Dealing with high-stakes risk potentials depends on our ability to come to grips with some easy to understand, yet difficult to apply, criteria for decision. This book shows why scientific assessments of catastrophic risk based on 'averages' don't work, and sets the stage for making the tough choice between precaution and fatalism.

Dealing with high-stakes risk potentials depends on our ability to come to grips with some easy to understand, yet difficult to apply, criteria for decision. We need to go beyond the facade of pseudo-scientific assessments that cater to special interests. We need to take a fresh, honest look at the only two sensible decision criteria: precautionary avoidance and fatalism. This book shows why scientific assessments of catastrophic risk based on 'averages' don't work, and sets the stage for making the tough choice between precaution and fatalism.

Preface - Statistical Risk and Its Treatment - The ABC of High-Stakes Decisions - Practical Precaution - Precaution and
Progress: Identifying Alternatives - Public Policy and the Rise of Precautionary Regulation - Science and Precaution - The Future of Risk - Appendices