Censoring Science: Inside the Political Attack on Dr. James Hansen and the Truth of Global Warming (Hardcover)

by Mark Bowen (Author) "ONE SWELTERING JUNE AFTERNOON IN 1988, an understated Iowan named James Hansen turned global warming into an international issue with one sentence..." (more)
Key Phrases: ninth floor, scientific openness, science mission, White House, Jim Hansen, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This portrait of NASA climate scientist James Hansen and his decades-long struggle to alert the public about global warming's perils and potential solutions ranges from deeply disturbing and frightening to inspiring. Disturbing, as Bowen (Thin Ice) gives convincing evidence that the Bush administration did its best to control NASA scientists' communication with the public in order to undermine belief in global warming and belittle its consequences. According to Bowen, the administration set up ideological political loyalists in positions formerly held by career professionals, gutted NASA's earth science budget, then denied these actions. Frightening, as Hansen concludes that climate is significantly more sensitive than two years ago and that our choice may be not between no change and a significant change, but between a significant change and disaster. Inspiring, in Bowen's portrayal of Hansen, who obeys the Feynman admonition in both science and policy—describe the evidence very carefully without regard to the way you feel it should be. Bowen's in-depth treatments of politics and science, although hard going at times, give his arguments substance. Hansen's conviction that tools exist right now to mitigate the worst effect—if only we will use them—is surprisingly hopeful. (Jan.)
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Product Description
From acclaimed writer and physicist Mark Bowen, Censoring Science tells the true story of the Bush administration’s censorship of the world’s preeminent climatologist, and the science behind global warming that they do not want you to know.

The facts don’t lie:
• 2005 was the warmest year since the invention of the thermometer.
• 2006 is on track to become the hottest year ever recorded in the United States.
• The six hottest years on record have occurred in the last eight years, and the twenty-two hottest years on record have occurred in the last twenty-six years.

Preeminent climatologist and leading NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen has been studying climate for over three decades. It was his testimony to a Senate committee in 1988 that first brought the threat of global warming to the world’s attention. In January 2006, news broke that the Bush administration had been attempting to censor Dr. Hansen—obscuring his message and suppressing the vast body of his scientific work, which unequivocally demonstrates the reality and immense danger of global warming.

Now, for the first time and with unfiltered access, writer and physicist Mark Bowen finally tells the exclusive story of Hansen’s decades-long battle to bring the truth about global warming to light. Censoring Science illuminates the real science behind global warming and maintains that we can still prevent environmental disaster, while both strengthening our economy and our national security. In the tradition of Ron Suskind’s blockbuster bestseller, The Price of Loyalty, Censoring Science exposes the truth behind the administration’s spin doctors, and shares the inside story of one of the most important and influential scientists of our time.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (December 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525950141
• ISBN-13: 978-0525950141
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #575,181 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars frightening account of politicians manipulating science, January 7, 2008

By	J. Eno "Reader" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Very interesting reading . . . . The book outlines the battle between science and politicians in a very specific incident. When I read about something like this, I wonder why nothing much is in the news. Both politicians and media seem to underestimate the intelligence of the general population. Trying to "spin" science to meet political agendas will eventually fail. This book makes interesting reading!

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Examination of Bush Administration Scientific Censorship At NASA, March 8, 2008

By	John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The most important scientific issue confronting our fellow Americans, and indeed, all of humanity, is global warming. On a warm, humid afternoon in June 1988, NASA climatologist James Hansen alerted us to its ever present danger, testifying before a U. S. Senate committee, and then, afterwards, to a group of reporters. One mere sentence uttered by Hansen to these reporters, emphasized this danger, "It's time to stop waffling.... and say that the greenhouse effect is here and is affecting our climate now." It is an ever present danger that has garnered the keen interest of diplomats and other politicians worldwide, including those here in the United States. But it is also an ever present danger whose very significance has been ignored by the current administration of President George W. Bush, which has instead, been engaged in scientific censorship of the most virulent kind. Physicist and writer Mark Bowen's "Censoring Science" takes a cold, hard look at the Bush administration's undeniable scientific censorship of NASA climatologist James Hansen in a fast-paced literary style that's more reminiscent of a well-plotted Ian Fleming espionage thriller, than a serious, rather credible, work of investigative scientific journalism. "Censoring Science" offers compelling evidence as to how that censorship worked, trying to cast "doubt" on superb climate science in extensively-edited scientific reports that "demonstrated" the "uncertainties" of this science, not the undeniable facts pointing to the reality of global warming. Bowen offers an inspirational portrait of Hansen, his research, and his colleagues at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies - the research center headed by Hansen - that's located at the southern end of Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus; ones which are among the most important reasons to acquire this splendid book.

Bowen demonstrates how Bush administration political appointees fostered this censorship, especially through "editing" of press releases of newly published scientific research, and in determining how scientists like Hansen could speak to professional journalists. One of these political appointees was a new appointee, college dropout George Deutsch, who soon announced his keen interest in and support of Intelligent Design by noting in an e-mail to NASA science writer Flint Wild, "... it is not NASA's place, nor should it be, to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator.... We, as NASA, must be diligent here, because this is more than a science issue, it is a religious issue. And I would hate to think that young people would only be getting one half of this debate from NASA." Regrettably, an e-mail such as this one merely reflected the political mindset of those Bush administration appointees like Deutsch, who regarded global warming as "just a theory" unsubstantiated by actual scientific evidence; actual scientific evidence which was being presented by Hansen, other NASA climatologists, and their colleagues across the globe. In his unflinching, unsympathetic depiction of NASA scientific censorship of James Hansen and his research, Bowen deserves ample praise for writing what is truly one of the most important books published this year; one that ought to be read by a wide readership.

27 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Hansen and Science Meet President Bush and His Political Stooges, January 10, 2008

By	Frederick S. Goethel "wildcatcreekbooks" (Central Valley, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Dr. James Hansen is, without question, the most knowledgeable individual on the subject of climate science in the United States, and quite possibly the world. Having spent the better part of thirty years studying and researching global warming, he has little interest in politics and politicians. His goal is to discover information about global warming and disseminate that information to the world. Sadly for Dr. Hansen, Bush became President and started to insert political hacks into jobs they were sorely unqualified for ("Heck of a job there Brownie" anyone).

This book looks at a mix of three things....the almost tragically comical efforts of the Bush administration of censor science and the scientists that were producing the information (primarily at Goddard Institute for Space Studies), the life story of Dr Hansen and the science behind global warming.

The portions of the book that deal with the political attacks made me feel like I had fallen down the rabbit hole and joined Alice. It was astounding how incompetent and partisan NASA became after the appointment of various level hacks. While I can see where the employees at NASA were frightened, looking back its almost surreal how insane the whole situation became; primarily so Bush could get reelected and continue to help his corporate buddies.

The information on global warming and climate change explains some of the science and shows what the Bush administration was trying to hide. It is a fairly brief look at a very intense form of science and is explained quite well.

The book is generally well written, and the weaving of the political, biographical and scientific information keeps any one section from becoming overloaded with data. The only complaint I had was that it was nearly impossible to follow who worked for whom in which agency. A graph of who was where would have been a nice addition. A wonderful read, especially when coupled with the broader book of the subject, "Undermining Science: Suppression and Distortion in the Bush Administration".