There is also no real controversy about the likely outcome of purchasing a handgun. The data clearly show that it is much more likely to be used in murder, suicide or tragic accident than for self-defense, but that scientific fact has been buried under an avalanche of pro-gun propaganda disguised as Second Amendment advocacy.

So while I agree with Dr. Weiss that public health policy depends on good science, I don’t think there is any serious disagreement that scientific knowledge is valid. There is, however, widespread corruption, and a willingness on the part of politicians to say anything, no matter how unscientific, to keep the money rolling in.

DAVID BERMAN

New York, March 6, 2013

Dr. Weiss bemoans the anti-science declarations of politicians. In fact, the damage is far beyond mere words.

Public support for science and scientific research in the United States has declined dramatically. Our biomedical research establishment, once the most productive in the world, is on the edge of collapse because of lack of support. One major consequence of science’s starvation is a disincentive for the college-educated to pursue a career in science.

The chance of getting a research grant is at an all-time low. Experienced lab directors spend enormous amounts of time that should be devoted to research in a (usually vain) attempt to find funds to support their research and trainees. Productive laboratories are going out of existence. Faculty positions in science are dwindling.

When college graduates are being offered high starting salaries in the financial world, along with the anticipation of becoming millionaires, who would go into science, with a decade or more of training and intensive study for minimal salary, with the anticipation of being unemployed or underemployed at the end?

President Obama has proposed “mapping” the human brain. Who is going to do the work?

DAVID A. GREENBERG

Columbus, Ohio, March 6, 2013