No. 113/2021

T he threat arrived in a padded envelope: a lit- tle plastic bottle and the typed message: “drink this – then you’ll be immune.”The envelope was addressed to Christian Drosten, the virologist at the Charité hospital in Berlin who has advised the Ger- man government and public during the Corona pandemic. With his warnings he became a symbol of charting a care- ful course. Threats and hate messages, he reports, began arriving early on. The American immunologist, Anthony Fauci, who has been an adviser to US presidents since the 1980s, also elicited hostile reactions. In a quotation that has become legendary, he summarised his cooperation with the former US President Donald Trump, who usually ignored his warnings and advice and was openly hostile towards him, in the pithy sentence: “I was the skunk at the picnic.” For many researchers it is a completely new experience to feel such open and aggressive rejection. Dealing with counter arguments, perhaps even scepticism, is just one of the tools of the trade. But outright rejection, even death threats? “Technology and science are increasingly inter- fering in areas of life itself,” says Martin Carrier, philoso- pher of science at Bielefeld University. “The Higgs boson doesn’t have much to fear from public opinion. But when we are talking climate, food and health, then science treads on many people’s toes.” And the more heated the societal discourse, the more responses scientists reap that com- ment publicly on their research topics. There is actually nothing new about hostility towards researchers, Carrier notes and looks back in history to illus- trate his point: “When Darwin published his ‘On the › Illustrations: Raufeld Medien/Karo Rigaud The Earth is getting warmer, the virus is rife and, more than ever before, science is expected to provide explanations and solutions. When relationships are complex, answers uncertain and concerns great, good science communication is called for – and yet so difficult. Why this is and what can be done about it. Text KILIAN KIRCHGESSNER THE HOT TOPIC 13 HUMBOLDT KOSMOS 113/2021