Natural Sciences 191CNS16 - FYS - Signal/Noise- Juggernaut

Carl Sagan lamented that, "We've arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science and technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces. Who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don't know anything about it?" In order to better understand and live in this increasingly technology-dependent world, we must learn how to distill scientific findings reported by the media, various political parties and industry-funded research institutions by evaluating the credibility of sources, and the inherent complexities of ongoing scientific research. Often this lack of understanding allows political parties and large corporations (i.e., juggernauts) to misrepresent scientific findings in order to achieve a particular goal. This class will explore the nexus of political and industry motives and scientific results, and help you discern fact from fiction, and knowns from unknowns. We will read excerpts from Chris Mooney's The Republican War on Science, Todd Wilkinson's Science Under Siege: The Politicians' War on Nature and Truth, and Naomi Oreske's and Erik Conway's Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming.

Open to students in the Natural Sciences Exploratory Track.