Talk:Jerome Ravetz

Latest comment: 16 years ago by Provoc80 in topic Untitled

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The information about Ravetz's relation to the Communist Party and his moving to England is not quite correct.

He grew up in a left-wing family and although never a member of the American Communist Party he was what was then called a ‘fellow-traveller’. He went to England on a Fulbright Scholarship, and had returned to complete his studies, marry, and take a job when in 1955 his U.S. passport was withdrawn. It was returned in 1958 after a ruling by the Supreme Court, and he has since visited the U.S.A. many times starting in 1962. He has visited at Harvard, the Institute for Advanced Study, U.C. Santa Cruz, U.T. Dallas, and Carnegie Mellon University.

Also, Ravetz was never associated with the Science Wars. He is best known for his books that raise issues of uncertainty and ethics in the social practice of science. His first book was an early attempt to shift the philosophy of science from epistemology to the social and ethical aspects of science. With Silvio Funtowicz he later created the NUSAP notational system for uncertain information, and also the theory of Post-Normal Science.

His most recent book is 'A No-Nonsense Guide to Science', published by New Internationalist, Oxford, England. Provoc80 (talk) 17:24, 18 August 2008 (UTC)Reply