IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 54
Here I'll focus on the responses
of professional societies to accidents and scandals. In the 1970s,
charges of research misconduct
and dangerous technology grew
into public scandals about "fraud"
in science and amoral calculation
in engineering. Accounts of scientific scandals and engineering
disasters filled newspapers, calling
forth responses from the scientific
and engineering communities, as
well as from social scientists and
philosophers. This public outcry
helped create the fields of research
ethics and engineering ethics, as
well as programs in science, technology, and society [8], [9].
Engineering ethics was transformed by the litany of engineering
disasters of the 1970s and 1980s. A
short list would include the unsafe
design of the Bay Area rapid Transit (BArT) system; the amoral
cost-benefit analysis in designing
the gas-tank of the Ford Pinto; the
crash of one DC-10 airliner due to
a cargo door opening after take-off,
and the crash of a second DC-10
due to an engine falling off during
take-off; the partial meltdown of a
nuclear power plant at Three-Mile
Island; the collapse of a fourth-floor
walkway in the atrium of the Hyatt
regency Hotel in Kansas City; the
union Carbide disaster in Bhopal,
India; and the space-shuttle Challenger accident. These disasters form
the corpus of the standard historical
cases taught in engineering ethics.
The earliest cases, the Pinto gastank and BArT in the early 1970s,
spurred changes in the codes of
ethics of engineering professional
societies. The Engineers' Council
for Professional Development, an
umbrella group, rewrote its code
in 1974 to state the obligation that
the engineer "shall hold paramount
the safety, health, and welfare of the
public." Other engineering societies
followed suit. The revision aimed
to assure the public that engineers,
if not their managers, were socially
responsible. The IEEE also wrote a
new codes of ethics in 1974, based
on its involvement with the BArT
case [10].
Scandalous cases of fraud in
science helped define the field of
research ethics. Perhaps the book
that did the most to publicize this
issue was Betrayers of the Truth,
published by science journalists
Bill Broad and Nicholas Wade in
1982. In the previous year, Al Gore,
Jr., then a young congressman from
Tennessee, held congressional
hearings on Fraud in Biomedical
research. As chair of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee of the House Committee
on Science and Technology, Gore
drew on many of the cases reported
by Broad and Wade in the journal
Science. Other congressional bodies followed-up with many more
hearings in the 1980s. Michigan
Table I
Priorities in Research and Engineering Ethics
Main Issues in Research Ethics
Integrity of Research
Credit and Authorship
Conflicts of Interest
Welfare of Subjects, Experimenters, and Environment
Social Implications of Research
Main Issues in Engineering Ethics
Public's health, safety, and welfare, including the environment
Being a faithful agent of the employer
Conflicts of Interest
Credit (e.g., intellectual property provisions)
Integrity of Reports
Source: [19], [25]-[28].
54
|
representative John Dingell, Jr.,
chair of the House Committee on
Energy and Commerce, for example, investigated the David Baltimore case in biomedicine in 1986,
and held influential hearings on
"Fraud in NIH Grant Programs"
and "Scientific Fraud" in 1988 and
1989 [12]-[14].
The
scientific
community
responded to the publicity of these
cases - and to the federal government's investigations into scientific
misconduct and the regulation of
it, as a major source of funding
for basic science in the u.S. - by
conducting investigations, issuing
reports, establishing rules, and
publishing educational materials. A few highlights: In 1986,
the National Institutes of Health
defined scientific misconduct as
the "fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or other practices that seriously deviate from those that are
commonly accepted within the scientific community for proposing,
conducting, or reporting research."
The National Science Foundation
defined misconduct in a similar
manner in 1987. In 1989, the NIH
established an Office of Scientific
Integrity, and the National Academies published the first edition of
On Being a Scientist. The National
Academies' Panel on Scientific
responsibility and the Conduct
of research issued a two-volume
report, Responsible Science, in
1992-1993, which reduced the definition of scientific misconduct to
fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism.8 The cold fusion controversy in 1989, the David Baltimore
6
Mitcham [8, pp. 275-278, 284-287] divides the
history of research ethics in the u.S. into four
phases: efforts in the 1970s to draw attention to
dangers of scientific research; responses by the
government and the scientific community to
cases of scientific misconduct in the 1980s; codification and institutionalization of precepts and
rules regarding responsible conduct of research
(rCr) in the 1990s; and research on research integrity since 2000. He does not explain why the
1970s emphasis on what I have termed the social
responsibility of research was deemphasized in
the rCr program.
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE
|
SuMMEr 2013
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - Cover1
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - Cover2
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 1
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 2
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 3
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 4
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 5
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 6
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 7
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 8
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 9
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 10
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 11
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 12
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 13
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 14
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 15
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 16
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 17
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 18
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 19
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 20
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 21
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 22
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 23
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 24
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 25
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 26
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 27
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 28
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 29
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 30
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 31
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 32
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 33
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 34
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 35
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 36
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 37
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 38
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 39
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 40
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 41
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 42
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 43
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 44
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 45
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 46
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 47
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 48
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 49
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 50
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 51
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 52
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 53
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 54
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 55
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 56
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 57
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 58
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 59
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 60
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 61
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 62
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 63
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 64
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 65
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 66
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 67
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 68
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 69
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 70
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 71
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 72
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 73
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 74
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 75
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 76
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 77
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 78
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 79
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 80
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - Cover3
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2013
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com