The great divide

In a book to be published this month, Jean-Jacques Salomon pursues the thoughts he has been having for years about the relationship between science and society, and in particular about the various rôles played by scientists today, most of whom prefer to distance themselves from the consequences of their discoveries – as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father” of the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, used to say, let’s not confuse the actor and the instrument. Futuribles provides an extract from the book, whose title is Les Scientifiques. Entre pouvoir et savoir (The Scientists. Between Power and Knowledge).
According to Salomon, scientific progress is no longer necessarily synonymous with progress for humanity and we must be aware of this if we are to avoid allowing scientists alone to decide what develops from their work. After outlining the sometimes underhand way in which some scientists persuade the public to approve of their discoveries – by acknowledging certain possible drawbacks in order better to hide the serious risks involved (on the “vaccination model” that Roland Barthes was fond of evoking) – he uses the example of research in the field of nanotechnologies, which is still in its infancy, to highlight the question of what limits there should be, now more than ever before, with regard to what is possible as well as what is desirable.
In a world in which henceforth “ability” outstrips “knowledge”, even for scientists, the whole book – based on a study of this new profession and the thoughts of the scientists who have had the greatest impact on contemporary history – questions whether there is still a place for socially responsible science or whether the courage of individual “dissidents” like Sakharov and Einstein remains the only model for resisting the pressures from politicians and the military-industrial complex.