Junk Science
Subtitle: How Politicians, Corporations, and Other Hucksters Betray Us
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Published: October 3, 2006
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 336
ISBN-13: 9780312352417
Subjects: Impact of science & technology on society; Popular science; Science; Science/Mathematics; History; Philosophy & Social Aspects; Science / History; Fraud in science; Moral and ethical aspects; Pressure groups
First sentence: DURING THE NEXT THIRTY years the American public will suffer the consequences of a rampage against reason by special interests in government, commerce, and the "faith" industry.
Description: During the next thirty years, the American public will suffer from a rampage against reason by special interests in government, commerce, and the faith industry, and the rampage has already begun. In Junk science, Dan Agin offers a response: a stinging condemnation of the egregious and constant warping of science for ideological gain. In this provocative, wide-ranging, and hard-hitting book, Agin argues from the center that we will pay a heavy price for the follies of people who consciously twist the public's understanding of the real world. In an entertaining but frank tone, Agin separates fact from conveniently "scientific" fiction and exposes the data faking, reality ignoring, fear mongering, and outright lying that contribute to intentionally manufactured public ignorance. Many factions twist scientific data to maintain riches and power, and Agin outs them all in sections like these: "Buyer beware" (genetically modified foods, aging, and tobacco companies), "Medical follies" (chiropractics, health care, talk therapy), "Poison and bombs in the greenhouse" (pollution, warfare, global warming), "Religion, embryos, and cloning", and "Genes, behavior, and race". We already pay a heavy price for many groups' conscious manipulation of the public's understanding of science, and Junk science arms us with understanding, cutting through the fabric of lies and setting the record straight.