This Demos pamphlet, co-authored with James Wilsdon and published in 2004, explores the ways in which we can expose to public scrutiny the assumptions, values and visions that drive science.

Spurred on by high profile controversies over BSE, GM crops and now nanotechnology, scientists have gradually started to involve the public in their work. They looked first to education as the answer, then to processes of dialogue and participation. But these efforts have not yet proved sufficient.

See-through Science argues that we are on the cusp of a new phase in debates over science and society. Public engagement is about to move upstream. Scientists need to find ways of listening to and valuing more diverse forms of public knowledge and social intelligence. Debates about risk are important. But the public also want answers to the more fundamental questions at stake in any new technology: who owns it? who benefits from it? to what purposes will it be directed? Only by opening up innovation processes at an early stage can we ensure that science contributes to the common good.

Supported by the Environment Agency, this report has been a significant influence on government thinking, particularly around public involvement in nanotechnology, contributing to a new DTI strategy on nanotechnology. It follows an earlier keynote paper for the Progressive Governance Summit, an international gathering of centre-left politicians hosted by the Prime Minister.

Download the report here.