The Deniers: The World Renowned Scientists Who Stood Up Against Global Warming Hysteria,...

The Deniers: The World Renowned Scientists Who Stood Up Against Global Warming Hysteria, Political ... | Lawrence Solomon | Remarkable expose' of a major smear

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The Deniers: The W...

	The Deniers: The World Renowned Scientists Who Stood Up Against Global Warming Hysteria, Political ... Lawrence Solomon Richard Vigilante Books, 2008 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 50 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Science is the key

I found this book to be a very quick read, easily finishing the book in two cross country plane rides. This is true despite the fact that there were many occasions to re-read certain passages and credentials pertaining to the level of accomplishment of the scientists that are profiled within. The author painstakingly documents every important credential of the scientists and mathematicians whose work is the subject of this book and getting through all of this can be a bit of a slog for a layman. Other than credentials this book was easy for me to read and the subject matter was presented in a logical order that told a story of sorts. Each chapter of the book was originally presented as a separate newspaper column but the writing hung together for me throughout the book.

As a lifelong environmentalist, protector of wildlife and outdoor enthusiast, almost nothing is more important to me than the health of our planet. This book lays bare the horrible damage being done today by the Al Gore inspired, UN led effort to stifle scientific discovery across dozens of critical fields of study. We are living through a new, "Spanish Inquisition", and those being burned at the stake are the top scientific minds alive today. This book should be required reading in every political science class in America today, even though the subject is science. Anyone that truly cares about the future of our planet and about the generations to come should read this book.

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Remarkable expose' of a major smear

Step by step, Lawrence Soloman examines the case made by the "Man-Made Global Warming crowd" which has been thrust upon the worldwide scientific community and the public of the Western World in particular. Soloman is no right winger and certainly shows no loyalty to any business interest cause. He lays out every claim of evidence used by the likes of Al Gore, and the UN's IPCC then assembles the opinions of world renowned experts in every field imaginable to challenge the so called "settled" science of man made global warming. Solomon shows us how these renowned dissenting scientists have been branded as "Qwacks" by by the Global Warming fanatics. Afterward I could not help but feel skeptical of the motives of these alarmist promoters of man made global warming. The book is a shocking indictment of the mechanism which funds basic scientific research in the US and elsewhere. I found it to be a remarkable book, one that should be required reading in high school science classes & political science classes if for no other reason than to promote critical thinking! Read this book!!

Don C
Highlands Ranch, CO

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A look from the counter-AlBore angle

I found this book a good counter argument to the "consensus view". Mr. Solomon provides a good list of authorative scientists and their work to counteract this charlatan religion.
The book provides a reasonable doubt to the most prevalent theories of AGW.
Whether you are a part of the cult of believers or the cult of deniers this is a most read.

EXCELLENT OVERVIEW, THOUGHT PROVOKING

I bought this book after reading a number of online installments of Solomon's series in the National Post. This book repeats most of that series. Taken together, they give a useful (but not exhaustive by any means) survey of the informed dissent that exists on the question of global climate change.

Solomon's writing is clear and crisp, and I do not detect any sort of agenda at work that would introduce a serious bias. It's true, as one reviewer noted, that Solomon has been a longtime opponent of nuclear energy, and this doubtless colors his outlook. The crucial point on this for me is that regardless of whether nuclear technology at the present technological level is safe or not, opposing it in the 70s and 80s on various technical and ecological grounds was by no means an unprincipled or ignorant stance. My own father was an antinuclear activist, and though I've changed my views on that topic, I respect those who have not.

Solomon touches on some important points regarding the philosophy of science, which to me is ultimately the most interesting aspect of this whole controversy. He acknowledges forthrightly that to some degree, all of our scientific understanding is necessarily based on authority. There's no such thing as pure empiricism, other than possibly as an ideal. His discussion of Karl Popper's theories is a helpful reminder of the fact that knowledge, whatever else it is, has a strong social component--that is, our beliefs are and must be to a large extent socially conditioned.

When I was in graduate school in the 90s there was a lot of discussion about "structuralism" "post-structuralism" and the postmodern critique of scientific objectivity. I found the debates sometimes inspiring, sometimes frustrating, and upsetting. But at least some major epistemological questions were being asked. For various reasons--mostly social and political, I believe--there has been in the last decade a big shift toward what might be called "fundamentalism." By that, I mean there seems to be an easy willingness and even eagerness to embrace an absolutist stance about certain conclusions, and to condemn and exclude dissenters from the consensus as heretics. I personally don't think the level of vitriol against AGW "deniers" can be adequately explained without a broader look at the evolution of intellectual history in the West and the deep underlying currents of thought that have come to the fore of recent. In another generation or two, the current global warming hype, I think, is going to be fodder for a lot of good Ph.D. dissertations on the impact of worldview on scientific belief.

I'll close with one more thought I've had since reading this book. The current dismissal and defamation of global warming "deniers" has a relatively recent precedent. As recently as five years ago, people who questioned the reality of Saddam Hussein's threat to global security, and cast doubt on the wisdom of invading Iraq to alleviate that threat, were often subject to a great deal of vilification. There was a "consensus" and to folks like Dick Cheney, questioning that consensus was irresponsible if not treasonous. It seems to me that Al Gore may be to Global Warming what Dick Cheney was to Weapons of Mass Destruction. Just a thought.

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Great balance from the other side of the story

As a fellow scientist with extensive statistical training & experience in multi-variable analysis, I have always questioned the certainty that the UN, Gore & others have expressed on manmade climate change. This book provides a healthy counterbalance to Gore, the UN, etc.; one that I appreciate. Scientific doubt is equally important to scientific certainty when there is conflicting data that does not support a theory.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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