Denialism Hardback - 2009
by Specter, Michael
In this provocative and headline-making book, Michael Specterconfronts the widespread fear of science and its terrible toll onindividuals and the planet.
In Denialism, New Yorker staff writer MichaelSpecter reveals that Americans have come to mistrustinstitutions and especially the institution of science more todaythan ever before. For centuries, the general view had beenthat science is neither good nor bad-that it merely suppliesinformation and that new information is always beneficial.Now, science is viewed as a political constituency that isn'talways in our best interest. We live in a world where theleaders of African nations prefer to let their citizens starveto death rather than import genetically modified grains.Childhood vaccines have proven to be the most effective publichealth measure in history, yet people march on Washington toprotest their use. In the United States a growing series of studiesshow that dietary supplements and "natural" cures have almostno value, and often cause harm. We still spend billions ofdollars on them. In hundreds of the best universities in theworld, laboratories are anonymous, unmarked, and surroundedby platoons of security guards-such is the opposition toany research that includes experiments with animals. Andpharmaceutical companies that just forty years ago wereperhaps the most visible symbol of our remarkable advanceagainst disease have increasingly been seen as callouscorporations propelled solely by avarice and greed.
As Michael Specter sees it, this amounts to awar against progress. The issues may be complex but thechoices are not: Are we going to continue to embrace newtechnologies, along with acknowledging theirlimitations and threats, or are we ready to slink back intoan era of magical thinking? In Denialism, Specter makes anargument for a new Enlightenment, the revival of an approachto the physical world that was stunningly effective for hundredsof years: What can be understood and reliably repeated byexperiment is what nature regarded as true. Now, at the time ofmankind's greatest scientific advances-and our greatest needfor them-that deal must be renewed.
Summary
In Denialism, New Yorker staff writer Michael Specter reveals that Americans have come to mistrust institutions and especially the institution of science more today than ever before. For centuries, the general view had been that science is neither good nor bad—that it merely supplies information and that new information is always beneficial. Now, science is viewed as a political constituency that isn’t always in our best interest. We live in a world where the leaders of African nations prefer to let their citizens starve to death rather than import genetically modified grains. Childhood vaccines have proven to be the most effective public health measure in history, yet people march on Washington to protest their use. In the United States a growing series of studies show that dietary supplements and “natural” cures have almost no value, and often cause harm. We still spend billions of dollars on them. In hundreds of the best universities in the world, laboratories are anonymous, unmarked, and surrounded by platoons of security guards—such is the opposition to any research that includes experiments with animals. And pharmaceutical companies that just forty years ago were perhaps the most visible symbol of our remarkable advance against disease have increasingly been seen as callous corporations propelled solely by avarice and greed.
As Michael Specter sees it, this amounts to a war against progress. The issues may be complex but the choices are not: Are we going to continue to embrace new technologies, along with acknowledging their limitations and threats, or are we ready to slink back into an era of magical thinking? In Denialism, Specter makes an argument for a new Enlightenment, the revival of an approach to the physical world that was stunningly effective for hundreds of years: What can be understood and reliably repeated by experiment is what nature regarded as true. Now, at the time of mankind’s greatest scientific advances—and our greatest need for them—that deal must be renewed.
Details
- Title Denialism
- Author Specter, Michael
- Binding Hardback
- Edition First Edition
- Pages 304
- Language EN
- Publisher Penguin Press HC, The, New York, New York, U.S.A.
- Date 2009-10-29
- ISBN 9781594202308
Media reviews
“A lucid and insightful book about a very frightening and irrational phenomenon—the fear and superstition that threaten human science and progress. A superb and convincing work.”—Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker staff writer and author of Outliers, Blink, and The Tipping Point
“Denialism tells stories I know well, at least in outline. But Michael Specter very valuably gathers them under one roof and gives them a name. Specter describes the increasing public willingness to deny the hard-won facts of science in favor of myths and shoddy investigation. In the process, the denialists are enabling disease and poverty, denying the advances of science to those in need.”—David Baltimore, president emeritus, Biology California Institute of Technology
“We are bombarded with information and misinformation about the foods we eat, the medicines we take, the water we drink, the very air we breathe. Michael Specter shows us how to accurately assess the impact of science on these and other essential elements of our daily lives. Written in clear and accessible language, this uniquely valuable book explains an often confusing world."—Jerome Groopman, M.D., Recanati Professor, Harvard Medical School, author of How Doctors Think
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