Science Under Siege

Two of the world's most respected scientists reveal the forces behind the dangerous anti-science movement - and show us how to fight back.

From pandemics to the climate crisis, humanity faces tougher challenges than ever. Whether it's the health of our people or the health of our planet, we know we are on an unsustainable path. But our efforts to effectively tackle these existential crises are now hampered by a common threat: politically and ideologically motivated opposition to science.

Michael Mann and Peter Hotez are two of the most respected and well-known scientists in the world and have spent the last twenty years on the front lines of the battle to convey accurate, reliable, and trustworthy information about science in the face of determined and nihilistic opposition.

In this powerful manifesto, they reveal the five main forces threatening science: plutocrats, pros, petrostates, phonies, and the press. It is a call to arms and a road map for dismantling the forces of anti-science. Armed with the information in this book, we can be empowered to promote scientific truths, shine light on channels of dark money, dismantle the corporations poisoning the planet, and ultimately avert disaster.

In Science Under Siege, co-authors Michael Mann and Peter Hotez, leading researchers and advocates in their respective fields of environmental science and immunology, warn that science itself, as a credible and trusted method of establishing truth, is in crisis ... This important book does more than simply enumerate and excoriate the forces railing against science and scientists, but offers hope for civilised solutions, from gentle persuasion and rational debate to being heard in the media and at the ballot box.
-Pat Sheil, The Sydney Morning Herald

An episodic journey ... It is an attempt to make sense of chaos. Kraus bears witness to a nation reckoning with its undoing ... Though Kraus distances herself from the term "autofiction", this novel sits comfortably alongside works by Maggie Nelson, Sheila Heti and Olivia Laing, abandoning conventional plot and blurring the lines between fact and fiction.
-Justine Hyde, The Saturday Paper

Once upon a time, scientists could assume that people would take their hard work, believe it, and put it to use. No longer - as Michael Mann and Peter Hotez make painfully clear, a concentrated assault by special interests has made the work of science painful and perilous. Science Under Siege is a well-researched guide and offers some powerful ideas about how to fight back.
-Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes the Sun