I’ve never published a book, but I suspect publishers consider timing a pretty important factor. When a non-fiction book hits shelves, it should not only have broad appeal, its subject matter should be relevant and pertinent to current events.
I mention this because I received an advance copy of Chris Mooney’s The Republican War on Science a couple of weeks ago, and ever since, I’ve been marveling not only at Chris’ incredibly good book, but at his timing.
I heard from Chris about a month ago. Since then, three of the nation’s most important Republicans (Bush, Bill First, and John McCain) have publicly embraced intelligent-design creationism, the Bush administration has ignored objective reports and drafted regulations that would ease pollution controls, University of California admissions officials have been sued for rejecting students who’ve received inadequate science education, Plan B emergency contraceptives have been shelved as administration officials put the concerns of religious conservatives above all else, there have been fascinating breakthroughs in stem-cell and genetic-mapping research, the debate over global warming and its effects on weather patterns has been renewed in earnest, and voluminous studies and reports offering dire warnings about the effects of a major storm on the Gulf Coast — all of which were ignored by administration officials — have become front-page news.
For a book highlighting the unfortunate intersection of politics and science, this must-read book is hitting bookstores at exactly the right time.
I’m delighted because this book is a gem. There have been a few seminal moments on this issue — the Union of Concerned Scientists’ report, which included the concerns of over 60 leading scientists and 20 Nobel laureates, all of whom were protesting the Bush White House’s politicization of science, stands out — but the publication of The Republican War on Science is just as significant. Mooney has done more than just write a great book; he’s done the political world a favor by exposing a critical problem that doesn’t generate the attention it deserves.
The book exposes the players, the money, the agendas, and the lawmakers who do their bidding.
It might be tempting to believe that this is a specialized area of interest with little practical applicability outside the scientific community. Nonsense. One of the benefits of the book is highlighting just how relevant this fight over the quality and credibility of science is to the political world right now. Stem-cell research, missile defense, abortion, global warming, evolutionary biology, abstinence-only education, clean air and water — all of these issues are front-page concerns and all of them are being shaped by the Republican crusade to misuse science.
The point that the book hammers home, however, has less to do with the individual issues and more to do with the broader relationship between science, policy, and the public trust.
[W]e have seen a convergence of multiple trends that have all triggered increasing science politicization: the rise of conservative think tanks; dogged attempts to industry groups to fine new means of battling over the scientific basis of regulations, rather regulations themselves; and a growing tendency among religious conservatives to find a “scientific” argument on each moral question of interest to them. All of these developments have merged under the Bush administration, which has shown strong sympathies with both industry groups and social conservatives even as both groups (and the think tanks that provide their intellectual firepower) have increasingly turned to using, or rather abusing, science to their own advantage. Considered this way, Bush administration abuses and distortions of science come to look more and more like large-scale political strategy. […]
This approach flagrantly undermines the proper role of science in government: as a valuable resource to inform decision making. When politicians use bad science to justify themselves, rather than good science to make up their minds, we can safely assume that wrongheaded and even disastrous decisions lie ahead.
And if the public can’t rely on those decisions, the significance of the Republican war on science will have vast and lasting implications for everyone.