Introduction

Abstract

Just opening a newspaper serves as a reminder of the problems with which society is beset — problems big and small. Banks are in trouble; climate change threatens; the worsening headache of caring for increasingly frail elderly parents; householders being charged for rubbish disposal; youngsters on the rampage; phone hacking; furious rows about ‘genetic engineering’; the unsayable about immigration haunting policies on unemployment; another family grieving for their dead soldier child who did not come home from an expensive war. Public issues and private troubles are as interlaced as ever. And, big or small, problems need solutions and solutions need to be based on accurate and suitable information, and on a proper understanding of the issues involved.