The Scientific Attitude Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience

Attacks on science have become commonplace. Claims that climate change isn't settled science, that evolution is "only a theory," and that scientists are conspiring to keep the truth about vaccines from the public are staples of some politicians' rhetorical repertoire. In this book, Lee McIntyre argues that what distinguishes science from its rivals is what he calls "the scientific attitude"-caring about evidence and being willing to change theories on the basis of new evidence. The history of science is littered with theories that were scientific but turned out to be wrong; the scientific attitude reveals why even a failed theory can help us to understand what is special about science. He describes the transformation of medicine from a practice based largely on hunches into a science based on evidence; considers scientific fraud; and examines the positions of ideology-driven denialists, pseudoscientists, and "skeptics" who reject scientific findings. The scientific attitude, McIntyre explains, offers a uniquely powerful tool in the defense of science. Book jacket.