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Addresses the question of how to assess the risks and benefits of scientific advance through three topics: climate change, genetic engineering and toxic chemicals. It advises a cautious approach in applying scientific knowledge as we try to improve the world around us.

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9780500280737

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An attack on the medical-industrial complex by a British environmentalist who was the director of Friends of the Earth from 1984 to 1990.Porritts voice tends to extremesfrom jeremiads of doom to hymns in praise of Gaia (the earth goddess). Chernobyl, mad cow disease, toxic waste dumps, and antibiotic-resistant microbes are glaring examples of environmental disasters that result from neglect, duplicity, foolhardiness, and arrogance. Porritt condemns the kind of agricultural monoculturism that has led to the abuse of pesticides, and he points out that the same danger is posed by inducing pest resistance through the genetic modification of plants. He is equally concerned about the use of growth hormones and antibiotics in plants and animals. In general, Porritt tends to fault contemporary science as reductionist and value-free, and he worries that most geneticists espouse a doctrinaire and highly pernicious brand of genetic determinism. His arguments are not fully convincing, however. While he is correct in pointing out that humans are carrying some load of toxic chemicals that may contribute to cancer, he makes no mention of the particular lifestyle choices (i.e., tobacco use, alcohol abuse, and poor diets) that may be even more important contributing factors. He considers the global-warming argument (that climate changes are being brought on through the use of fossil fuels and the waste of resources), but he has little to say about population growth and the theory that it may be the ultimate destroyer of species and the planets largesse. In this context, the issue of sustainability seems all but a lost cause.For the most part, Porritt views science as arrogant, lacking in compassion, not open to public participation or scrutiny, and far from holistic. Leaving aside what scientists themselves might say in response, one wonders whether such accusations will do any good in the end. (Kirkus Reviews)

Porritt's credentials as a committed protector of the environment are beyond question, and for 25 years he has been in the vanguard of campaigns to protect our world against the despoilers. This concise and persuasive handbook lays out the arguments against untrammelled scientific experiment and deals with everything from toxic shocks and climate science to the genetics revolutions and the science of sustainability. If the book's jacket is a touch ingenuous in suggesting that this is a handbook to encourage concerned citizens to come to their own conclusions rather than depending on science, there's little sense here of twisting the facts to make a particular point, and the general reader will feel that they have been presented with all sides of the argument. A book that should be read both by those who would espouse science at all costs, and by those who harbour an uninformed view of the tremendous possibilities (and dangers) lying in wait for us as the new millennium begins. (Kirkus UK)

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