[ RadSafe ] Cell phones, nuclear power, global warming,etc

[Brennan, Mike (DOH)]

I have also put it on my list to read (or listen to in the car, if my
library has it on CD).  

The book I would offer as worthy of reading and interesting to most on
this list is "Thirteen Things that don't Make Sense", by Michael Brooks.
Brooks covers 13 topics where theory and evidence do not seem to match
up.  While I don't necessarily agree with him that all of the issues are
in doubt (Homeopathy, for example, doesn't actually have a viable theory
for the evidence to not agree with), it is an interesting read.  And I
do agree with him that "Dark Matter" and "Dark Energy" aren't
explanations; they are just fancier ways of saying "we don't know". 

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
Behalf Of Douglas Minnema
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 10:02 AM
To: 'radsafe at radlab.nl'; Mark L Miller
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Cell phones, nuclear power, global warming,etc

Mark,
 
I have not read this book yet, will add it to my list.  In return, I'll
add one to your list:  "Doubt is Their Product: How industry's Assault
on Science Threatens Your Health," by David Michaels, Oxford University
Press.
 
For those DOE'ers out there, David Michaels used to be the Assistant
Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health at DOE during the later
years of the Clinton Administration.  He is most recognized for having
pushed through the DOE workers' occupational illness compensation
program.
 
Fascinating book, and apparently very well documented.  It describes how
regulated industries, and industries in fear of future regulation, have
created methodologies for defending their products against those who
would regulate them.  Many of those methods would, on the surface,
appear to be logical approaches to evaluating health risks based on
sound scientific principles.  But the question becomes one of "what are
the motives behind the scientific results" rather than "what are the
merits of the scientific results."
 
Unfortunately, the book puts me in a quandary - now that Michaels has
detailed all of the 'tricks' used to slant scientific results in various
directions, I can see elements of these 'tricks' being used on both
sides of the street, so to speak.  It makes me pause and ask myself,
"how would I know who to believe."
 
Doug Minnema, PhD, CHP
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

>>> "Miller, Mark L" <mmiller at sandia.gov> 1/6/2010 12:24 PM >>>
I recommend "Denialism:  How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific
Progress, Harms the Planet and Threatens Our Lives" by Michael Specter,
The Penguin Press.  

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