Dr. Atul Gawande gave a commencement address for the California Institute of Technology’s class of 2016. The video embedded above features the surgeon and writer delivering a speech called “The Mistrust of Science.” The New Yorker has published the full text of Gawande’s piece.
Here’s an excerpt: “Few working scientists can give a ground-up explanation of the phenomenon they study; they rely on information and techniques borrowed from other scientists. Knowledge and the virtues of the scientific orientation live far more in the community than the individual. When we talk of a ‘scientific community,’ we are pointing to something critical: that advanced science is a social enterprise, characterized by an intricate division of cognitive labor.”
This year, a great number of writers have given moving commencement speeches. Hamilton: A Revolution co-author Lin-Manuel Miranda spoke at the University of Pennsylvania. Culper Ring series author Brad Meltzer spoke at the University of Michigan Law School. The Fault in Our Stars novelist John Green returned to his alma mater Kenyon College to speak. (Photo Credit: Tim Llewellyn)