Acceptance speech of Dr Paul Shapter Gray on the occasion of the conferring of the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) at a degree congregation held at the University of Birmingham on 12th July 1999.
 
Chancellor,
Vice Chancellor,
Deputy pro Chancellor,
Learned Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
 
              I am extremely honoured to have this degree of doctor of science conferred on me by the University.  Until today I was not quite sure what I had done to deserve it but I would not have been able to achieve what I have in Europe without the help and support of my wife Diane,  my daughter Charlotte, my son Oliver who are here today and many colleagues of many nations.  I know that my learned colleagues who are joining the prestigious ranks of graduates of Birmingham University this morning have all got here by hard work and it is to you that I am addressing my remarks.  45 years ago I was sitting where you are now feeling pretty elated.  I considered that I had, as the Americans say, ‘got an education’.  Some years before my Latin master had some doubts about the possibility of this when he said to me ‘Education comes from the verb ‘educare’ to lead forth and what I see in you, boy, is not worth leading forth’.  No doubt some of your lecturers thought the same about you but they are not always right.
 
              Our year was still less than 10 years away from the end of the world war and all of us who graduated in 1954 remembered the war years vividly.  Most had lost a relative or family friend and some of us, especially in the large cities such as Birmingham, had been under bombardment, spending night after night in air raid shelters.   A few had even fought in the war and the reality of overcoming one of the most vicious tyrannies this world has known had unified people in all walks of life. 
 
              One of the requirements for a chemistry degree was two foreign languages and this had led me to a summer placement, in of all places the Paris gas works, and a more sobering group visit to Mainz university.  Much of Mainz was still being rebuilt and the nearby medieval town of Worms was in ruins.  I remember to this day an old Augustinian monk pointing out to me damage done to the cathedral by a succession of invading armies saying “ Don’t despair, act!  You, the youth of today, must put this right”.  Although on graduation day we were all thinking about our careers we also had a firm determination that such a conflict should not occur again.
 
              I never dreamed at that time that I would be privileged to take an active part in the building of the European Union and as one of the negotiators in the Greek, Iberian and Nordic accessions to see it steadily grow and acquire a democratically elected Parliament.
 
              We processed into this congregation to the music of the Peer’s Chorus from the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Iolanthe.  In the operetta,  reflecting on the role of politicians, private Willis, the sentry before the House of Commons sings:-
 
 
               ”  When in that House M.P.s divide,
              If they’ve a brain and cerebellum, too,
              They’ve got to leave that brain outside,
              And vote just as their leaders tell ’em to.
              But then the prospect of a lot
              Of dull M.P.s in close proximity,
              All thinking for themselves, is what
              No man can face with equanimity  ”
 
              Politics are fraught with exaggeration and other countries find it hard to understand that we, the mother of parliamentary democracy, who stood alone to defend their freedom seem to be lukewarm in the fulfilment of our historic destiny.  I am saddened that in my country the debate on Europe has often been conducted at the level of parish pump politics frequently clouded by misleading and, in my experience, even untruthful reporting by the media.
 
              The UK has often played a very positive role in the development of the Union but has always understated its contribution and shrunk from its historic destiny to lead.  Of course we should be proud of our cultural and national heritage but at the same time we must be strong in the resolve that the peoples of Europe must be united in the challenges that face us.  This is a continuing task for you to take forward.
 
              You have all seen recently in Kosovo what happens when understanding and tolerance is overcome by prejudice and hate.  Even though the genocides were on a much smaller scale than those of the Nazi era they nevertheless show how easily evil forces can gain the ascendant.
 
              What other challenges are facing you today?
 
              We are living in a society that is becoming richer daily in material goods but it is a society that is increasingly impoverishing the planet to do so.  Limits to growth may first come through our inability to dispose of waste rather than through exhaustion of resources and it now looks as though even the European Union will not meet its target for reducing carbon dioxide emissions that it is committed to internationally.  As we move into the next millenium the challenge of sustainabilty is perhaps the greatest one facing humanity.  But there are even more subtle threats to our society.
 
              Developments in information technology have enabled you to have access to far more information than I had in my student days.  Global contacts are possible in microseconds but the keyboard, like the motorcar and the television screen, puts a machine between us and other live human beings.  Technology is also widening the rift between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.  Virtual reality can be captivating but it is no substitute for real people and real life.  Concern for the people of Kosovo should not divert us from caring for those who need our help in our own communities.
              It is not enough to say that this is a problem for the social scientists you as natural scientists have not only the knowledge but also a duty to contribute to the debate. 
 
              Another thing that concerns me deeply is that, although our society is built on a basis of applied science, science is increasingly discredited in popular opinion. The roots of this problem are not far to seek. The recent debate in this country over ‘Frankenstein foods’ owes much to the willingness of the public to accept snappy word bytes rather than reason. Given the safety regulations in place, the risk from these foods is of the order of the probability of my living to be 150 and certainly much less than that of humanity becoming extinct from an asteroid impact.   Yet in the past ten years alone the occurrence of food-borne infections like samonellosis has increased by 60% so that today over 100,000 people a year in this country are likely to be so ill from eating infected food that they require medical intervention. . Sensationalism is diverting attention from the real threats to society.
 
              It is to its credit that this University is tackling this problem with the recently announced research project dealing with the ‘Social Amplification of Risk on Risk Communication’.
 
              Media reports are often based on statements of scientists who are less than honest.  You must practice your profession with probity so that you may credibly defend reality in reasoned discussion.  The great French writer Rabelais, a pioneer of enlightenment, said  “Science sans conscience n’est que ruine de l’ame” .   Science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.
 
              This University is about to celebrate its centenary.  Determination, enlightenment and social responsibility were the qualities of its founder and first chancellor Joseph Chamberlain.  As mayor of Birmingham he brought about reforms and improvements that were a model for municipalities throughout the country and for this all ‘Brummies’ remembered him with great affection.  Had his proposals in 1882 for Irish and Scottish devolution been accepted we might even have been spared the agonies of the last 30 years in Northern Ireland.
 
              In his last speech he said  “Union … must be preceded and accompanied by a better understanding, by a better sympathy.  To secure that is the highest object of statesmanship now at the beginning of the 20th Century.”   He was speaking of the British Commonwealth and Empire but his words might apply today to Europe and all international relations.
 
              Today is a day for celebration.  In Virgil’s Aeneid he opens the visit by Aeneas to Hades with the statement “Saxum ingens volvunt alii”  “Others roll a huge stone”.  Your stone rolling is over, at least for a time.  To quote the University’s motto, you have gone through your ardua to your alta.
 
              Let us celebrate together.