Why is a website like this needed?

• Crucial policies across the world are developed by legislators, many of whom are trained in the law, not by those trained in science

• Many influencers in this world are trained in journalism - not in science

• Much of the knowledge generated by both exceptional and ordinary scientists resides behind publication paywalls which are mostly unavailable to the general public, including to retired scientists such as myself

• There are few avenues for communicating the views of ordinary scientists

• The voices of many scientists - even in government institutions funded by the public purse - are mostly not heard due largely to deliberate policies adopted by their employers and those who fund them

• In this era of ‘information overload’, many humans only skim titles and scan just a few words, resulting in ‘shallow’ learning. Let us encourage all those who care, to at least discover trusted sources, and then to think more deeply about all manner of important stuff!

• I encourage readers to seek out and publicise the knowledge distilled by ‘ordinary’ scientists to add to the body of the world’s knowledge. There are so many ordinary scientists out there worthy of note!

• I will add material as opportunities present themselves, and as time permits. There are lots of issues to raise!

Who is responsible for this website?

I am a retired academic who now feels it is time to make some of my perspectives about science - and how it is conducted and supported - known to a broader audience. I hope to provide the reader with some science insights that are not readily available elsewhere.

Thanks for reading!

Dr Jim Scott

Disclaimer
I can only comment on a minuscule fragment of the body of scientific knowledge. Forgive me if, in an attempt to convey to the reader how one ordinary scientist’s mind thinks about some issues, I might stray into a few areas in which I have no special training.