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UNSCIENTIFIC AMERICA

Geplaatst door Roy Meijer
woensdag 08 juli 2009
HOW SCIENTIFIC ILLITERACY THREATENS OUR FUTURE Chris Mooney explains about this new book: I'm a journalist who learned to value science's humbling lessons and penetrating way of thinking at a young age. My biologist grandfather, Gerald Cole, had a powerful influence: "Paw" used to refer to Charles Darwin as "Chuck" and pretend he was sitting right there at the dinner table. I guess you could say that my first book, THE REPUBLICAN WAR ON SCIENCE , took up the family tradition--and helped feed a growing awareness of the ways in which science has been abused in the political realm, thereby jeopardizing our ability to address pressing issues like global warming. Over time, though, I came to see that the problematic status of science in our society sprang from causes far more diverse than the most immediate one (conservative ideologues attacking well-established knowledge) and that the solution required far more than throwing George W. Bush out of the White House. In particular, I began to write and lecture about the need for scientists to communicate their knowledge in ways that non-scientists can understand and relate to. In 2007, I teamed up with Sheril Kirshenbaum, a young marine scientist who, instead of pursuing a Ph.D., had accepted a position on Capitol Hill working with Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) on energy, climate, and ocean policy. First we began to collaborate at the blog "The Intersection" (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/ ); then we helped co-found the ScienceDebate2008 initiative. Meanwhile, through countless discussions about the troubled place of science in our culture, we developed the conviction that a better future is possible, and indeed, that it's the mission of a new generation of scientists and science supporters to realize it. The result is UNSCIENTIFIC AMERICA, the work of a journalist and scientist in collaboration, which lays out the history and present causes of the divide between the world of science and mainstream American culture, and proposes an array of solutions that are (we hope) as unexpected as they are intriguing and necessary. Chris Mooney (NASW member) and Sheril Kirshenbaum Basic Books, July 13, 2009, $24 ISBN: 9780465013050 www.unscientificamerica.com Contact info: Author: Chris Mooney, Dit e-mail adres is beschermd door spambots, u heeft Javascript nodig om dit onderdeel te kunnen bekijken
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