The War On Science
“Wherever the people are well informed,” Thomas Jefferson wrote, “they can be trusted with their own government.” But what happens when they are not? In every issue of modern society—from climate change to vaccinations, transportation to technology, health care to defense—we are in the midst of an unprecedented expansion of scientific progress and a simultaneous expansion of danger.
At the very time we need them most, scientists and the idea of objective knowledge are being bombarded by a vast, well-funded, three-part war on science. The result is an unprecedented erosion of thought in Western democracies as voters, policymakers, and justices actively ignore the evidence from science, leaving major policy decisions to be based on the demands of the most strident voices. Shawn Otto’s provocative book investigates the historical, social, philosophical, political, and emotional reasons for why and how evidence-based politics are in decline and authoritarian politics are once again on the rise, and offers a vision, an argument, and compelling solutions to bring us to our collective senses, before it’s too late.
Presented in partnership with the Wisconsin Science Festival.
Shawn Otto
Shawn Otto is an award-winning science advocate, writer, educator, and speaker. He is the author of The War On Science: Who’s Waging It, Why It Matters, What We Can Do About It. He is the cofounder ScienceDebate.org and the producer of the first US Presidential Science Debates, for which he received the IEEE-USA’s National Distinguished Public Service Award, and has advised science debate efforts in several countries. Otto is also a novelist and filmmaker. His first novel, Sins of Our Fathers, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and his film House of Sand and Fog was nominated for three Academy Awards. He lives in Minnesota with his wife, Rebecca Otto, in a wind-powered, green, solar home he designed and built with his own hands.