The Online Ethics Center for Engineering & Science - Department of ...

Online Ethics Center: Engineers and Scientists as Moral ExemplarsEngineers and Scientists as MoralExemplarsThis section gives detailed stories of scientists and engineers in difficult circumstances who havedemonstrated wisdom that enabled them to fulfill their responsibilities as scientists and engineers. Theiractions provide guidance for others who want to do the right thing in circumstances that are similarlydifficult. Many of our stories of moral leadership are illustrated with graphics.Roger Boisjoly on the Challenger DisasterRoger Boisjoly discusses in seven sections his attempts to avert the launch of the Space ShuttleChallenger. Boisjoly has spent his entire career making well-informed decisions based on hisunderstanding of and belief in a professional engineer's rights and responsibilities. For his honestyand integrity leading up to and directly following the shuttle disaster, he was awarded the Prizefor Scientific Freedom and Responsibility by the American Association for the Advancement ofScience. Includes a Quicktime Movie of the disaster and other supporting materials.Inez Austin: Protecting the Public Safety at the Hanford Nuclear ReservationThis site presents the case of whistleblower Inez Austin as an example of someone who, even inthe face of overwhelming adversity, followed her ethical convictions and refused to sanction aprocedure she believed to be unsafe. The information in this site is drawn from extensive personalcommunications with Inez Austin.Fred Cuny's Innovations to Lessen the Suffering of RefugeesFred Cuny was a disaster relief specialist who used his training in engineering to do humanitarianwork. He worked in countries such as Biafra, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Iraq, Somalia, and Bosnia. InMarch 1995, he disappeared in Chechnya and was never found. The story of his work is told in 8sections and includes supplementary materials and pictures.Rachel Carson's Campaign to Control the Use of PesticidesDuring the seventeen years she worked in the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Rachel Carsonlearned about the problems of pesticides. Undaunted by the chemical companies' hostility and bythe public's high enthusiasm for pesticides, she wrote a book called Silent Spring, which caused amajor shift in public consciousness about the environment. Told in 7 sections and includessupplementary materials and pictures.William LeMessurier and The Fifty-Nine-Story Crisis: A Lesson in Professional BehaviorWilliam LeMessurier served as design and construction consultant on the innovative Citicorpheadquarters tower, which was completed in 1977 in New York. The next year, after a collegestudent studying the tower design had called him to point out a possible deficiency, LeMessurierdiscovered that the building was indeed structurally deficient. LeMessurier faced a complex anddifficult problem of professional responsibility in which he had to alert a broad group of people tothe structural deficiency and enlist their cooperation in repairing the deficiency before a hurricanebrought the building down.http://onlineethics.org/moral/index.html (1 of 2) [10/13/2004 1:24:05 PM]