THE REPUBLICAN WAR ON SCIENCE
ISBN: 0465046754 Global Overview for this book
3 journalers for this copy...
Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.
I guess I should preface my comments with some disclosure: My degree is in engineering, and have spent my entire adult life immersed in technology, so I have developed a really strong affinity for the scientific process and the benefits of an evidence-based approach to knowledge and understanding. All of which is to say that this book is preaching to the choir in my case.
I am currently a little less than a quarter of the way through the book, and so far, it has been an enlightening look at the relatively recent history of the Republican party with respect to its attitude and approach to science as it impacts public policy. What seems obvious at this point of the book is that the title is (a little) misleading. There is a long history of moderate Republicans who both understood science and adapted their policy goals in light of scientific evidence. A better title for this book might have been "The Conservative War on Science", because the growing antipathy of the Republican party towards legitimate science has coincided with the increasing control of the party by the extreme conservative elements therein.
I recently listened to a podcast that described how Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh apparently worked together (either intentionally or not) to engineer the final takeover of the party by the conservatives, ushering in our current era of extreme partisanship. Interestingly, this book also points to these two as a turning point in the party's relationship to science. It was only after Gingrich became Speaker of the House that his party dismantled the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), which had provided non-partisan summaries and evaluations of science to members of Congress for them to use in deciding public policy. With the elimination of OTA, members of Congress became dependent upon outside "experts" (often funded by special interest groups) to provide their scientific "evidence" to support their policy positions, resulting in the politicization of science.
So far, I've managed to keep my reactions at the level of exasperated head-shakes and heavy sighs. We'll see if I can maintain that level of composure as I work my way through the rest of the book.
In the meantime, here are some further thoughts about what I've read so far (in the form of bullet points):
- Rather than openly state their policy beliefs, conservative politicians have attempted to disguise their opposition using the language and form of science. In the pursuit of such goals, they contrast their calls for "sound science" against the findings of "junk science". And while, on their face, it would seem obvious that policy decisions should be based on sound science and not junk science, when we look closely at what is meant by those terms, it isn't so straight forward. As used by those on the political right, "sound science" is the banner that calls for conclusive evidence that has little or no uncertainty associated with it. In contract, scientific findings that admit to uncertainty is "junk science". And, as anyone who actually understands the scientific process should understand, very little valid science is without uncertainty. The right uses these terms to sow doubt about the evidence and to postpone valid policy decisions based on such evidence.
- Much of the "science" advanced by the right and its industry partners is, in fact, not valid science. Either it presupposes a conclusion and then cherry picks the evidence to support that conclusion, which violates the very notion of evidence based scientific inquiry, or it proposes hypotheses that are simply beyond the ability of science to actually test. Either way, no amount of embellishment with scientific sounding jargon changes the fact that this does not constitute valid scientific inquiry.
- By providing public platforms for contrarian "experts" to voice their quasi-scientific viewpoints, and only allowing a limited number of conventional scientific voices to be heard, the conservative politicians create the appearance of significant scientific debate and disagreement where there is, in fact, little or none.
======================
DEAR FINDER,
Welcome to BookCrossing.com, where we are trying to making the whole world a library!
If you have not already done so, please make a journal entry so we know this book has found a new home. You don't need to join BookCrossing and you can remain completely anonymous. However, we encourage you to join so that you can follow this book's future travels. It's fun and free, and your personal information will never be shared or sold. If you decide to join, consider listing ResQgeek (or any of the other journalers) as referring you.
Take your time reading the book, and after you finish, please make another journal entry to record your thoughts about it. This book is now yours, and you can keep it if you choose, though we would love for you to share it. If you pass it along, please make a release note to let others know where you left it.
I hope you enjoy the book!
After reading the titleof this book, I was surprised that this book was published back in 2005 and not more recently. After reading your reaction to this book, ResQGeek, i decided to forego reading it as I am dismayed enough about the current demise of science-based research under our current federal administration. Anyway, I hope this book will eventually find a reader as its information seems important to know although depressing.
Released 4 yrs ago (2/19/2020 UTC) at LFL - Vandegrift Ave (5811) (#7720) in Rockville, Maryland USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
***The 2020 Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes Release Challenge hosted this year by awaywithfairies. This book's title contains the word CAN.
----------------------------
Enjoy the book!
--------------------------
Hello and welcome to BookCrossing ... where we make the whole world a library!
Now that you've "caught" this book, it is yours to do with as you like. Read it, keep it, or give it away. It's your choice!
I'd love if you'd enter a note here on BookCrossing about this book -- where you found it, how you like it, and/or where you release it. If you join BookCrossing (free and fun), kindly list me, SqueakyChu. or any other journaler on this thread as your referring person. Thank you so much.
Enjoy the book!