‘Science will starve if disputing scientists end their feuds’
This study is based on the results of many informal seminars held over the last 15 years in the Netherlands. These involved the participation of independent critical scientists from many different disciplines, in particular physicists and geologists, with occasional contributions from main stream climatologists.
Several of them also contributed to this working paper during its three years of preparation. The final text is the responsibility of the author.
Dr Arthur Rörsch has a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Delft (1957), and a cum laude PhD from the University of Leiden (1962). He is a Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion (1994).
He was employed by Leiden University as associate professor of Molecular Genetics from 1967 to 1997. His major position was member, subsequently vice-president, of the board of management of the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Research, TNO (1979-1994), with special responsibility for the research fields of Public Health, Food & Agriculture, and Environment. As a student he was secretary of the department ‘Delft’ of the Netherlands Association for Meteorology and Astronomy.
On a European level he was involved in committees on the assessment of the quality of EU projects and the performance of scientific institutions. As Secretary-General of the European Molecular Biological Conference (a political body of 10 member states at the time), he has been active in the interaction between science and government policy. As chairman of the National (Dutch) Council for Agricultural Research he worked on the development of scenarios for four years (1995-1999).