Unscientific America

The journal Science Communication gave the book a favourable review, noting that the arguments presented "may make the Ph.D. crowd even more cranky than usual."{{cite journal |last= Tenenbaum |first= D. J. |type= book review |title= Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future, by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum. New York: Basic Books, 2009. 209 pp |journal= Science Communication |volume= 32 |page= 132 |year= 2010 |doi= 10.1177/1075547009359802|s2cid= 144619603 }} Indeed, the book did spark significant debate particularly on-line.{{cite web |url= http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/the_new_ambassadors_of_science/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090721065900/http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/the_new_ambassadors_of_science/ |url-status= unfit |archive-date= 21 July 2009 |title= The new ambassadors of science |first= Evan |last= Lerner |date= 17 July 2009 |magazine= Seed |access-date= 2010-12-30}} Seed magazine selected Unscientific America as one to "read now"{{cite news |url= http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/books_to_read_now/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090703175027/http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/books_to_read_now |url-status= unfit |archive-date= 3 July 2009 |title= July releases on how to join the commercial space race, a brief history of futurism, the inner world of mathematicians, and more |date= 30 June 2009 |magazine= Seed |department= Books to Read Now: Seed Picks |access-date= 2010-12-30}} although it was subsequently more critical of certain aspects of the book. The BMJ, while supporting the authors' assessment of the problem, was critical of the proposed solution. It said that the book sometimes "reads like an overlong and somewhat condescending whine about why science and scientists are not sufficiently appreciated."{{cite journal |last= Colquhoun |first= D. |title= Trust me, I'm a scientist |journal= BMJ |volume= 339 |page= b3658 |year= 2009 |doi= 10.1136/bmj.b3658|s2cid= 72546131 }}{{closed access}} The New Scientist was similarly supportive of the description of the problem while being critical of the solution arguing that "by looking only at science, Unscientific America misses the big picture."{{cite news |url= https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327202.700-review-unscientific-america-by-chris-mooney-and-sheril-kirshenbaum.html |title= Review: Unscientific America by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum |first= Jim |last= Giles |date= 8 August 2009 |magazine= New Scientist |access-date= 2011-01-01}} American Scientist called it "at best, a thin and unsatisfying broth."{{cite news |url= http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/a-thin-broth |title= A thin broth |first= Jon D. |last= Miller |magazine= American Scientist |access-date= 2011-01-01}} Science was also critical calling the book "slight in both length and substance" and the analysis it contains "shallow and unreflective".{{cite journal |last= Coyne |first= J. |title= Selling science |journal= Science |volume= 325 |page= 678 |year= 2009 |doi= 10.1126/science.1179131 |issue= 5941|s2cid= 220084888 }} This review was itself criticized by Donald Marcus of Baylor College of Medicine, who called it "a dismissive rant that misrepresents the text."{{cite journal |url= https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1179131 |title= Replies to 'Selling science': A path to selling science |first= Donald M. |last= Marcus |journal= Science |date= 7 August 2009 |volume= 325 |issue= 5941 |pages= 678–679 |department= E—Letters|doi=10.1126/science.1179131 |s2cid= 220084888 }} PZ Myers, who was criticised in the book, stated in his review that "It's not a badly written book, but it's something worse: it's utterly useless."{{cite web | url= http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/07/unscientific_america_how_scien.php |title= Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future |author-link= PZ Myers |first= PZ |last= Myers |date= 8 July 2009 |work= Pharyngula |publisher= ScienceBlogs |access-date= 2011-01-01}}

California Bookwatch gave it a positive review.{{cite news |title= Unscientific America |type= book review |date= 1 September 2009 |magazine= California Bookwatch |url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-208133436.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140611124443/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-208133436.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 11 June 2014 |access-date= 2014-04-24 }} Kenneth Krause gave it a mixed to negative review in The Humanist criticizing the lack of an explanation of "how we can interest and invest the popular media in the serious science their viewers and subscribers have so evidently rejected" while characterizing the book with Chicken Little analogies.{{cite news |last= Krause |first= Kenneth W. |title= American science in crisis! Really? |magazine= The Humanist |publisher= American Humanist Association |date= 1 January 2010 |url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-215719285.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140611124446/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-215719285.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 11 June 2014 |access-date= 2014-04-24 |type= book review}} In the popular press Gerry Rising of The Buffalo News wrote, "This important book makes clear that the turn back toward science after the strong opposition of the Bush administration, [...], falls far short of solving our nation's problems."{{cite news |last= Rising |first= Gerry |date= 6 December 2009 |title= Holiday season has nature and science books aplenty |newspaper= The Buffalo News |url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-21720017.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140611124439/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-21720017.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 11 June 2014 |access-date= 2014-04-23 }} National Defense magazine said the authors had "captured the current zietgeist" in an analysis of the challenges of recruiting and retaining qualified young professionals in the defense industry.{{cite news |last= Erwin |first= Sandra I. |date= 1 September 2009 |title= Attracting new blood tougher than building jets and ICBMs |magazine= National Defense |url= https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-207943796 |via= |access-date= |url-access= }}{{dl|date=July 2021}} Kirshenbaum was interviewed about the book on Science Friday.{{cite news |last= Flatow |first= Ira |author-link= Ira Flatow |title= Can 'Unscientific America' Be Science Literate? |work= Talk of the Nation: Science Friday |publisher= NPR |date= 21 August 2009 |url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-170266159.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140611124435/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-170266159.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 11 June 2014 |access-date= 2014-04-24 }}

{{cite book |title= Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future |first1= Chris |last1= Mooney |first2= Sheril |last2= Kirshenbaum |year= 2009 |publisher= Basic Books |isbn= 9780465013050 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/unscientificamer00moon }}

• Antiscience
• Agnotology
• List of books about the politics of science
• Politicization of science

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Category:2009 non-fiction books

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