Why Trust Science?

by Naomi Oreskes, Stephen Macedo, Ottmar Edenhofer, Jon Krosnick, Marc Lange Narrated by John Chancer, Kelly Burke, Kerry Shale, Nancy Crane, Richard Lyddon, Chris Ragland

Overview

Why the social character of scientific knowledge makes it trustworthy

Do doctors really know what they are talking about when they tell us vaccines are safe? Should we take climate experts at their word when they warn us about the perils of global warming? Why should we trust science when our own politicians don't? In this landmark book, Naomi Oreskes offers a bold and compelling defense of science, revealing why the social character of scientific knowledge is its greatest strength-and the greatest reason we can trust it.

Tracing the history and philosophy of science from the late nineteenth century to today, Oreskes explains that, contrary to popular belief, there is no single scientific method. Rather, the trustworthiness of scientific claims derives from the social process by which they are rigorously vetted. This process is not perfect-nothing ever is when humans are involved-but she draws vital lessons from cases where scientists got it wrong. Oreskes shows how consensus is a crucial indicator of when a scientific matter has been settled, and when the knowledge produced is likely to be trustworthy.

Based on the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at Princeton University, this timely and provocative book features critical responses by climate experts Ottmar Edenhofer and Martin Kowarsch, political scientist Jon Krosnick, philosopher of science Marc Lange, and science historian Susan Lindee, as well as a foreword by political theorist Stephen Macedo.

Editorial Reviews

New Scientist

"Naomi Oreskes challenges easy answers."

From the Publisher

"New Zealand Listener's Best Book of 2019"

One of FiveBooks' Best Climate Books of 2019

New Scientist

"Naomi Oreskes challenges easy answers."

Kirkus Reviews

2019-07-28
A scholarly evaluation of arguments in favor of science.

Although she has not written a polemic but rather a philosophical examination of ideas, Oreskes (History of Science, Earth and Planetary Sciences/Harvard Univ.; co-author: The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View From the Future, 2014) addresses a topic. In his introduction to this book, based on the 2016 Princeton University Tanner Lectures on Human Values, Princeton professor of politics Stephen Macedo writes that she "defends the role of values in science, discusses the relationship between science and religion, and sets out her own credo as a scientist and defender of science." Following the introduction, the text contains commentaries from four colleagues and concludes with Oreskes' replies. Proofs are limited to mathematics. No scientific statement can be proven, and even Nobel Prize winners have changed their minds, so Oreskes joins a distinguished line of thinkers who explain why we should trust the findings of the scientific community, many of which people reject if they "clash with their economic or cherished beliefs." After ruling out the major philosophical approaches to its authority—empiricism, induction, fallibilism, etc.—Oreskes concludes that good science is a collective enterprise whose objectivity arises from the social practices of peer review, criticism, and correction. She emphasizes that on most hot-button science-denial issues—e.g., evolution, vaccine safety, climate change—"there is a scientific consensus. What is lacking is cultural acceptance by parties who have found a way to challenge the science." Thus, reversing climate change will require government regulation and interference in the free market, which is anathema to conservatives, who respond by questioning the science. Unfortunately, it also means that additional scientific evidence is unlikely to win them over. In this convincing yet often dense argument, Oreskes clearly reminds readers that science has consistently brought home the bacon.

Not for general readers but interesting debate fodder for the scientifically inclined.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173480989
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	10/22/2019
Series:	The University Center for Human Values Series
Edition description:	Unabridged

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