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The War on Science
Video

The War on Science

PopTech, 2016

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Controversial
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Stephen Hawking’s 1988 book A Brief History of Time described esoteric scientific theories in an enlightening, entertaining way that captured the imaginations of the masses. Molecular radiation biologist Tim Jorgensen believes such a strategy is the only way to bridge the yawning divide between scientists and the general public. getAbstract recommends his anecdotal video to anyone interested in ending the exacerbating “war on science.”

Summary

A “war on science,” whereby scientists battle the public and the media, is intensifying. The truth is suffering, and science deniers are becoming more plentiful. Society blames scientists, whom many accuse of colluding with industry and government. Scientists blame a weak education system, cuts in government funding and the growth of an “anti-intellectual climate.” Yet this war hasn’t always existed. In 1895, while experimenting with a glass apparatus called a Crookes tube, German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen discovered it emitted a ray that could pass through matter. Röntgen published his findings in a scientific journal and in the mainstream media. Within...

About the Speaker

Tim Jorgensen, an associate professor of radiation medicine, is the author of Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation.