Keynote Address—Paradox of Trust in Unsettled Times: Can Scientists "Speak Truth to Power"?

Abstract

The phrase, "speak truth to power", traces back at least to a pamphlet produced in the 1950s. Its central concern was international peace in an age of atomic and hydrogen weapons. In 2018, it has achieved a much broader meaning, including, but not limited to, speaking in defense of scientific theories, hypotheses, and facts that inconvenience people holding political power and authority. The recent letter sent out by members of the U.S. Academy of Sciences demonstrates the challenge of trust in an era when science and nominally democratic government, in the United States at least, are fundamentally at odds.