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570 of 761 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely good, November 12, 2005
Tom Wolfe describes Tom Bethell as one of America's best essayists. We can see why. Bethell, an Oxford graduate, has written on a variety of scientific topics over the years and distills them in this outstanding book. He shows -- and quotes his sources copiously, so you don't need to take Bethell's word for things -- case after case of scientific "consensus" that has led the world down a dead end. But once an established view takes hold, it becomes extremely difficult for dissenting views to get a hearing. They certainly don't get government funding -- and the role that government funding plays in propping up poor science is a fascinating and consistently overlooked point that this book drives home again and again. The establishment media, meanwhile, fearful of questioning our new priesthood, consistently goes along with whatever they're told to say.
The book is not only beautifully and intelligently written, but it's also fun to read, believe it or not. Bethell's engaging style makes this book hard to put down.
Some of the points Bethell raises are quite surprising. He is skeptical of stem cell research, not for religious reasons (though he may have those as well for all I know) but because in recent months we have begun to learn that science has over-promised, so to speak. The grandiose claims of major cures being around the corner, he shows, are massively overstated. Stem cells don't seem to behave the way researchers thought they might.
Or take African AIDS. We've heard almost ludicrous figures regarding the number of Africans with AIDS. Wait till you read this chapter and you learn what it takes to qualify as having AIDS in Africa. You don't even need to test positive for HIV. That could be why the demographic catastrophes anticipated for Africa haven't panned out; Africa's population has increased dramatically over the past decade.
Then there's hormesis, the principle according to which certain things that are toxic in high doses are positively beneficial at low doses. This insight, which the scientific mainstream disdained for so long, is impossible to avoid today. The U.S. government, on the other hand, has spent countless sums and disrupted countless lives on the basis of the standard view that toxins are toxins, whether in large doses or in trace amounts. Entire communities, schools, etc. have been evacuated on this basis. Bethell shows, for instance, that cancer rates are often lower -- indeed MUCH lower -- among people who have had mild exposure to radiation than among control groups with no such exposure. This flies in the face of the oft-repeated claim that there is no such thing as a safe dose of radiation.
Bethell also exposes the hysteria over species extinction and the bizarre methodology used to reach the fantastic figures of extinctions we've routinely heard. Then there's the banning of DDT thanks to environmental extremists, which resulted in hundreds of millions of avoidable deaths. Bethell even manages to dig up quotations from major intellectuals who have openly favored the devastating demographic effects of banning DDT. That's scary stuff.
Now let me tell you what you can expect from some of the reviews you'll see of this book. Lots of people will love it, as they should. Others, usually people who haven't read it -- yes, this is VERY common on Amazon -- will denounce Bethell because this or that person gives him a blurb, or because he is skeptical of Darwin, or whatever. Don't let these people do your thinking for you -- someone who condemns a book he hasn't read is hardly in a position to criticize "dogmatism," is he?
What I'd like to see from critics of this book are SPECIFIC points Bethell makes that are wrong. Much of what Bethell teaches us here isn't really a matter of controversy. He's telling us, in some cases, about wildly exaggerated claims by mainstream scientists, the demonization of those who have dissented from these claims -- so much for the cool rationalism we expect to accompany science -- and the excruciatingly slow process by which the exaggerations have been exposed.
Modern science is a wonderful thing, responsible for a great many inventions and innovations that have improved our lives. But science is no more exempt from politics, pettiness, and agendas than any other field of human endeavor. Given the media's and the general public's intimidation in the face of science and scientists, though, behavior we would never tolerate in any other aspect of life is routinely given a pass in the scientific field.
Tom Bethell is to be congratulated for a volume that is at once thoroughly enjoyable, compulsively readable and full of serious and important information. When you see one-star reviews by people who have no specifics about the book, but just go on and on about what a fool Bethell is (or who try to appear they've read the book by quoting a phrase from the cover image above), IGNORE THEM ENTIRELY. No one writing such a review read the book. But you should -- and they should, if for once in their lives they could show evidence of the open mind such people are always telling us they have.
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28 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Points Lost in the Politics, February 16, 2006
Whenever you decide to read something with "politically incorrect" in the title, you are basically guaranteed that that book will be politically charged. Reading politically charged books can be quite fun. On the other hand, reviewing these books is often pointless because a person's political passions have already determined their reactions. Still, as a physics teacher and someone who likes to see both sides, I thought I'd put down a few thoughts.
First, let me say that there are many things Mr. Bethell asserts here with which I agree. His main point seems to be that the growth of government as the primary investor in science has perverted the scientific method into a political one. I certainly think that government money has politicized science though I believe conservatives have co-opted science for their political purposes as much as liberals. And I think that government support has a significant place in science.
I also agree with some of the purely scientific things that Mr. Bethell asserts. I have long been a believer in nuclear technology and the general safety of radiation when used correctly (think of x-rays & CAT scans--no one seems to worry much about this radiation). I agree that unreasonable fear has kept us from pursuing nuclear technologies that could make us much less dependant on foreign oil, for example. Mr. Bethell discusses the DDT ban and how its benefits clearly outweigh any supposed dangers it might have and there is certainly plenty of evidence to back that up. He also discusses the "flat earth" issue and I have long taught in my class that no educated person since the time of the Greeks has believed the earth was flat. The argument in Columbus' time was about the size of the earth, not the shape. (Columbus used inaccurate calculations to estimate the size of the earth to be considerable smaller than it is.)
On the other hand, I am left unconvinced by his arguments on genetic science--the genome project, stem cell research, cancer research & cloning. Just because no significant "curative" breakthroughs have been made (on the order of immunization or penicillin, for example) doesn't mean the research has no value and might not yield future results. I agree that the excitement about genetic research may be overblown but excitement is a human quality which doesn't devalue the research. I also find his arguments about intelligent design vs. evolution to be simplistic and misleading but typical of the very politicization of science that Mr. Bethell seems to abhor.
Which, of course, is the real problem with any book that claims to be sick of the politicization of anything--hypocrisy. Even at his most accurate & insightful, Mr. Bethell clearly has conservative political issues to spell out. Apart from the typical creationism stand, Mr. Bethell uses his discussions to promote other classic conservatism ideas: his discussion of extinction pushes for private properties & monopolies and his discussion of the AIDS crisis in Africa brings out the old saw that the African were better off under colonial rule. I felt like I was reading an essay from the Victorian era.
That's really the fundamental weakness of this book. What could have been a powerful exploration of serious scientific issues--for which Mr. Bethell could have made some excellent arguments--is instead reduced to the very issues of politics Mr. Bethell decries. It's too bad. An otherwise excellent opportunity to make moderates aware of some real scientific issues is lost.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
could be better, November 15, 2008
This book covers a few topics which are highly controversial (anthropogenic global warming, microevolution, endangered species, AIDS in Africa) and some other topics that may becoming non-controversial (nuclear power, cloning, hormesis).
AGW and evolution cannot be adequately covered in a small chapter in this book so I think the reader will get the least out of these chapters. Also, the author writes in a charged manner and his sourcing is not so evident. I suggest reading books fully devoted to these two topics.
The chapters on DDT, hormesis, and African AIDS were very interesting because I was least familiar with them. The evidence in favor of the use of DDT is large but to be fair, from the tone of the author, the other side of the arguments may not be described in the most charitable manner. Henced a grain of salt must be taken with this entire book.
Hormesis is another interesting topic. It is the idea that small doses of a harmful thing (like radiation) can actually improve health (not to be confused with homeopathy though). There is ample evidence of this but has gotten little spotlight.
I found the medical chapters to be the most boring and probably the least 'political'. The chapter on warfare between science and religion was once again too short and undersourced to be taken too seriously. But I guess it can serve as a springboard for further inquiry.
Since this is supposed to be a politically incorrect book, it would have been interested in see discussions on the nature/nurture and reorientation aspects of homosexuality. However no sexual issues are discussed.
Overall, while not a superbly written book, it does highlight some issues that you may have taken for granted or simply been ignorant of. You will see a different side to some issues where the conventional wisdom
can no longer be trusted.
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