“Advances in medicine and agriculture have saved vastly more lives than have been lost in all the wars in history.” Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Chapter 1

After attending a recent protest in London against science funding cuts in the comprehensive spending review, organised by the Science is Vital coalition, it became clear to me that it is incredibly important that scientists communicate their work to the general public and to make the clear case for taxpayer funded science in the UK. This page is a work in progress about why this is so important.

Science is a method, not a religion or a belief system. As a method it has been used to gather substantial quantities of knowledge, from the efficacy of medicines, to the laws of motion, to efficient food production techniques and the small scale constituents of matter. In each case science upholds theories not because they are 'true' but because they are usually the only theory that hasn't been proven false. This is why science concerns itself only with falsifiable theories, theories that make predictions that can be tested experimentally, i.e. not religion which cannot be proven true or false in the scientific approach, relying as they do on personal belief and unfalsifiable predictions like the existence of god/s. This approach allows it to work for the benefit of humanity without the constraints of dogma which often protect unfalsifiable theories. Scientific research is a key driver of technology and innovation, which can be seen as the application of scientific ideas. In turn technology and innovation are key drivers of the economy, just consider for example the impacts of the computers, mobile phones and the internet on the global economy. As well as being economically vital, science is also one of the main opportunity for the saving of lives and prevention of suffering because of its abilities to provide solutions to disease, nutrition and well being.