July 28, 2008 - 11:28pm
Seth Shulman
Undermining Science:
Suppression and Distortion in the Bush Administration
The Scientific Method follows at least these several steps:
1. Observe and describe a phenomenon or several related phenomena.
2. Formulate a hypothesis that can be confirmed or falsified.
3. Test your hypothesis in the real world.
4. Analyze your data.
5. Formulate your conclusion based on the above experiments.
6. Report your findings accurately.
Reading Shulman's book (Undermining Science) is almost a step by step analysis of the ways in which the US Administration has violated each of the above steps in its obsession to undermine science in the service of a-priori beliefs about public policy. Not only has the administration used spin doctors to sell a war, they have also treated science as an unnecessary irritant whenever it arrived at conclusions that did not agree with the official position. By placing non-scientists in positions of power the Bush administration has been able to suppress facts, to remove critics from advisory councils, and simply to pay no attention to the facts in case after case of public policy. This book is a record of those suppressions, distortions, and interferences.
For more, check out:
http://records.viu.ca/www/ipp/reviews.htm
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