Alan Cottey: UEA Personal Pages
On the importance of the current global ecological overload (GEO) for the future of work.
Journal of Global Responsibility (2019) Vol 10, Issue 3, pp 271 - 286.
https://doi.org/10.1108/JGR-11-2018-0075
Author's accepted manuscript available at FoWDUA-AAM.docx
A report on the third Martin Ryle lecture, given by Sir Paul Nurse on the cultural and practical significance of scientific research.
ResponsibleSci blog, 31 October 2018.
Print version - Responsible Science, Issue 1, Winter 2019, p 24.
Marks the centenary of a brilliant and conflicted scientist who was also a visionary about the human use of energy.
Physics World (2018) Vol 31, Issue 9, pp 36 - 40.
https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-7058/31/9/32
Marks the centenary of Martin Ryle (1918 – 1984).
ResponsibleSci blog, 15 August 2018.
Print version - Responsible Science, Issue 1, Winter 2019, p 20.
Marks the centenary of Martin Ryle (1918 – 1984). Part II, later, will be on War and Peace.
ResponsibleSci blog, 8 May 2018. .
Print version - Responsible Science, Issue 1, Winter 2019, p 20.
There is a great need at present for an empathic dialogue between economic traditionalists and those believing that a profound 'ecological turn' is needed.
Educational Philosophy and Theory (2018) Vol 50, Issue 14, pp 1546 - 1547.
A 50th anniversary Issue on 'After Postmodernism in Educational Theory'.
DOI: 10.1080/00131857.2018.1458799
Author's accepted manuscript available at DCT-v2.docx
At a time when fossil fuel burning, nationalism, ethnic and religious intolerance, and other retrograde steps are being promoted, the prospects for world peace and environmental systems stability may appear dim. Exactly because of this is it the more important to continue to examine the sources of conflict...
AI & Society: journal of knowledge, culture and communication (2018) Vol 33, Issue 2, pp 215-228.
Published in Springer Online First, 9 February 2018. DOI: 10.1007/s00146-018-0816-x
Argues for modest and sustainable evacuated tube transport systems for goods, rather than 'hyper' ETT systems for passengers at extreme speed.
Physics World, vol 30, number 9, September 2017, p 21.
Author's accepted manuscript available at ETT.docx
Argues that, if the effect of CPS and similar technologies is to be benign, the current neoliberal economy must change to a radically more cooperative model.
AI & Society: journal of knowledge, culture and communication (2018) Vol 33, Issue 3, pp 323 - 333.
Published in Springer Online First, 26 May 2017. DOI: 10.1007/s00146-015-0592-9
Reviews Kultgen's book, adds some psychology references and points out the need to break out from psychic numbing in order to free imagination.
Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology (2017) Vol 23, Number 2 (May), pp 201 - 203. DOI: 10.1037/pac0000238
By AC and Philip Webber. Obituary of Prof Sir Tom Kibble.
SGR Newsletter, Winter 2017, Issue 45, p4.
On important tasks for universities at present.
SGR website. A poster presented at the SGR Conference 'Universities for Sale?', London, 19 November 2016.
Defamiliarises 'peer review' by considering 'review by peer group'. Advocates 'comprehensive, open and ongoing review' as a long-term aim.
Physics World, vol 29, number 4, April 2016, p 20.
Openness is proposed as a key balancing aid for society, promoting change without instability.
AI & Society: journal of knowledge, culture and communication (2016) Vol 31, Issue 3, pp 319 - 325.
DOI: 10.1007/s00146-015-0592-9
Author's accepted manuscript available at Openness and Stability (final). An open access read-only version can be found here.
This paper makes the case, in the field of knowledge production, for working towards long-term changes, notably - promoting cooperation; comprehensive, open and ongoing review (COOR); just and proportionate rewards.
Science and Engineering Ethics (2016) Vol 22, Issue 2, pp 367 - 389.
DOI:10.1007/s11948-015-9651-3 Springer Online First.
Author's accepted manuscript available at Reducing Ethical Hazards in Knowledge Production (final)
This chapter sets domestic bathing in a broad context - the large and increasing overload of the planet's ecology by human activity.
pp 195-225 of Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability (2015) (ed M Hersh). Springer, Berlin.
P Wilmshurst has given a shocking account of scientific misconduct in medical research, driven by corporate interests. The problems also apply, although possibly to a lesser extent, to all branches of science and, wider again, to knowledge production. Many of the obstacles to the generation of reliable knowledge, free of the distortions due to narrow interests, would be absent in a culture of radical openness. Discreet and secret investigations would still occur but they would not even be considered for direct incorporation into the body of public reliable knowledge ...
SGR Newsletter (2015) Issue 43, Winter p 23.
Author's accepted manuscript available here.
A report on a conference held at Unstone Grange, Sheffield, 2 - 5 May 2014.
SGR Newsletter (2015) Issue 43, Winter p 23.
Machines are inflexible.
Ethical Consumer (2014) Issue 151, November/December p 49.
The times require a spirit of cooperation.
The Independent (2014) 12 September p 40.
Civility of the Scottish debate is cause for pride.
Advocates personal asset and income limits.
The Guardian (2014) 31 July p 31.
'Poor door' policy is a clear window on rising inequality.
The setting is an economy contrasted with the current competitive economy. Knowledge in such an economy is considered in four main stages - production, review, dissemination and use.
Policy Futures in Education (2014) Vol 12 Issue 4 pp 469 - 481.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2014.12.4.4469
Notes (i) The initial printed page *is* 469 and the DOI *does* end 4469
(ii) Author's accepted manuscript available at Knowledge Production in a Cooperative Economy (final)
Radical changes of our cultural values in the near future are inevitable ...
AI & Society: journal of knowledge, culture and communication (2013). Special Issue: International systems stability, culture and technology.
DOI: 10.1007/s00146-013-0480-0
Print version in AI and Society (2014), Vol 29, Number 2, pp 249-257.
Author's accepted manuscript available at Technologies, Culture, Work, Basic Income and Maximum Income (final)
Taking a cue from William James' essay 'The moral equivalent of war', this essay proposes benign sublimations of greed.
AI & Society: journal of knowledge, culture and communication (2012) Vol 28, Issue 4, pp 531 - 539.
DOI 10.1007/s00146-012-0436-9
Author's accepted manuscript available at Moral Equivalents of Greed (final)
Reflections on what limited degree of ecological and cultural stability may be achieved ...
Policy Futures in Education (2012) Vol 10 Issue 6, pp 734 - 736
http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2012.10.6.734
Author's accepted manuscript available at Limits to Stability (final)
A report on a conference addressing wide issues in science and technology
By Marion Hersh and Alan Cottey in SGR Newsletter, Issue 41, Autumn 2012, p 34. This newsletter may be obtained by visiting www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-41
On nuclear physics education, knowledge-inquiry, and wisdom-inquiry.
Policy Futures in Education (2012) Vol 10 Issue 5 pp 587 - 593.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2012.10.5.587
Author's accepted manuscript available at The Wisdom of Sages(final)
On the tension between control and freedom.
SWIIS 2012 Proceedings Preprint Volume. The IFAC International Conference 'International Stability and Systems Engineering', organised by INSYTE Centre, Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford, Ireland, 11-13 June 2012. http://www.swiis2012.com . pp 73-78. Published in IFAC-PapersOnLine. DOI 10.3182/20120611-3-IE-4029.00016
Free download available after registration.
Bathing is here treated as an exemplar of the widespread profligacy of prosperous people on this overloaded planet.
Policy Futures in Education (2012) Vol 10, Issue 3, pp 362 - 365
Author's accepted manuscript available at Clean People in a Clean World (final)
On the need for a bold expansion of our temporal horizons.
Policy Futures in Education (2012) Vol 10, Issue 2, pp 234 - 236
Author's accepted manuscript available at Logarithmic Time (final)
Advocates a move away from the possessive market society.
New Scientist, vol 213, number 2849, 28 January 2012, p 32
On deep history, planning and logarithmic time-scales.
Physics World, vol 24, number 12, December 2011, p 21. Full text may be seen here
"... historically, an authoritarian attitude, via the law and social norms, has produced widespread suffering. This suffering far outweighs the risks of abuse of a thoroughly considered, modern liberal attitude and body of law concerning assisted dying."
Evidence to the Commission on Assisted Dying. 23 March 2011
Urges caution in placing strong emphasis on the individual.
Physics World, vol 24, number 2, February 2011, p 21
On nuclear physics education, knowledge-inquiry, and wisdom-inquiry.
arXiv:1102.1839
A report on some of the findings of a study of 57 degree-level nuclear physics textbooks in respect of nuclear weapons – what the authors say, how they say it and what they do not say.
Power and Education Vol 2, Issue 2 (2010) pp 152 - 166.
Full text freely available.
A comment, commending certain kinds of benign, non-economic inequality, on an earlier article by Tony Judt about gross economic inequality.
The Guardian (Review section) 3 April 2010, p 15
In this paper I identify confidence (here used primarily in the sense self-confidence) and trust as essential conditions for openness to flourish, and integrity as an overarching quality which fosters openness, confidence and trust.
International Journal of Science in Society ISSN 1836-6236 (print) 1836-6244 (web), Vol 1, Issue 4 (2010) pp
185 - 194
http://ijy.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.187/prod.68
In this poster I set out briefly some important conditions for an economy to be sustainable. From this, I argue that unlimited assets or income for individuals should be socially unacceptable and outline some features of an economy with personal asset and income limits.
The poster was presented at the Scientists for Global Responsibility Conference 'Building a Low Carbon Economy' London, 24 October 2009 and reprinted in SGR Newsletter Number 38, 2010, p 31
A survey of numerous examples of openness and closedness from earlier and contemporary science. From this survey conclusions are drawn about the practice of science and about some attributes related to openness, such as confidence and integrity.
Abstract of paper presented at International Conference on Science in Society, University of Cambridge, 5 -7 August 2009
The author compares the main environmental impacts of a bath, a shower and a stand-up wash.
SGR Newsletter, Number 35, Winter 2008, p 13. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-35
A stand-up wash is a pleasure and uses much less water and energy than a shower.
A workshop presented at Spring into Action, Eastside Climate Action, Nottingham, April 2007
A report on the camp, 26 August - 3 September, near the largest CO2 emitting facility in the UK.
SGR Newsletter, Number 33, Winter 2007, p 26. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-33
A report on shadow painting.
DeFence, September 2006, p 4
The author advocates openness from beginning to end.
Science and Public Affairs, September 2006, p 11
The author recommends a new look at Niels Bohr's early ideas concerning openness on nuclear issues as a path to international confidence and a new world order.
SGR Newsletter, Number 32, June 2006, p 11. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-32
A report on a meeting in honour of the memory and legacy of Joseph Rotblat, held at the Royal Society on 9 December.
By Alan Cottey and Davida Higgin in SGR Newsletter, Number 32, June 2006, p 27. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-32
A review of a pamphlet by Janet Bloomfield and Pamela Meidell
SGR Newsletter, Number 32, June 2006, p 22. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-32
A report on a conference of the UK Network of the Centre for Holistic Studies (India) and the New Era Coalition
SGR Newsletter, Number 31, December 2005, p 22. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-31
A report on a conference organised by the North Cork Organic Group, Ireland
SGR Newsletter, Number 31, December 2005, p 22. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-31
A review of a book by Milan Rai
SGR Newsletter, Number 28, November 2003, p 17. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-28
Scientists for Global Responsibility has recently promoted two developments concerning knowledge, a discussion meeting on 'Knowledge - Common Heritage, not Private Property', and an essay on 'Open Knowledge'
AESR News, September 2003, p 2. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-27
A review of a book by Ronald Higgins
SGR Newsletter, Number 27, July 2003, p 11. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-27
A report on a conference, organised by GeneWatch UK and others, debating the use of GM crops and foods in the UK.
SGR Newsletter, Number 27, July 2003, p 9 - 10. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-27
A report on a conference, organised by the author for Scientists for Global Responsibility, on 'Knowledge - Common Heritage, not Private Property'. The event was held on 10 November 2002 as a contribution to the first UNESCO World Science Day for Peace and Development.
Communique, Issue 34, Spring 2003, p 11
Starts "By the phrase Open Knowledge I mean a certain schema that defines a standard of openness of knowledge. The central element of the schema is a set of guidelines for those who would participate in the generation of OK."
SGR Newsletter, Number 26, February 2003, pp 17 - 8. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-26
A comment on Physics World's earlier special issue on energy. Points out that 'efficiency gains' have been less than 'growth losses' and that consumption by the the rich would be little affected by price increase. Concludes that energy rationing is necessary.
Physics World, Vol 15, Number 9, September 2002, p21.
A review of the ISIS pamphlet 'Vocabulary of the Crisis' by R Higgins and H Beach, "an attempt, with a temperate tone, to persuade those politicians who might listen, that 'war on terrorism' rhetoric is at best a mistake and at worst cynical opportunism."
SGR Newsletter, Number 25, August 2002, p 13. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-25
A report on the UK Week Of Science and Peace 2001 and on the forthcoming UNESCO World Science Day for Peace and Development.
SGR Newsletter, Number 24, March 2002, p 4. This item may be downloaded by visiting http://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/sgr-newsletter-no-24
A letter contributing to a debate 'Do we need nuclear power?'
"... To understand civil nuclear energy, we have to recognise that a psychological dimension is central ... With hindsight we can understand the origin of an exaggerated belief in the benign potential of civil nuclear power ... [This belief] became part of a complex psychic defence against the actual horrors of August 1945 and the risk of even greater horrors in the future."
Physics World, Vol 14, Number 8, August 2001, pp 19 - 20.
"To have a career that 'did not cost the earth', but a lifestyle that did, would not make sense. This is obvious, but avoiding this contradiction is not so simple. 'Not costing the earth' applies to the whole of our activities. This includes what we consume and our relations with other people ..."
An Ethical Career in Science and Technology? (Edited by S
Parkinson and V Spedding, published by SGR, 2001) p 27.
Free download available here.
This article ends "Science as a search for truth has always been an ideal, constantly under threat. A danger for the near future is that this kind of science will be weakened by commercial influences. ect sponsorship by commercial organisations is the obvious source of such influence. More insidious, however, is the excessive penetration of a commercial ethos into most social transactions."
UNA Norwich and District Newsletter, Winter 2000, p 3.
"When one does consider the full picture, conclusions such as Stanley Goldberg's in this volume become plausible - 'rather than shortening the war, the existence of the atomic bomb program probably lengthened it.' "
SGR Newsletter, Number 21, Autumn 2000, p 15.
Abstract: "The Open Science Proposal recommends that the scientific community would benefit from a widely recognised protocol of openness, applied to individual scientific projects. Projects performed according to the standard of "radical openness" could claim a 'gold standard' of openness, but it is likely that this would only ever amount to a small fraction of all scientific projects. Such projects would permit detailed scrutiny and criticism, and thereby furnish an efficient route to socially established, reliable knowledge. Open Science has certain particular implications for information technology, which are covered in the latter part of this article."
SGR Newsletter, Number 21, Autumn 2000, pp 8 - 9.
Starts "The International Week of Science and Peace is a worldwide action week devoted to the topic 'Science and Peace' which, since 1986, takes place annually during the week (Monday to Sunday) within which November 11th (Armistice Day) falls. The key idea is to increase the public impact of individual events by concentrating many of them in a short time interval and publicising them as part of a worldwide event ..."
Medicine, Conflict and Survival, Vol 16, Number 2, April - June 2000, pp 236 - 9.
(Authors - AC and members of SGR PCV Study Group.)
Starts "The weather disaster in Orissa, on the east coast of India, resulted not simply from a violent cyclone. Numerous other factors are relevant, none of which should be considered inevitable in a world which has long had sufficient technical know-how to avoid those factors."
Sustainability Review, Issue 7, 29 November 1999, pp 5 - 7.
Ends "Concerns about the selective, misleading language used in arms industry recruitment procedures came across vividly in the interview-based research, done by SANA some years ago, and published as 'Your Career and the Arms Industry: Information for Science and Engineering Students'. SGR is currently working on a similar project 'Careers Which Don't Cost the Earth'. The resulting guide for student scientists and engineers will focus on the ethical issues in a wide range of employment. We believe that graduates entering a new phase of their lives and a new century will find it useful."
Guardian (Higher Education supplement), 6 July 1999 p v.
Summary: "Opposing the use of depleted uranium (DU) in war, on the ground that it is radioactive, is a poor argument, since the activity is low. Emphasising a poor argument is a mistake, since it weakens stronger points. I mention some such points in the article. I also bring out the weakness of the radioactivity of DU by comparing it with Plutonium-238, which is over ten million times more radioactive than DU. Lack of general appreciation of this fact must be the main reason why NASA was able to initiate the extremely risky Cassini spacecraft programme, with its enormous radioactive load of over ten million billion Becquerel (nearly 400,000 Curies)."
DeFence, June 1999, p 6 - 10.
Abstract: "Current political discourse contains many calls for openness. They are often simplistic. It is argued in this paper that contrary qualities such as secrecy, privacy, discretion and tact have their place in culture. Among various cultural activities however, basic science has a special character - it is supposed to be open, in the sense that, in principle, anyone may subject its truth claims to detailed review and checking. In practice, basic science does not approach this ideal as nearly as it might. This paper describes an Open Science Protocol, whereby compliant basic science projects could be certified 'open from beginning to end'. The high level of credibility conferred by this certification would be an incentive for scientists to obtain the extra resources and go to the extra trouble to do at least some of their projects in this way. A distinction between 'open science' and 'ring-fenced science' is made. It is suggested that clarity about the difference between these two kinds of science would assist scientists, political decision-makers and the public in their struggles with the difficult practical issues that are thrown up by scientific innovation. The final section includes a brief discussion of the link between the open science proposal and the 'competition versus cooperation' debate."
Green Politics in Grey Times (Ecopolitics XI Conference Proceedings, ed C Star, pub University of Melbourne, 1998), pp 88 - 96.
"Expending many millions of airmiles for the "games" (John Gummer's description) played at Kyoto is a strange way to save the world's atmosphere. There is a need to explain to the general public that air transport is a major environmental and social problem ..."
Peace News, February 1998, p 16.
"an 'enlightened self-interest' argument can be added to the moral argument for capping the Income and Capital (I&C) of individuals .... Today, the excessive I&C of the rich not only deprives the poor; it endangers the planet's climate ... A sustainable world does not have to be egalitarian. Some people could enjoy considerable, benign advantages. These advantages are not, however, to be freely convertible. This is because many other 'advantages', desired by individuals, are socially and ecologically malign."
One World News, 11 December 1997.
This page last modified: 09 September 2019