Why Trust Science? Read online

  evolution, 222; Big Bang theory and, 190; Darwin and, 31, 70, 79, 89–90, 167, 270n33, 274n97; Dawkins and, 70; empiricism and, 31, 71; epistemologies and, 167, 174–75, 180; eugenics and, 89–90, 92, 103; extended evolutionary synthesis (EES) and, 60, 146; Gallup Poll on, 190; Gould and, 91, 215; human dignity and, 8; Huxley and, 97, 274n97; Kuhn and, 10, 39–41; meaning of life and, 149; moral issues and, 8, 148–49, 167, 215; natural selection and, 16, 89; Pascal’s Wager and, 197; present and future of science and, 206; reliable knowledge and, 6, 129, 206; religion and, 70, 149, 155, 167, 197, 217–18; Station for Experimental Evolution and, 92, 272n71; survival of fittest and, 78, 89; traditionalists and, 59; values and, 148–49

  experience, 265n117, 266n130; brain functions and, 205; Comte and, 64; cumulative, 198; dental floss and, 124–25; depression and, 5–6, 104–7, 110, 112, 114; empiricism and, 26, 30, 38; epistemologies and, 50–51, 169, 172–80; eugenics and, 96; experts and, 131–32, 173, 278n183; James and, 72; observation and, 26, 40, 64, 72, 125, 134, 178, 246; policy assessments and, 198; present and future of science and, 204, 206; reason and, 182; reliable knowledge and, 131–34; science studies and, 40; skepticism and, 183; verification through, 26

  experiments: canceled errors and, 220; Comte and, 64; confirmation and, 33–35, 103, 219, 233; controlled, 291n41; Duhem and, 34, 37, 260n45, 261n56, 261n58; empiricism and, 26, 33–39; ensuring desired results of, 11; epistemologies and, 53, 174; eugenics and, 92, 103; fabricated data and, 11; Harvard Case Studies in Experimental Science and, 39; incremental learning and, 10; industry influence and, 291n41; laws and, 34, 260n45; Limited Energy Theory and, 80; observation and, 26, 34, 64, 187, 234, 261n58; policy assessments and, 198; replication of, 11–12, 205–8, 211, 228, 232, 236, 239, 242–43, 290n23; speed of light and, 34; Stanford prison, 204, 231–32, 290n23; Station for Experimental Evolution and, 272n71; use of technology and, 219

  experts, 272n62; blanket trust and, 255; climate change and, 1; community of, 4, 7, 13, 58, 60–61, 128, 130, 142–43, 173, 243, 259n33, 260n39, 266n136, 267n3, 275n109; conflict of interest and, 65; consensus and, 4, 6–7, 12–13, 129, 141–43, 149, 192, 222–23, 234, 249, 275n109; corrupt practices and, 243; credentials and, 131–32, 221–22, 247; democracy and, 6; diversity and, 4, 7, 13, 132, 246; empiricism and, 267n3; endorsements and, 182; epistemologies and, 56–58, 171, 173, 177; eugenics and, 88, 275n109; evidence and, 6, 63, 65, 131, 142, 221, 246, 263n88, 267n3, 270n40; exclusive domains of, 60–61; experience and, 131–32, 173, 278n183; indigenous, 61–62, 265n124; informed trust and, 60–61; knowledge traditions and, 63; lay people and, 61–62, 132, 223, 267n3, 279n192; objectivity and, 4; Pascal’s Wager and, 141–43; peer review and, 7, 9, 182, 221, 247, 266n136; policy assessments and, 192–96, 200, 224; and present and future of science, 202; reaching outside domain of, 4, 60–61, 131, 222, 263n88, 278n183; reliable knowledge and, 128–32; reproduction of authority and, 278n179; social authority and, 71; society’s need for, 247; statistical clusters and, 281n14; values and, 149; vicious circularity of, 9, 12, 182, 221–22

  extended evolutionary synthesis (EES), 60, 146, 265n113

  extrasensory perception (ESP), 203, 231

  Fabri, Honoré, 187–89

  Facing Up (Weinberg), 269n19

  facsimile science, 240–41, 292n49

  faith, 36, 56, 66, 68, 168, 178, 183

  fake news, 245

  fallibilism, 3

  falsehoods: alternative facts and, 245; birth control data and, 115, 140; circularity and, 9, 181–82, 185, 221–22; critical positivity ratio and, 234–35; disinformation and, 62, 67, 218, 240, 245, 268n13; empiricism and, 24–27, 37; evidence and, 7, 37, 46, 70, 115, 124, 142, 153; fake news and, 245; fraud and, 13, 231, 235–36, 240, 290n21, 291n37; Ioannidis paper on, 207; James and, 72; journals and, 204–6, 293n55; misinformation and, 1, 65–67, 129, 142, 281n3, 289n7, 290n26; observation and, 24, 27; Pascal’s Wager and, 142; p-hacking and, 207, 229; and present and future of science, 207, 209–10; rejection of, 181; replication issues and, 11–13, 205–8, 211, 228, 232, 236, 239, 289n17, 290n23; retractions and, 12–13, 203, 206, 228–29, 233–37, 247, 291n37, 292n43; science studies and, 44–47; values and, 152–53, 156–58, 282n23

  falsifiability, 3, 26

  Fang, Ferric C., 235

  fascism, 167–68

  Fausto-Sterling, Anne, 263n89

  feeblemindedness, 87–88, 93, 272n75

  feminism: birth control and, 109; epistemologies and, 49–51, 54–55, 175–76; eugenics and, 273n78; Haraway and, 175, 263n89; Harding and, 50–54, 144, 263n89, 263n91, 264n92; inclusion and, 14, 51, 59; Limited Energy Theory and, 5, 7, 76–80, 89, 95, 128, 136, 249, 264n97, 270n40, 273n78; Longino and, 4, 31, 50–55, 57, 247, 259n33, 263n89, 264n100; objectivity and, 175–76; ontological relativism and, 263n89; philosophy and, 4, 31, 50–54–55, 57, 144, 247, 259n33, 263n89, 263n91, 264n92, 264n100; rational science and, 279n192; reliable knowledge and, 136; social epistemology and, 49–51, 54–55

  fertility, 5, 76–77, 135

  Festinger, Leon, 204

  fetishism, 6–7, 134, 139, 250

  Feyerabend, Paul, 46–48, 51

  First Immune, 243

  Fleck, Ludwik, 3, 28–32, 39–41, 260n39, 261n69

  fluoridation, 70

  food, 66, 73, 121, 180, 195, 219, 251, 274n97

  fossil fuels. See petroleum industry

  Foucault, Léon, 34–35

  Framatone, 241

  fraud, 13, 231, 235–36, 240, 290n21, 291n37

  free market, 1, 149

  Friedman, Harris, 234

  funding, 106; competition for, 280n205, 292n46; extended evolutionary synthesis (EES) and, 60; full disclosure of, 243, 269n14; government, 168, 173, 282n23; industry, 13, 66, 73, 213, 239, 266n133, 292n44; present and future of science and, 202, 208, 210; publication rates and, 240

  Galileo, 10, 31, 187–89, 223, 286n12

  Galton, Francis, 89–91, 96, 98

  Garber, Marjorie, 131

  GcMAF, 243

  Genesis, Bible book of, 158

  Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, The (Fleck), 29

  Geneticists’ Manifesto (Muller), 98–100, 146

  genetics, 99, 165, 180, 206

  Gibbs, J. Willard, 260n40

  Gilbert, Scott, 263n89

  gingivitis, 121–23, 126, 134

  global warming, 1, 229–30, 293n3

  God: Creation and, 8, 16–17, 156, 158; creationism and, 16–17, 148, 158; deepening appreciation for, 152; end times and, 282n26; existence of, 197; glory of, 158; materialism and, 167; moral issues and, 167; Pascal’s Wager and, 197; Pope Francis and, 64; Pope Pius XI and, 273n78; theology and, 20–21, 70, 150, 228, 287n6; values and, 148, 152, 156, 158

  Goethe, 258n12

  Gondwana, 87

  Goonatilake, Susantha, 62

  Gould, Stephen Jay, 91, 215

  Grant, Madison, 91–92

  Great Barrier Reef, 155–56

  greenhouse gases, 1, 15, 65, 134, 230

  Gross, Paul, 51, 54, 263n91

  Group on Best Practices in Science (BPS), 202, 206

  Guerlac, Henry, 169

  gum disease, 119, 125

  Guterres, António, 17

  gynecologists, 111, 128, 250

  Haber, Fritz, 166

  Haldane, J.B.S., 97–98, 138, 274n92

  Hall, G. Stanley, 80

  Haraway, Donna, 175, 263n89

  Hardie, Jeremy, 126

  Harding, Sandra, 50–54, 144, 263n89, 263n91, 264n92

  Harvard Case Histories in Experimental Science, 39

  Haydn, Joseph, 158

  heart disease, 65, 123, 250–51

  Hedgehog Review, 129

  Heilbron, John, 151

  Hempel, Carl, 25

  Hereditary Genius (Galton), 90

  heredity, 90, 92, 94, 96–98, 100, 103, 218

  Higher Superstitions: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science (Gross and Levitt), 54, 263n91

  Hill, Austin Bradford, 234

/>   History of Science Society, 169

  Hitler, Adolf, 88, 92

  HIV-AIDS, 64, 71, 146, 266n130, 275n113

  hoaxes, 119, 245, 291n37, 293n3, 293n55

  Hofstadter, Richard, 86, 165

  holism, 35, 38

  Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr., 88, 92

  Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr., 78

  honor societies, 19

  House Committee on Un-American Activities, 171

  Hubbard, Ruth, 263n89

  Hujoel, Philippe, 123

  Hume, David, 22, 25, 182

  humility, 6–7, 36, 127, 138–39

  Huxley, Julian, 97, 274n92, 274n97

  hypotheses, 280n205; AIDS and, 146; birth control and, 116; continental drift and, 82–86; empiricism and, 26, 33–36; epistemologies and, 55, 185; induction and, 182–83; null, 115–16, 211; observation and, 25, 83, 86; policy assessments and, 195–99; science studies and, 46; tests and, 25, 33–35, 84, 203, 253

  Iafolla, Tim, 118

  ICBMs, 169

  immigrants, 89–97, 273n85

  incommensurability, 10, 40–41, 43, 186, 190

  indigenous experts, 61–62, 265n124

  induction: continental drift and, 250; Hume and, 25, 182; hypotheses and, 182–83; observation and, 25–27, 34, 83, 185; philosophy and, 25–27, 34, 74, 82–84, 182, 185, 190

  industry funding, 13, 66, 73, 208, 210, 239, 266n133, 292n44

  informed trust, 4, 60

  Inglis, Bob, 155–56

  Inhofe, James, 293n3

  intelligence, 90, 96–97, 100–101, 273n78

  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 17, 59, 194, 225–26, 287n3

  Investigation vs. Propagandism (Chamberlin), 85

  Ioannidis, John, 207

  IQ tests, 96–97

  Jacobi, Mary Putnam, 5, 79–80, 136, 249

  James, William, 72

  Jasanoff, Sheila, 70, 267n3

  Jennings, Herbert Spencer, 102–4, 274n99

  Jews, 91, 96, 156–57

  Johnson-Read Immigration Restriction Act, 91

  journals: bad research and, 11, 240–41; bias and, 209, 235, 263n91; conservative, 263n91; dental floss and, 119; empiricism and, 32; English-language, 240; epistemologies and, 58; ESP and, 203; eugenics and, 275n109; everyday trust and, 169; experts and, 220–21, 247, 266n136; extended evolutionary synthesis (EES) and, 60; fake academia and, 243; false papers in, 203–7, 231, 237, 293n55; for-profit, 240; peer review and, 3, 7, 9, 32, 53, 58, 66, 75, 130–31, 140, 145–46, 182, 221, 237, 240–41, 247, 252, 266n136, 293n55; reliable knowledge and, 131–33, 136; replication issues and, 204–7, 228, 242–43, 290n23; retractions and, 203, 206, 228, 235, 237–38, 247, 291n37, 292n43; system values and, 209

  Jussim, Lee, 202

  Kahneman, Daniel, 203

  Keller, Evelyn Fox, 263n89

  Kevles, Daniel, 94, 273n80, 273n85

  Knorr-Cetina, Karin, 45

  Korean War, 170

  Kowarsch, Martin, 10–12, 191–201, 223–28

  Kranzberg, Melvin, 169

  Krosnick, Jon, 73, 134; evidence and, 204, 209–10, 227–33, 236–38; Group on Best Practices in Science (BPS) and, 202, 206; Oreskes and, 202, 211, 228–44, 267n106; and present and future of science, 202–11; psychology and, 11, 203–5, 208, 232–34; replication crisis and, 12, 204–7, 226, 230, 234, 237, 242–43; scientific method and, 11, 202, 204, 209–10

  Kuhn, Thomas, 4, 10, 32, 39–43, 141, 186–87, 261n65, 261n66, 261n69

  Lakatos, Imre, 41, 46

  Lamarckianism, 92, 272n70

  Lange, Marc, 9–12, 181–90, 221–23

  Language, Truth and Logic (Ayer), 25

  Latour, Bruno, 23, 45, 48–49, 70–71, 247, 259n24, 268n7

  Laudan, Larry, 74, 269n17

  Laughlin, Harry, 88–89, 93–94, 272n62

  law of reversion to the mediocre, 90–91

  lay people, 61–62, 132, 223, 267n3, 279n192

  Le Cazre, Pierre, 187–89

  Lehrer, Jonah, 203–4

  Levitt, Norman, 51, 54, 263n91

  liberals, 145, 199, 223, 259n31, 263n91

  Libertarians, 130, 142, 153, 155

  liberty, 11, 198, 223, 283n30

  Limbaugh, Rush, 282n23

  Limited Energy Theory: bias and, 249; consensus and, 128; deduction and, 76, 79, 95, 135; eugenics and, 273n78; experiments and, 80; higher education for women and, 76–80, 135, 138, 226, 270n40; Jacobi and, 5, 79–80, 136, 249; moral issues and, 79; Pascal’s Wager and, 140–41; religion and, 79; truth and, 79; values and, 136; women and, 5, 7, 76–80, 89, 95, 128, 136, 249, 264n97, 270n40, 273n78

  Lincoln, Abraham, 19

  Lindee, Susan, 9, 163–80, 215–21

  Longino, Helen, 4, 31, 50–55, 57, 247, 259n33, 263n89, 264n100

  Longwell, Chester, 81

  Luckman, Thomas, 262n70

  Luria, Salvador, 172

  Lyell, Charles, 85

  Macedo, Stephen, 1–14

  Malthus, Thomas, 89, 94

  Mansfield, Harvey C., 257n4

  “Many Psychology Findings Not as Strong as Claimed, Study Says” (New York Times), 205

  Markowitz, Gerald, 67

  Marxism, 20, 28–29

  McCain, John R., 111–12

  McCarthy, Joseph, 171

  Mead, Margaret, 97

  measles, 16

  Mendel, Gregor, 92

  menstruation, 78–80

  Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, 10

  Merchants of Doubt (Oreskes and Conway), 13, 130, 153, 224, 245–46, 292n44

  Merton, Robert, 43, 150–51, 155

  metaphysics, 20–22

  military, 170–73, 179, 216

  Millennium Development Goals, 17

  Miller, Art, 204–5

  Miller, Ken, 148

  misinformation, 1, 65–67, 129, 142, 281n3, 289n7, 290n26

  MIT, 172

  mood changes, 107, 109, 112, 114

  moral issues: designing bombs and, 9; diversity and, 264n100; epistemologies and, 145, 164–71, 177; eugenics and, 61, 104; evolution and, 8, 148–49, 167, 215; God and, 167; Limited Energy Theory and, 79; normative questions and, 63; policy assessments and, 226, 287n5; positive knowledge and, 21; public policy and, 147–49; purity and, 9, 11, 150, 168, 198, 215, 284n10; reliable knowledge and, 130, 139; religion and, 7, 21, 79, 157, 167, 215; scientific imperatives and, 279n192; weapons and, 166–70, 177, 179, 216

  Morgan, T. H., 104

  Mormons, 157

  “Most Psychology Findings Cannot Be Replicated” (New York Times), 205

  Muller, Hermann, 97–99, 138, 274n90, 274n92, 274n97

  mumps, 16

  Murray, Thomas E., 285n13

  NASA, 69

  natalism, 94–95

  National Bioethics Advisory Commission, 143

  National Institutes of Health, 118

  nationalism, 11, 168, 176, 198

  National Science Foundation, 208

  natural selection, 16, 89

  Nature journal, 205, 242

  nature/nurture debates, 95–96, 103

  Nazis, 5, 88, 91–94, 99

  Needham, Joseph, 98

  Neptunist school, 83

  Nestle, Miriam, 67

  Neumann, John von, 60–61

  Neurath, Otto, 25

  Newton, Isaac, 31–32, 35, 51, 73, 168–69, 232, 264n92

  New York Times, 118–21, 126, 132, 203, 205, 243

  Noakes, David, 243

  Nobel Prize, 67, 98, 104, 166, 174, 203, 263n88, 269n19

  Nordic race, 91, 97

  Nosek, Brian, 205

  nuclear energy, 60–61, 165, 169, 177, 195, 215, 241, 279n192

  null results, 115–16, 211

  nutrition, 67, 73, 80, 96, 119, 124, 134, 138, 268n13, 277n152

  Obama, Barack, 191–92

  obesity, 65

  objectivity: conventional notions of, 6; diversity and, 4; Edinburgh school and, 46; epistemologies and, 50–54, 58–59; experts and,
4; feminism and, 175–76; impartiality and, 263n91; Merton on, 150–51; policy assessments and, 192, 196–97; Popper and, 259n33; questioning, 150; as regulative ideal, 267n3; reliable knowledge and, 132; science studies and, 46–47; scientific writing styles and, 154; Tyson and, 263n91

  observation: accuracy and, 184, 186; confirmation and, 184; continental drift and, 82–83, 86; deduction and, 25; empiricism and, 24–27, 30, 32, 34; epistemologies and, 52; experience and, 26, 40, 64, 72, 125, 134, 178, 246; experiments and, 26, 34, 64, 187, 234, 261n58; falsehoods and, 24, 27; as first stage of research, 183; Galileo and, 187–89; generalizations and, 27, 185; hypotheses and, 25, 83, 86; incomplete nature of, 234; induction and, 25–27, 34, 83, 185; interpretation and, 30, 32, 86, 186, 248, 261n58; logical order of, 183–85; philosophy and, 3; positive knowledge and, 21–23; and present and future of science, 202, 204, 209; qualified, 184; science studies and, 40, 46, 48; scientific reasoning and, 21; scientific theories and, 22–27, 34, 64, 82, 86, 96, 184, 186–87, 261n58; skepticism and, 26, 183–84; speculation and, 1, 213, 235–36; theory-ladenness of, 261n58; truth and, 19, 21, 24, 74; verification and, 3, 24–27, 40