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The Homest Broker

The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics

Reviews and News

27 February 2009
Politicizing Science by John Tierney
New York Times

23 February 2009
Politics in the Guise of Pure Science by John Tierney
New York Times

23 February 2009
Honest Science in Washington by John Tierney
New York Times

6 November 2008
Review by Mark. B. Brown
Minerva, Vol. 46, pp. 485-489

September 2008
Review by Ronald E. Doel
ISIS, Vol. 99, No. 3, pp. 658-659

June 2008
Review: Questioning Expertise by Adam Briggle
Social Studies of Science, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 461-475

May 2008
Mark Shafer, Director of Climate Services at the Oklahoma Climatological Survey (see Prometheus Blog)
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

April 2008
Science and Democracy by Robert Lackey
Bioscience

9 January 2008
Intervista al professore Roger Pielke sul ruolo degli scienziati nella politica
Radio Radicale (Rome, Italy)

7 November 2007
Deciphering the Roles of Science, Policy and Politics: Q&A With Author Roger Pielke Jr.
Geotimes

3 October 2007
The Brokers of Science in Environmental Policy by J.B. Ruhl
Jurisdynamics Blog

21 September 2007
Devaluing Science by Jonathan H. Adler
The New Atlantis, Number 17, Summer, pp. 111-118.

23 August 2007
Four ways to take the policy plunge by Andrew A. Rosenberg
Nature, Volume 448

17 August 2007
To Arbitrate or to Advocate? by Nathan E. Hultman
Science Volume 317

13 July 2007
"The Honest Broker": bridges Columnist Kicks off the "bridges Lecture Series" with Talk on the Roles of Scientists in S&T Policy by Juliet M. Beverly
Office of Science and Technology "Bridges"

21 May 2007
New Book Calls for a Shift in How Scientists Engage in Policy
The Weather Channel

" . . . wonderful, thought-provoking book . . . for readers like I, who are completely unaware of the literature in the study of Science, Technology, and Society, and who are interested in making sense of this political mess we are in right now, this book offers a beacon of guidance."
W. W. Wong, Princeton University
Read review in full

"There is plenty of excellent scholarship on science, technology, and society, but this is hands down the best treatment of the topic I've seen . . ."
J. B. Ruhl, Florida State University
Read review in full

“Roger Pielke Jr. has produced a beautifully clear account of the often murky relationship between scientific advice and the policy process. While his distinction between pure scientist, science arbiter, issue advocate, and honest broker may not fully satisfy purists in Science and Technology Studies (STS), it ought to be compulsory reading for every science graduate and all decision makers in government, business, the judiciary, or campaigning groups who claim that their decisions are rooted in scientific evidence. It is also an invaluable guide to the ordinary citizen who just wants to navigate through the confusion and contradiction that often seems to surround the use of science in policy debates.”
Steve Rayner, James Martin Professor of Science and Civilization, University of Oxford

“Decision-making can be an important problem, both in everyday life and when science, politics, and policy are involved. The Honest Broker broadens the options of decision-making by going beyond the traditional roles of the ‘pure scientist’ or the ‘issue advocate’. Scientific knowledge can be integrated with stakeholder concerns if the policy context is taken into account in an adequate way. Based on extensive experience in the analysis of decisionmaking relating to scientific and technological issues, Roger Pielke Jr. goes a long way to be an honest broker himself: between science and democracy.”
Helga Nowotny, Vice-President of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council and Fellow at Wissenschaftszentrum Wien

"With an analytical honesty unmarred by hidden agendas, Roger Pielke brilliantly brings the murky interface of science and politics into perfect focus. Scientists and policy makers alike need to read this book, and need to absorb its wisdom."
Michael M. Crow, President, Arizona State University