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"Featuring a new Foreword by former Vice President Al Gore Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize ""Important and timely. We ignore this message at our peril.""—Elizabeth Kolbert Merchants of Doubt has been praised—and attacked—around the world, for reasons easy to understand. This book tells, with “brutal clarity” (Huffington Post), the disquieting story of how a loose-knit group of high-level scientists and scientific advisers, with deep connections in politics and industry, ran effective campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific knowledge over four decades. The same individuals who claim the science of global warming is “not settled” have also denied the truth about studies linking smoking to lung cancer, coal smoke to acid rain, and CFCs to the ozone hole. “Doubt is our product,” wrote one tobacco executive. These “experts” supplied it. Merchants of Doubt rolls back the rug on this dark corner of American science. Now with a new Foreword by former Vice President Al Gore, and with a new Postscript by the authors."

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9781608193943

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<p>&#8220;Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway have demonstrated what many of us have long suspected: that the &#8216;debate&#8217; over the climate crisis&#8212;and many other environmental issues&#8212;was manufactured by the same people who brought you &#8216;safe&#8217; cigarettes. &#160;Anyone concerned about the state of democracy in America should read this book.&#8221;<p>&#8212;Former Vice President Al Gore, author of An Inconvenient Truth <p>&#160;<p>&#8220;As the science of global warming has grown more certain over the last two decades, the attack on that science has grown more shrill; this volume helps explain that paradox, and not only for climate change. A fascinating account of a very thorny problem.&#8221;&#8212;Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet <p>&#160;<p>&#8220;Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway have written an important and timely book. Merchants of Doubt should finally put to rest the question of whether the science of climate change is s

<p> Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway have demonstrated what many of us have long suspected: that the 'debate' over the climate crisis--and many other environmental issues--was manufactured by the same people who brought you 'safe' cigarettes. Anyone concerned about the state of democracy in America should read this book. --Former Vice President Al Gore, author of An Inconvenient Truth <p> As the science of global warming has grown more certain over the last two decades, the attack on that science has grown more shrill; this volume helps explain that paradox, and not only for climate change. A fascinating account of a very thorny problem. --Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet <p> Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway have written an important and timely book. Merchants of Doubt should finally put to rest the question of whether the science of climate change is settled. It is, and we ignore this message at our peril. --Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Field Notes f

<p> Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway have demonstrated what many of us have long suspected: that the 'debate' over the climate crisis--and many other environmental issues--was manufactured by the same people who brought you 'safe' cigarettes. Anyone concerned about the state of democracy in America should read this book. --Former Vice President Al Gore, author of An Inconvenient Truth <p> As the science of global warming has grown more certain over the last two decades, the attack on that science has grown more shrill; this volume helps explain that paradox, and not only for climate change. A fascinating account of a very thorny problem. --Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet <p> Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway have written an important and timely book. Merchants of Doubt should finally put to rest the question of whether the science of climate change is settled. It is, and we ignore this message at our peril. --Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change <p> There can be no science without doubt: brute dogma leaves no room for inquiry. But over the last half century, a tiny minority of scientists have wielded doubt as a political weapon to halt what they did not want said: that tobacco kills or that the climate is warming because of what we humans are doing. 'Doubt is our product' read a tobacco memo--and indeed, millions of dollars have gone into creating the impression of scientific controversy where there has not been one. This book about the politics of doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway explores the long, connected, and intentional obfuscation of science by manufactured controversy. It is clear, scientifically responsible, and historically compelling--it is an essential and passionate book about our times. --Peter Galison, Joseph Pellegrino University Professor, Harvard University, author of Einstein's Clocks, Poincare's Maps <p> With the carefulness of historians and the

Author Information

Naomi Oreskes is a professor of the history of science and affiliated professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Harvard University. Her study “Beyond the Ivory Tower,” published in Science in 2004, was a milestone in the fight against global warming denial and was cited by Al Gore in An Inconvenient Truth. Her books include Why Trust Science? and Science on a Mission: How Military Funding Shaped What We Do and Don’t Know about the Ocean. Erik M. Conway has published five previous books, including Atmospheric Science at NASA: A History and Exploration and Engineering: The Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Quest for Mars. Merchants of Doubt was their first book together. In 2014, they published The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future, and they are currently working on The Magic of the Marketplace: The True History of a False Idea.

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