The man on the Clapham omnibus

The man on the Clapham omnibus originated as a legal concept - a 'reasonable man', the reactions of whom would provide wise counsel. It soon came to mean a typical member of the public - Joe Public, Joe Bloggs (if you're American you might prefer John Doe or Joe Six-Pack; if you're a woman, the choice is rather limited). The phrase, like the method of transportation to which it refers, has fallen into disuse. Perhaps the nearest we now get are the social groups beloved of sociologists and market researchers. The man on the Clapham omnibus has no doubt abandoned public transport and, if still in Clapham, is probably stuck in a traffic jam in his Ford Mondeo, listening to Dido en route to a DIY superstore. He might belong to that fabled land, Middle England, and be proud to be thought of as a C1 (or perhaps not).

So what does the man on the Clapham omnibus, or Mondeo Man, or Middle England, think about science? And does it really matter? This issue of Wellcome News looks at some recent developments in the relationship between science and society.

The modern era of Science and Society undoubtedly began with the publication of the Bodmer Report under the auspices of the Royal Society in 1985. There was a need, argued Bodmer, for scientists to venture forth and proselytize. The public was ignorant of science and undervalued research: Something Must Be Done.

Well, plenty of things were done, many of them very successfully. Countless scientists took up the challenge enthusiastically. Yet 1985 now seems a long time ago. A child born then would have entered a world in which one could rely on the sanity of cattle, genetics was something that happened to peas, designer babies belonged in Gap, the abbreviation 'HIV' meant nothing, and nobody was clamouring to clone animals that all looked the same anyway. Only a few pioneering researchers were contemplating sequencing of the human genome. Nobody had heard of the ozone layer, let alone become concerned that there might be a hole in it, and in all probability more people were afraid of a new ice age than global warming.

So there's no doubt now that the descendants of Clapham Man are aware of scientific issues - they'd be hard pressed to have missed them. The environment has changed, and so has the agenda for what was once called 'public understanding of science'. Does the public really need to 'understand' imprinting? (How many scientists really do?) Or is it more or case of appreciating its impact and implications? And what is the public expected to do with all this knowledge anyway? The public is hard to please these days, and will have ideas about what it wants to know and will expect to have a voice. We've moved to an era of 'public engagement', with information flowing from scientific to other communities and in the reverse direction.

Like the man on the Clapham omnibus, the term 'public engagement' may also gradually fall from favour. But whatever it is called in the future, it's hard to imagine science, particularly medical science, falling off the public agenda anytime soon.

The Editor

IMAGE CREDITS
All images, unless otherwise stated below, are from the Wellcome Trust's [brokenlink] Medical Photographic Library. Historical images are from material held in the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Material can be viewed at the Wellcome Library or copies obtained through the Medical Photographic Library. Images labelled 'TMR' are from the Wellcome Trust's [brokenlink] Tropical Medicine Resource.

NEWS SECTION

•Infectious disease centre for Vietnam
Image: Infectious diseases research unit in the grounds of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

•Malaria genome
Image: The directory of parasite gene sequences enables researchers to search for proteins likely to stimulate strong immune responses, a valuable aid to those working on malaria vaccines.

RESEARCH DIRECTIONS SECTION

•The cutting edge
Front image: Professor John Duncan.
Back image: fMRI scans showing brain activity during an epileptic seizure.

•New channels to therapy?
Front image: Professor Alicia El Haj.

•Genes, environment or something else?
Images: The genes versus environment debate has traditionally focused on the interplay of genetics and environmental factors such as parental influences.

•Virtual pain relief
Front image: Dr Jonathan Cole.
Back image: A digitally manipulated photograph that records the patient's perception of his phantom limb, by Alexa Wright.

POLYPTYCH SECTION

•Set on slaughter
Images: Britain's slaughter policy for controlling outbreaks of foot and mouth disease has remained largely unchanged since the 19th century. SPL

•Portraits of autism
Image: 'Ed' by Stefanie Hafner from the 'Outside Looking In' exhibition held at the TwoTen Gallery in October 2002.

•Foundling fathers
Front image: Foundling girls at prayer in the chapel, by Sophie Anderson.
Back image: Foundling Hospital. Coram Foundation, Foundling Museum/Bridgeman Art Library

•Baring all for Britain
Images: Wellcome Library houses over 1200 photographs by Edwin Nichol Fallaize.

•Out and about
Images: Early aversion devices used to control sexual urges from Pathology and Treatment of Spermatorrhoea, 1887, and Fabrique de Chirurgie, both in the Wellcome Library.

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