher Williams

Global Security Programme

University of Cambridge