Science as a Contact Sport

December 1, 2009
Nobel Prize winner Schneider offers his unique perspective on four decades of global-warming science and politics. He drops names as varied as James Hansen, Stephen Jay Gould, Margaret Mead, and Al Gore while detailing the political fight to bring climate-change science into the national (and global) conversation. Of particular interest are discussions of the work accomplished at conferences and meetings over the years. Schneiders insights into how scientific theory evolves and adjusts to new research and test methods effectively explains how clashes develop between scientists and political pundits who focus narrowly on single statements and early conclusions and miss the long course of careful proven study. Schneiders chronology is a bit disjointed, and swipes at climate-change naysayers lower the discourse to a level his subject matter does not deserve. However, as a personal history of the environmental issue of our time, Schneiders insiders overview proves his thesis that the long, difficult road has been worth it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)