Making Sense of Science: Separating Substance from Spin

Dean, Cornelia

ISBN 10: 0674059697 / ISBN 13: 9780674059696

Editore: Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press, 2017

Codice articolo 0674059697-3-26257409

Riassunto:

Im not a scientist is a familiar refrain among people asked to evaluate scientific claims they feel are beyond their ken. Most citizens learn about science from media coverage, and even the most conscientious reporters sometimes struggle to offer a clear, unbiased explanation to readers. Politicians, activists, business spokespersons, and religious leaders with their own agendas to pursue also influence the way science is reported and discussed. Meanwhile, anyone seeking factual information on climate change, vaccine safety, risk of terrorist attack, or other topics in the news must sift through an avalanche of bogus assertions and self-interested spin.

Making Sense of Science seeks to equip nonscientists with a set of critical tools to evaluate the scientific claims and controversies that shape our lives. Cornelia Dean draws on thirty years of experience as a science journalist with the New York Times to expose the flawed reasoning and knowledge gaps that handicap readers with little background in science. Shortcomings in K12 education are partly to blame, but so too is the publics indifference to the way science is done and communicated. Dean shows how venues such as courtrooms and talk shows become fonts of scientific misinformation. She also calls attention to the conflicts of interest that color scientific research, as well as the price society pays when science journalism declines and government funding for research dries up.

Timely and provocative, Making Sense of Science warns us all that we can no longer afford to make a virtue of our collective scientific ignorance.

Recensione: Current and future scientists and journalists, as well as advocates for science, will appreciate Dean's effort to combat scientific illiteracy. --Nancy R. Curtis"Library Journal" (02/24/2017)

As Cornelia Dean states succinctly in this well-written book, we live in a world where 'researchers gather data; politicians, business executives, or activists spin it; journalists misinterpret or hype it, and the rest of us don't get it". [...] Dean deftly sketches how our ability to cut to the scientific truth is hampered [...] Dean puts it with admirable succinctness: 'for an idea to be scientific it myst have the capacity to be incorrect'. [...] This engaging book offers non-scientists the tools to connect with and evaluate science, and for scientists it is a timely call to action for effective communication. --Times Higher Education

Dati bibliografici

Titolo: Making Sense of Science: Separating ...
Casa editrice: Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press
Data di pubblicazione: 2017
Legatura: Hardcover
Condizione: Good