As the role of science and technology in everyday life grows more pervasive and more complex, it becomes more difficult for a scientifically "illiterate" public to make informed judgments. Zimmerman takes on a range of falsifiers, disinformation specialists, and charlatans to provide the background needed to evaluate environmental and other issues that are in the news and affecting our lives. His topics include scientific illiteracy from "creation science" to graphology; the role of government in the scientific process; claims about pesticides and additives in food; global environmental problems; and the myth of the technological fix. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
""Zimmerman argues that Americans are so ignorant of basic scientific principles that they are easy prey for 'cynical disinformation campaigns'... He shows that you don't need a Ph.D. to avoid being deceived; you just need to combine the skepticism of a scientist with the common sense of an informed and intelligent citizen." -- Philadelphia Inquirer
""The book merits a wide readership among people who are concerned about the vaildity and integrety of scientific opinion in government, education, and among the general public. In political debate, many people appear to have difficulty knowing who or what to believe and why. This book could help readers understand that science is not merely a collection of facts and theories but rather a way of reasoning, and ability to appreciate the weight of evidence, and a means of separating the demonstrably false from the probably true." -- Environment
""In a highly readable and comprehensive fashion, the text succeeds in warning readers of the dangers of scientific illiteracy, in demonstrating the process of critical inquiry and in introducing a range of environmental issues in light of the larger discussion of the nature of scientific thought; it debunks the 'myth of the technological fix,' and it reveals the role of creativity, wonder, and a sense of responsibility in the scientific analysis of our environmental problems." -- American Scientist
""Zimmerman's mission is to promote scientific literacy, and so enable us to make decisions not based on 'superstitious drivel'... [He] makes the point well that scientific literacy is essential if ordinary citizens are to take part in decisions that affect their lives." -- New Scientist
""Zimmerman's account of [the battle between creationists and Darwinian evolutionists] is fascinating and at times frightening." -- Nature
