The Attack of the Science Populists

Reviews / Votes

Modern physics is so bizarre and counterintuitive that it can seem downright arbitrary in places. Are physicists just making things up? In this important book, Dan Hooper explains not just where current physics is, but how we got there and why, and what it all means for where we go next. There are good reasons, it turns out, why physicists sound as crazy as they sometimes do. -- Sean Carroll, author of <i>The Biggest Ideas in the Universe</i> A timely and much-needed book. Hooper offers a powerful, clear-headed response to movements that seek to undermine scientific institutions, pushing back against popular myths and exposing the incentives of those spreading misinformation. -- Daniel Whiteson, author of <i>Do Aliens Speak Physics?</i> In recent decades, there has been a growing mistrust of scientists and their institutions, sometimes viewed as driven by personal, financial, and political interests. Purveyors of such mistrust play on the public's lack of understanding of the practice of science and the nature of critical thinking. Dan Hooper provides a thoughtful and well written account of the scientific enterprise, the motivations of those who attack it, and, most importantly, what is at stake. -- Alan Lightman, author of <i>Einstein's Dreams</i>