Unscientific America on Sale Now
We here at Science Debate are continuing our work to raise the profile of science in the national dialogue. Part of that work is getting the public to think and talk about science in America.
Today
we're announcing a new book to further propel that discussion.
"Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future"
is co-authored by two of our co-founders, Chris Mooney and Sheril
Kirshenbaum, and is now available in stores across the country and online.
And here's the part we like best: the authors have generously agreed to
donate a percentage of royalties from book sales to ScienceDebate.org
-- so let's see if we can push it up into bestseller status! Check it out here.
The book contains, among many other things, a chapter-length account of
the Science Debate initiative during the last campaign season -- read
it to start getting prepped to speak up for science in the next
election! You can find more info about the book below, and at its
website: www.unscientificamerica.com
In
"Unscientific America"—the much anticipated sequel to the bestselling
"The Republican War on Science"—journalist and author Chris Mooney
teams up with scientist Sheril Kirshenbaum to explain how
religious
ideologues, science-phobic politicians, a profit driven media, and
hyperspecialized scientists have all helped create a dangerous state of
affairs—a situation in which we find a vast gap between the world of
science on the one hand, and the American public on the other.
Many of the most significant challenges of the 21st century--such as
climate change, the energy crisis, national economic competitiveness,
global pandemics, and nuclear proliferation--have fundamentally
scientific underpinnings. Yet we live in a culture that rarely takes
science seriously or has it on the radar.
Consider: For every five hours of cable news, less than a minute is
devoted to science; 46 percent of Americans reject evolution and think
the Earth is less than 10,000 years old; the number of newspapers with
weekly science sections has shrunken by two-thirds over the past
several decades. The public is polarized over climate change—an issue
where political party affiliation determines one's view of reality—and
in dangerous retreat from childhood vaccinations. Meanwhile, only 18
percent of Americans have even met a scientist to begin with; more than
half can't name a living scientist role model.
Mooney & Kirshenbaum examine the root causes of these disconnects
in the political arena, in the media, in the entertainment world, and
in American religious life. And they propose a broad array of
initiatives
to reverse the current trend, and bring about a greater integration of science into our national discourse.
Already dubbed a "book to read now" by Seed Magazine, Unscientific
America is a plea for enhanced scientific literacy, and urges those who
care about science’s place in our society to take unprecedented action
to translate science's message--and make it relevant to the media, to
politicians, and to the public in the broadest sense. The
book lays the groundwork for reintegrating science into the public discourse--before it's too late.
"If it were up to me, this book would be required reading for all
undergraduate science majors, along with Sagan’s "The Demon-Haunted
World". Only when we begin training scientists to understand the
relationship between science and society, and their crucial role in
that relationship, will be begin to solve the dilemma so eloquently
described in 'Unscientific America'."
-Michael Mann, RealClimate.org
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2009/07/unscientific-america-a-review/
You can find out much more about Unscientific America at the book's website: www.unscientificamerica.com