Back from the Brink: Truth and Trust in the Public Sphere

The article presents a historical review of the evolving role of scientific expertise in public affairs in the U.S. It discusses a transdisciplinary, and collective effort to arrive at some widely shared public truths that can provide a foundation for public policy debates. It is argued that the relevant point for reliable public knowledge is the very recognition of an intermediate analytic position between "politicization" and a position occupied by the notion of precaution.