Scientocracy is the practice of basing public policies on

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

Discourse

Peter A. Ubel, an American physician, is a proponent of scientocracy. In an article titled "Scientocracy: Policy making that reflects human nature", he writes, "When I talk about Scientocracy, then, I'm not talking about a world ruled by behavioral scientists, or any other kind of scientists. Instead, I am imagining a government of the people, but informed by scientists. A world where people don't argue endlessly about whether educational vouchers will improve schools, whether

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...

will reduce crime, or whether

health savings account A health savings account (HSA) is a tax advantage, tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). The funds contributed to an account are not subject t ...

s can lower health care expenditures,... but one instead where science has a chance to show us whether vouchers, gun control laws, and health savings accounts work and, if so, under what conditions." Deepak Kumar, a historian, has written about the "Emergence of 'Scientocracy'" in India.

Earlier use

Florence Caddy (1837–1923) wrote a book titled ''Through the fields with Linnaeus: a chapter in Swedish history.'' That book was published in two volumes in 1887. In volume 1 she wrote, "His lesson in Hamburg had taught him that a ''novus homo'' must not be arrogant when he enters the society of the scientocracy, and that he must not run himself rashly against vested interests. Yet for all his poverty,

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

seems to have lived in intimacy with the scientocrats of Leyden— Van Royen, Van Swieten, Lieberkuhn, Lawson, and Gronovius." In these two sentences she uses "society of the scientocracy" and "scientocrats" to refer to groups of eminent scientists of that time. In 1933,

Hugo Gernsback Hugo Gernsback (; born Hugo Gernsbacher, August 16, 1884 – August 19, 1967) was a Luxembourgish American editor and magazine publisher whose publications included the first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stories''. His contributions to ...

defined scientocracy as "the direction of the country and its resources by Scientists and not by Technicians".Gernsback, Hugo (1933). ''Technocracy Review,'' March 1933; quoted by

Gary Westfahl Gary Wesley Westfahl (born May 7, 1951) is an American writer and scholar of science fiction. He has written reviews for the ''Los Angeles Times'', '' The Internet Review of Science Fiction'' and Locus Online. He worked at the University of Cal ...

i
''Hugo Gernsback and the Century of Science Fiction''

McFarland & Company McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tert ...

, 2007, p. 68.

Discourse

Earlier use

See also

References

Further reading