Scientific results misinterpretation

A major source of confusion in the media relates to how science tries to separate unavoidable death due to natural causes from avoidable death due to modem drugs or chemicals. This is the field of risk assessment and is a crucial function of our regulatory agencies. Confusion and unnecessary anxiety arise from the complexity of the underlying science, misinterpretation of the meaning of scientific results, and a lack of understanding of the basic principles of probability, statistics, and causal inference (assigning cause and effect to an event). 

Ultimately, the risk characterization results in a statement of the potential susceptibility of children for specific effects from specific exposures to environmental agents. This statement forms the basis, together with other considerations, on which regulatory or management decisions will be made. Often, the risk manager is not a specialist in children s health thus, it is imperative that the risk characterization be clear, definitive, and unencumbered by scientific terminology that may be misunderstood or misinterpreted. The risk assessor must effectively communicate what is known, what is not known, and what is questionable, in order for the risk assessment to be appropriately factored into the overall risk management process. 

While the value of applying various amendments to j icultural soils was recognized and practiced for over 100 centuries, serious scientific inquiry into the mineral nutrition of plants did not begin until early in the 18th century. Most of the results of these early experiments were misinterpreted, principally due to the underdeveloped state of chemistry. The famous experiment of van Helmont (1577—1644) is a case in point. He placed 90.8 kg of soil in an earthen container, moistened the soil, and planted a willow shoot weighing 2.3 kg. After 5 years the tree weighed 76.7 kg, and he could account for all but 57 g of the 90.8 kg of soil originally used. Since he had added only water, he concluded that water was the sole nutrient of the plant and attributed the loss of the 57 g to experimental error. 

This book focuses on surface charging of solids dispersed in solutions of inert electrolytes, in the absence of surface-active species. In real experiments, surface-active species are not completely absent, but occur at very low concentrations. Such impurities are often referred to in order to explain unexpected results. The state of matter in very dilute solutions is seldom considered in the scientific literature, and it has been the subject of numerous misinterpretations. 

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