Reality Check
How Science Deniers Threaten Our Future
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A thought-provoking look at science denialism "for popular science readers who want better to be able to explain and defend science and scientific methods to others" (Library Journal).
The battles over evolution, climate change, childhood vaccinations, and the causes of AIDS, alternative medicine, oil shortages, population growth, and the place of science in our country—all are reaching a fevered pitch. Many people and institutions have exerted enormous efforts to misrepresent or flatly deny demonstrable scientific reality to protect their nonscientific ideology, their power, or their bottom line. To shed light on this darkness, Donald R. Prothero explains the scientific process and why society has come to rely on science not only to provide a better life but also to reach verifiable truths no other method can obtain. He describes how major scientific ideas that are accepted by the entire scientific community (evolution, anthropogenic global warming, vaccination, the HIV cause of AIDS, and others) have been attacked with totally unscientific arguments and methods. Prothero argues that science deniers pose a serious threat to society, as their attempts to subvert the truth have resulted in widespread scientific ignorance, increased risk of global catastrophes, and deaths due to the spread of diseases that could have been prevented.
"Prothero's treatise will give the science-minded something to cheer about, a brief summary of the real data that supports so many critical aspects of modern life." —Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Geology professor and prolific author Prothero (Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters) takes on the science deniers, including creationists, climate change naysayers, and AIDS deniers. Prothero addresses nine topics for which a segment of the U.S. population rejects well-supported science research and knowledge; for each, he begins with background information and data and then addresses the argumenta of the deniers, providing additional data and references. "As scientists, we must be careful when we use words such as truth' and belief,' because science is not about believing accepted truths, but accepting extremely well corroborated hypotheses about nature that approach truth in the everyday sense." Prothero discusses the impact of corporate and political interests on science, the demonization of Rachel Carson, the credentials of science deniers, the politics of climate change, and the impact of the anti-vaccine movement. He concludes that "the elephant in the room ... the stultifying influence of creationism in U.S. science education." Those who hold opposing views may say that he does not break stereotypes about liberal academics; but he does discuss career scientists and academicians addressing why polarization has occurred. Prothero's treatise will give the science-minded something to cheer about, a brief summary of the real data that supports so many critical aspects of modern life. 39 b&w illus.
