The Red Book Committee: Creative Conflict

The committee that prepared the National Research Council's report Risk Assessment in the Federal Government: Managing the Process, soon called the “Red Book,” was deeply divided over the fundamental question of the extent to which risk assessment could or should be characterized as a scientific process. This division is key to understanding the lasting impact of the report. The committee produced a constructive synthesis to deal with some aspects of the conflict and successfully compromised on an overall approach to risk assessment policy. The nature of the division within the NAS committee and how the difference in views shaped the final report are described in this essay.