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Unscientific America
''Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future'' is a nonfiction book by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum. It was a ''New York Times'' best seller. In the book, the authors tackle the problem of scientific illiteracy in America. The authors criticize scientists for talking down to the misinformed and insulting the religious while calling for more friendly and magnanimous science advocates. They also blame the New Atheist movement, the creation–evolution controversy, the entertainment industry, the media, and science skeptics. Reception Science press The journal ''Science Communication'' gave the book a favourable review, noting that the arguments presented "may make the Ph.D. crowd even more cranky than usual." Indeed, the book did spark significant debate particularly on-line. ''Seed'' magazine selected ''Unscientific America'' as one to "read now" although it was subsequently more critical of certain aspects of the book. The ''BMJ'', while supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Mooney (journalist)
Christopher Cole Mooney (born September 20, 1977) is an American journalist and author of four books including ''The Republican War on Science'' (2005). Mooney's writing focuses on subjects such as climate change denialism and creationism in public schools, and he has been described as "one of the few journalists in the country who specialize in the now dangerous intersection of science and politics." In 2020 he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles on global warming published in The Washington Post. Early life and education Mooney was born in Mesa, Arizona, and grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana. Both of his parents were college English professors. He attended Isidore Newman School before entering Yale University, where he graduated with a B.A. in English in 1999. His interest in the natural sciences was strongly influenced by his grandfather Gerald A. Cole, a professor at Arizona State University and author of ''Textbook of Limnology'', a noted book in the field. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pharyngula (blog)
''Pharyngula'', a blog founded and written by PZ Myers, is hosted on ScienceBlogs (2005–2011, in full, and 2011–present, in part) and on FreeThoughtBlogs (2011–present). In 2006 the science journal ''Nature'' listed it as the top-ranked blog written by a scientist based on popularity. The blog addresses a range of topics, including Myers's academic specialty, biology. It has become particularly well known for Myers's writing style (characterized by sarcasm) and for his criticism of intelligent design and creationism. In 2009, Hemant Mehta ranked ''Pharyngula'' the most popular atheist blog, based on subscriber levels and other factors. History According to Alexa Internet, Pharyngula.org was started on June 19, 2002.Alexa InternetRelated info for pharyngula.org accessed 3 September 2006. It started out as an experiment in writing instruction for a class. Students were required to submit mini-essays to be published online. After the project was finished, Myers still had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2009 Non-fiction Books
9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and Gupta started curving the bottom vertical line coming up with a -look-alike. The Nagari continued the bottom stroke to make a circle and enclose the 3-look-alike, in much the same way that the sign @ encircles a lowercase ''a''. As time went on, the enclosing circle became bigger and its line continued beyond the circle downwards, as the 3-look-alike became smaller. Soon, all that was left of the 3-look-alike was a squiggle. The Arabs simply connected that squiggle to the downward stroke at the middle and subsequent European change was purely cosmetic. While the shape of the glyph for the digit 9 has an ascender in most modern typefaces, in typefaces with text figures the character usually has a descender, as, for example, in . The mod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Politicization Of Science
The politicization of science for political gain occurs when government, business, or advocacy groups use legal or economic pressure to influence the findings of scientific research or the way it is disseminated, reported or interpreted. The politicization of science may also negatively affect academic and scientific freedom, and as a result it is considered taboo to mix politics with science. Historically, groups have conducted various campaigns to promote their interests in defiance of scientific consensus, and in an effort to manipulate public policy."Some bills seek to discredit evolution by emphasizing so-called "flaws" in the theory of evolution or "disagreements" within the scientific community. Others insist that teachers have absolute freedom within their classrooms and cannot be disciplined for teaching non-scientific "alternatives" to evolution. A number of bills require that students be taught to "critically analyze" evolution or to understand "the controversy." But t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Books About The Politics Of Science
This is a list of notable books about the politics of science that have their own articles on Wikipedia. Environment * '' Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming'' (2010) by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway Health * '' Liberation by Oppression'' (2002) by Thomas Szasz * ''Mad in America'' (2002) by Robert Whitaker * '' Big Pharma: How the World's Biggest Drug Companies Control Illness'' (2006) by Jacky Law *''Medical Apartheid'' (2007) by Harriet A. Washington * ''Side Effects'' (2008) by Alison Bass * '' Bad Science'' (2008) by Ben Goldacre * '' Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health'' (2008) by David Michaels (epidemiologist) * '' Anatomy of an Epidemic'' (2010) by Robert Whitaker * '' Bad Pharma: How drug companies mislead doctors and harm patients'' (2012) by Ben Goldacre Miscellaneous * '' Bending Science'' (2008) * '' Betrayers of the Truth: Fraud and Decei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agnotology
Within the sociology of knowledge, agnotology (formerly agnatology) is the study of deliberate, culturally-induced ignorance or doubt, typically to sell a product, influence opinion, or win favour, particularly through the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data (disinformation). More generally, the term includes the condition where more knowledge of a subject creates greater uncertainty. Stanford University professor Robert N. Proctor cites the tobacco industry's public relations campaign to manufacture doubt about the adverse health effects of tobacco use as a prime example. David Dunning of Cornell University warns that powerful interests exploit the internet to propagate ignorance.". Agents of culturally-induced ignorance include the media, corporations, and government agencies, through secrecy and suppression of information, document destruction, and selective memory. Passive causes include structural information bubbles, including those that reflect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antiscience
Antiscience is a set of attitudes that involve a rejection of science and the scientific method. People holding antiscientific views do not accept science as an objective method that can generate universal knowledge. Antiscience commonly manifests through rejection of scientific ideas such as climate change and evolution. It also includes pseudoscience, methods that claim to be scientific but reject the scientific method. Antiscience leads to belief in conspiracy theories and alternative medicine. Lack of faith in science has been linked to promote political extremism and distrust in medical treatments. History In the early days of the scientific revolution, scientists such as Robert Boyle (1627–1691) found themselves in conflict with those such as Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), who were skeptical of whether science was a satisfactory way to obtain genuine knowledge about the world. Hobbes' stance is regarded by Ian Shapiro as an antiscience position: In his ''Six Lessons to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basic Books
Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and history. History Basic Books originated as a small Greenwich Village-based book club marketed to psychoanalysts. Arthur Rosenthal took over the book club in 1950, and under his ownership it soon began producing original books, mostly in the behavioral sciences. Early successes included Ernest Jones's ''The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud'', as well as works by Claude Lévi-Strauss, Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson. Irving Kristol joined Basic Books in 1960, and helped Basic to expand into the social sciences. Harper & Row purchased the company in 1969. In 1997, HarperCollins announced that it would merge Basic Books into its trade publishing program, effectively closing the imprint and ending its publishing of serious academic books. That same year, Bas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Friday
''Science Friday'' (known as ''SciFri'' for short) is a weekly call-in talk show that broadcasts each Friday on public radio stations, distributed by WNYC Studios, and carried on over 400 public radio stations. ''SciFri'' is hosted by award-winning science journalist Ira Flatow and was created and is produced by the Science Friday Initiative. The program is divided into two one-hour programs, with each hour ending with a complete sign-off. The focus of each program is news and information on science, nature, medicine, and technology. The show originated as the Friday episode of the daily call-in talk show ''Talk of the Nation'', but was spun off as a series in its own right when ''Talk of the Nation'' was canceled in June 2013. The ''Science Friday'' radio program is produced by the Science Friday Initiative, a 501(c)(3) organization. The Science Friday Initiative is an independently run organization with a governing Board of Directors and Executive Director. In addition to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Buffalo News
''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. On January 29, 2020, the paper reported that it was being sold to Lee Enterprises. History The ''News'' was founded in 1873 by Edward Hubert Butler, Sr. as a Sunday paper.Frequently Asked Questions , www.buffalonews.com On October 11, 1880, it began publishing daily editions as well, and in 1914, it became an inversion of its original existence by publishing Monday to Saturday, with no publication on Sunday. During most of its life, the ''News'' was known as ''The Buffalo Evening News''. A gentleman's agreement between the ''Ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Humanist Association
The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism. The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defend the constitutional rights of secular and religious minorities, lobbies Congress on church-state separation and other issues, and maintains a grassroots network of 250 local affiliates and chapters that engage in social activism and community-building events. The AHA has several publications, including ''The Humanist'', ''Free Mind'', peer-reviewed semi-annual scholastic journal '' Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism'', and TheHumanist.com. The organization states that it has over 34,000 members. History In 1927, an organization called the "Humanist Fellowship" began at a gathering in Chicago. In 1928, the Fellowship started publishing the ''New Humanist'' magazine with H.G. Creel as first editor. The ''New Humanist'' was published from 1928 to 1936. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
