ABSTRACT
A central theme in this volume is the repositioning of science. Nowhere is this more necessary than in the area of risk management. Considerable uncertainty exists about the complex interactions within and between the environmental media (air, water and land) and ecosystems. Here, profound uncertainties and indeterminacies create a major challenge to science and scientific method. This has become apparent at a time when the liabilities of economic growth coupled with the seemingly pervasive problems associated with hazardous technologies have become a characteristic of our modern society. We live in a world that is not risk-free: the notion of zero risk has been largely dispelled.
