| NOT A SCIENTIST How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent, and Utterly Mangle Science Dave Levitan New York: W. W. Norton & Company, April 2017 |
Rating: 5.0 High |
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| ISBN-13 978-0-393-35332-7 | ||||
| ISBN-10 0-393-35332-X | 256pp. | SC/GSI | $15.95 | |
When a politician says, "I'm not a scientist, but," it's generally a disclaimer intended to mask the assertion of some non-science. The whole point of Dave Levitan's book is to present such assertions by contemporary politicians and thoroughly debunk them.
But the archetypical example comes from Ronald Reagan, campaigning in October 1980.
"I have flown twice over Mount St. Helens out on our West Coast. I'm not a scientist and I don't know the figures, but I just have a suspicion that that one little mountain out there has probably released more sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere of the world than has been released in the last 10 years of automobile driving or things of that kind that people are so concerned about." – Ronald Reagan, quoted on Page 1 |
Like many such, this "suspicion" turned out to be wildly wrong. Levitan points out what an EPA representative told the New York Times: Mount St. Helens emitted some 2,000 tons of SO2 per day; the daily output at that time was 81,000 tons for the U.S. and 300,000 tons worldwide. Also, automobiles produce little if any SO2; most of it (73%) comes from fossil-fuel-fired power plants, and about 20% from some factories.
He goes on to give the same treatment to claims including that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks; that marijuana is a gateway drug; and that 2014 was the warmest year ever recorded.1 He addresses false or misleading claims that range widely over science: from dangers of eating genetically engineereed salmon through immigrants carrying leprosy to vaccines causing autism. (Levitan is not out to bash Republicans exclusively.) Claims about climate change, of course, figure prominently.
Levitan's research is thorough; each debunking is done in exhaustive detail. Chapter-by-chapter endnotes are provided, and there is a good index. This book rates full marks, and I consider it a keeper.
Lest there be any doubt: while Democrats do dispense disinformation on occasion, Republican disinformation, on the other hand, spans the scientific spectrum, and is more strident and persistent. Also, their ranks include Republican members of Congress, but I am not aware of any Democratic science disinformers in that body. Speaking on climate change in his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama made a sharp contrast with the practice of Republicans including Ronald Reagan.
"I've heard some folks try to dodge the evidence by saying they're not scientists; that we don't have enough information to act. Well, I'm not a scientist either. But you know what, I know a lot of really good scientists at NASA, and at NOAA, and at our major universities. And the best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we don't act forcefully, we'll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration and conflict and hunger around the globe." – President Barack Obama, quoted on Page 205 |
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