Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming in The Transition Movement

Jun 12, 2011 David Rubenstein rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction, politics, science

This is a truly impressive book. The subtitle really says it all; "How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming". The authors did an immense amount of research, revealing how and why a small group of scientists had such a powerful, and negative impact on important issues. The issues were: the danger of cigarette smoke, strategic defense, acid rain, secondhand smoke, the ozone hole, global warming, and the recent vilification of Rachel Carson. The This is a truly impressive book. The subtitle really says it all; "How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming". The authors did an immense amount of research, revealing how and why a small group of scientists had such a powerful, and negative impact on important issues. The issues were: the danger of cigarette smoke, strategic defense, acid rain, secondhand smoke, the ozone hole, global warming, and the recent vilification of Rachel Carson. The authors present a very comprehensive and persuasive case. Several scientists who established their excellent reputations during the Cold War had very strong views about Capitalism, the importance of the free market, and that all regulation is bad. Therefore, in their views, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) had to be stopped; they believed that the EPA issues regulations that take the country toward socialism, one step away from Communism.

These scientists used their reputations to publish in the non-scientific press, to present their side of each regulatory issue. Often, their opinions were not objective, as they were partially funded by foundations that were funded by industries (like tobacco, CFC, mining, defense, oil and transportation). They were physicists, and they were not experts in these fields. But their reputations were strong enough to give them a strong foothold in the popular press and with politicians. They often misrepresented the facts, distorted the science, and generally gave the impression that the issues were controversial, even when the vast majority of scientists had long ago reached nearly unanimous opinions. They tried to vilify outstanding scientists, falsely accusing them of the very tactics that they themselves were guilty of.

I strongly recommend this book to all citizens. People need to understand how the very same deceptive tactics are repeated over and over again, for each regulatory issue. People need to understand that science never gives a 100% proof of anything. Science is based on peer reviews and scientist community consensus. The popular press is usually not subject to objective reviews, and often tries to present "both sides" of a scientific issue. However, it is often the case that there is only one side to the science, and the "other side" is a purely political agenda.
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Dec 19, 2014 Maru Kun rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: current-affairs, science, review-or-reviewed

The story begins, where else, with smoking - that ur-science denial project which spawned many of the weapons of modern-day sowing of doubt. Amazingly denying the dangers of smoking is a project which still lumbers on in dark corners of the developing world hiding from the scrutiny of western media.

The story moves on to acid rain, then passive smoking, ozone depletion and - one I wasn't expecting - a born-again denialist program praising the long forgotten benefits to human wellbeing of DDT.

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