Shawn Lawrence Otto - The War on Science: Who’s Waging It, Why It Matters, What We Can Do About It

PRAISE FOR THE WAR ON SCIENCE

Every so often a book comes along that changes the way you view the world. The War on Science: Whos Waging It, Why It Matters, What We Can Do About It by Shawn Otto is one of those rare books. If you care about attacks on climate science and the rise of authoritarianism, if you care about biased media coverage or shake-your-head political tomfoolery, this book is for you A resource for people who ponder what it means to live in a free society and the important role scientists play in conveying good science to the larger public.

The Guardian

Otto makes a case that cant be refuted. Science is important to all of us, especially in a democracy. He backs it up with peer-reviewed studies, carefully researched numbers, and his own extensive experience. He uses the process of science to prove that we need science in order to remain free. Heres hoping voters everywhere take him seriouslysoon.

Bill Nye

Were seeing right now a titanic battle between the power of science and the power of moneyand money is winning. This book explains why, and offers some pointers that might get us back on the right track.

Bill McKibben

Science is not a body of facts, but rather a structured approach to uncovering the fundamental laws that govern the natural world. As The War on Science shows, policymakers who choose to ignore those fundamental laws imperil us all, for the laws of nature will always trump the laws of man.

Marcia McNutt, president of the US National Academy of Sciences

This insightful, heavily researched book pulls back the curtain to show exactly where and how the rise of authoritarianism is being accomplished, via academic, fundamentalist, and public relations attacks on scientists and the ideas of science that underlie modern democracy. The War on Science is must reading for anyone wanting to understand whats really going on in todays politics.

Michael E. Mann

Evidence from science is one of the worlds great equalizers, because it forms an objective basis for public policy. This book illustrates how central that notion is to the forming of modern democracy, and how current attacks on science endanger our freedom. Policymakers and voters everywhere would do well to read The War on Science.

Walter Mondale

In the struggle of people to be free, there has been one common denominator on which democracy, like Sherlock Holmes, dependsscience, and the evidence it provides, as a guide to truth, fairness, and justice. This insightful book explores how science became a necessary prerequisite for democracy, why it is under attack today, and what we can do to defend truth and freedom.

Maria Konnikova, author of Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes

Before you vote in the next election, read Shawn Ottos The War on Science.

Ben Bova, award-winning author of the Grand Tour series and former editorial director of Omni

The War on Science dissects the factors creating a perfect storm of anti-intellectualism, persuading millions to actively vote against their own interests. This is not a book that will convert Limbaugh dancers. But it just might help you to draw that smart engineer uncle back toward the light. It might even encourage such fellows to join a newborn movement, reviving a science-loving version of conservatism out of the ashes.

David Brin, scientist and award-winning author of The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose between Privacy and Freedom?

One of the most important books published in the last decade.

Don Shelby, Peabody Awardwinning news anchor

Also by Shawn Otto

Nonfiction

Fool Me Twice:

Fighting the Assault on Science in America

Fiction

Sins of Our Fathers

2016, Text by Shawn Otto

Parts of this book appear in Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America, published by Rodale in 2011.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher: Milkweed Editions, 1011 Washington Avenue South, Suite 300, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415.

(800) 520-6455

www.milkweed.org

Published 2016 by Milkweed Editions

Cover design by Mary Austin Speaker

Author photo by Erika Ludwig

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First Edition

Milkweed Editions, an independent nonprofit publisher, gratefully acknowledges sustaining support from the Jerome Foundation; the Lindquist & Vennum Foundation; the McKnight Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Target Foundation; and other generous contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. Also, this activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, and a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota. For a full listing of Milkweed Editions supporters, please visit www.milkweed.org.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Otto, Shawn Lawrence.

Title: The war on science: whos waging it, why it matters, what we can do about it / Shawn Otto.

Description: Minneapolis, Minnesota: Milkweed Editions, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016002797 (print) | LCCN 2016009938 (ebook) | ISBN 9781571319524 (e-book)

Subjects: LCSH: Science--Political aspects. | Science--Political aspects--History. | Science--Social aspects. | Science--Social aspects--History.

Classification: LCC Q175.5 .O88 2016 (print) | LCC Q175.5 (ebook) | DDC 303.48/3--dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016002797

Milkweed Editions is committed to ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book production practices with this principle, and to reduce the impact of our operations in the environment. We are a member of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the worlds endangered forests and conserve natural resources. The War on Science was printed on acid-free 100% postconsumer-waste paper by Edwards Brothers Malloy.

To the underdogs

Table of Contents

Contents

The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paines remark above is most certainly true for individuals. This is, after all, the central purpose of education: to lift the veil of darkness for young people, with the hope that once lifted, the enlightenment that results will help build wiser adults, with a brighter communal future.

But what may be true for individuals is not necessarily true for societies. The scientific wisdom of the Greeks was largely abandoned in the Middle Ages. The Arab countries, once the heart of mathematics and scholarship, did not partake in many of the benefits of the European Enlightenment, in part because of the emerging influence of fundamentalism in the tenth and eleventh centuries.