Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter

speaker

351 appearances 17 recordings 1 series first heard Oct 2010 last heard Jan 2021

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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More or Less · Predicting L'Aquila Earthquake: is it right to blame the scientists? · 29 Oct 2012 podcast

Obviously, we shouldn't forget the terrible case of 300 people that died there, and that's the main thing. matched

But now there's been this additional tragedy of these matched

Seismologists being prosecuted for large fines and ludicrous six-year sentences. matched

But there's the chance of a third tragedy, which is just the withdrawal of the scientific community from engagement. matched

I mean, who's going to be a seismologist in Italy now? matched

I mean, Italy has got continuous earthquake problems. matched

They've got one in Calabria at the moment. matched

Now, who is going to engage in that now in Italy? matched

it really makes you wonder about the risks to scientists of engagement and being advisors. matched

Well, I think they have to be reassured that their work is going to be used appropriately and communicated properly. matched

And I think that's also the scientist's responsibility. matched

I actually think there are legal aspects as well about getting matched

indemnity to civil cases. matched

I mean, government advisors are supposed to have indemnity. matched

I've been on a committee once, and I found I was the only person in the room who didn't have indemnity. matched

And at that point, you start feeling slightly exposed. matched

given the increasingly litigious society. matched

And that's an awful shame. matched

Well, I understand for weather forecasters who might fail to predict a hurricane or some severe weather event that might in fact lead to loss of life, my understanding is that they are indemnified against that, and nobody's going to be able to sue them for that statement. matched

It would be terrible if we start to matched

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