letters

Published: 04/09/2003, Volume II3, No. 5871 Page 23

Mathew Cole (the columnist, page 23, 28 August) exemplified good practice in dealing with the issue of contaminated land, and most other threats to healthy neighbourhoods.

Here in Essex, expanding London's airports can generate a lot more heat than light (like Mr Cole's experience of 'roasting' at a public meeting).A vital dimension for science and society is what the Royal Society calls 'the public understanding of science.'

We will never have the confidence, let alone the co-operation, of communities in assessing and managing risks to health unless more nonspecialists understand something about the knowledge base (and the gaps in knowledge) on which difficult decisions are based.

Ignorance is never bliss - but understanding is a strength.

Primary care trusts need that strength, to enable ordinary people to rise to extraordinary challenges.

Woody Caan Professor of public health Anglia Polytechnic University