Synopsis

Climate change, the energy crisis, nuclear proliferation-many of the most urgent problems of the twenty-first century require scientific solutions, yet America is paying less and less attention to scientists.

For every five hours of cable news, one minute is devoted to science

46 percent of Americans Believe the earth is less than 10,000 years old

The number of newspapers with science sections has shrunk two-thirds in the last twenty years.

In Unscientific America, journalist and best-selling author Chris Mooney and scientist Sheril Krishenbaum explain how this state of affairs came about, propose a broad array of initiatives to reverse this dangerous trend, and exhort Americans to reintegrate science into public discourse-before it is too late.

Publishers Weekly

Mooney, author of the bestselling The Republican War on Science, and Kirshenbaum, a marine scientist at Duke and former congressional science fellow, argue that the public ruckus caused when astronomers stripped Pluto of its planetary status demonstrates the disconnect between scientists and the general public, who share only a sense of mutual distrust. The authors place the blame for this squarely on both sides, as well as on the media (TV shows that misrepresent medical science and films that portray scientists as evil or nerdy), and plead for an improved level of discourse. But their repeated assertion that science and religion are compatible will not convince anyone who believes otherwise. Mooney showed his ideological colors in The Republican War on Science, and with their attacks on President Bush, he and his coauthor can't be accused of being nonpartisan here, despite their call for less partisan, nonideological debate. Some readers may also balk at paying $25 for a book nearly a third of which consists of notes and documentation. Nevertheless, Mooney and Kirshenbaum make valid arguments that can only help to further the public debate about these important issues. (July)

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Biography

Chris Mooney is the author of The Republican War on Science and Storm World. A Knight fellow in science journalism at MIT, he contributes to many publications, including Mother Jones, Wired, the Boston Globe, and Slate. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Sheril Kirshenbaum is Associate in Research for Ocean and Coastal Policy at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. She lives in Durham, North Carolina.