Reminder: We'll have a final video chat to discuss this book next Thursday evening (8/3 9pm EDT). For those just joining us, I've spent the past few weeks blogging through Shawn Otto's The War on Science, share my reactions and thoughts a couple of chapters at a time (Ch 1-2, Ch 3-4, Ch 5-6, Ch 7-8, Ch 9-10, Ch 11-13). I thought a useful way to cap that discussion would be to review and reflect on the book as a whole. Overall, I thought the book contained a lot of useful information and was admirable in its attempt … [Read more...] about Science Book Review: The War on Science
shawn otto
Science Book Club: The War on Science Ch 11-13
Announcement: I'm proposing one final video chat in a couple of weeks (8/3 9pm EDT). That gives everyone a chance to catch up. This is our sixth and penultimate week reading through The War on Science; next week I'll review the book as a whole. We're covering the last three chapters this week; the last chapter is too brief for its own post. (Previous posts: Ch 1-2, Ch 3-4, Ch 5-6, Ch 7-8, Ch 9-10) This is the "what then shall we do?" section. As with the rest of the book, it is sweeping and ambitious in scope. The … [Read more...] about Science Book Club: The War on Science Ch 11-13
Science Book Club: The War on Science Ch 9-10
Reminder: we're having another video chat tomorrow night (7/13 9pm EDT). Feel free to join even if you couldn't come last time. We're in week 5 of discussing The War on Science and I have a confession/apology. I'm reading the book electronically and the table of contents has no page numbers, so I didn't realize this week's chapters were significantly longer than the others (Ch 1-2, Ch 3-4, Ch 5-6, Ch 7-8); Chapter 10 alone is nearly a quarter of the main content. In hindsight, it feels as though Otto primarily wanted … [Read more...] about Science Book Club: The War on Science Ch 9-10
Science Book Club: The War on Science Ch 7-8
Thanks to everyone who attended the video chat last week. It went so well, we'll be doing it again next week (7/13 9pm EDT). Feel free to join even if you couldn't come last week. And I'd particularly love to hear from philosophers and other humanities scholars who can comment on the postmodernism discussion. Welcome to week 4 of discussing The War on Science. If you're just joining, feel free to dive in or catch up with the previous chapters (Ch 1-2, Ch 3-4, Ch 5-6). Chapter 7 is ostensibly the conclusion of the … [Read more...] about Science Book Club: The War on Science Ch 7-8
Science Book Club: The War on Science Ch 5-6
Announcement: We'll be having a Google chat at 9pm EDT tomorrow (Thu 6/29); please consider joining! (Chat link) We're on week 3 of discussing The War on Science. If you're just joining, feel free to dive in or catch up with the previous chapters (Ch 1-2, Ch 3-4). Author Shawn Otto continues his summary of United States history contributing to the present dynamics of public science discourse. Chapters 5 and 6 cover World War II to the present, right up to tweets from pre-candidacy Donald Trump, with particular … [Read more...] about Science Book Club: The War on Science Ch 5-6