SAIAB Seminar Series 2021

What is science, and why is it so important today?

Presented by Professor Mike Bruton

Imagineering; Honorary Research Associate of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity

Science is under fire today from fringe groups who use social media as a megaphone to promote their scandalous views, yet science (and its bedfellow, technology) is more important today than ever before! In this well-illustrated and thought-provoking talk, Professor Mike Bruton, the second director of the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology (now SAIAB), will discuss how science evolved through the ages, what it is (and isn’t) today, the value of science and its relationship with other knowledge systems, such as indigenous knowledge, and the crucial role that science has to play in addressing (and hopefully solving) the enormous problems that face humankind and the other inhabitants of the planet today.

As Mike emphasizes in his recent books, ‘When I was a Fish. Tales of an Ichthyologist’, ‘What a Great Idea! Awesome South African Inventions’, ‘Curious Notions. Reflections of an Imagineer’ and ‘Harambee: The Spirit of Innovation in Africa’, every scientist, no matter how specialised the topic of their research, has a role to play as an ambassador for science.

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