Description
Book SynopsisConservative skepticism of scientific authority—contesting evolution and the climate change consensus—is constantly in the news. But liberal humanists also have their doubts, targeting “scientistic” overreach. Andrew Jewett provides the first history of Americans’ diverse and longstanding criticisms of science as a source of corrupt social values.
Trade ReviewErudite and truly original. Jewett explains why so many cultural leaders came to deplore the increasing incursions of science into the realm of values, especially after World War II. A pioneering book. -- Ronald L. Numbers, author of
The CreationistsJewett has thoroughly scoured the wide field of American intellectual discourse to find the misgivings, fears, and doubts aroused by the growth and influence of science.
Science under Fire is strikingly relevant to pressing present-day concerns. I know of nothing else quite like it. -- Howard Brick, author of
Transcending CapitalismThe continued politicization of science is rooted in the discomfort that many still feel about the banishment of ethics, humanistic values, and religion from much of public policy. Jewett’s book reminds us that this tension has a long history and that we should remain attentive to what is gained and lost as science continues to dominate how we understand the world and our place in it. -- Christopher J. Phillips * Science *
Tackles the deep and persistent American intellectual tradition we might call Science-hesitant…It takes them seriously, arguing their vision was no less ‘modern’ for ranking Science lower than other human values, such as religious faith…A sweeping tour of a vast array of intellectual trends…The challenges to the authority of Science in this book are less episodes in the history of American science than episodes in the history of American religion, and readers drawn to those questions will find much to interest them here. -- Michael D. Gordin * Los Angeles Review of Books *
An exceptionally well-written, detail-rich treatment of anti-science attitudes in the United States over the past century…Jewett reveals that the sprawling, wheeling sweep of his historical study
is the argument: there is no single or stable ideology of anti-science…[He] starts and ends by talking about climate denialism, anti-vax, and COVID lockdown skepticism. -- Donovan O. Schaefer * Isis *
The anti-science crowd ridiculed mask-wearers as sheep mindlessly following the herd. Armed crowds gathered at the homes of public-health officials across the country and hounded them from their jobs…As Andrew Jewett makes clear…the scientific enterprise in America has long drawn public hostility…Follows nearly a century of critiques of scientific cultural authority, from the 1920s to roughly the present…Given the moment we are in,
Science under Fire seems particularly well timed, and it ought to be instructive. -- David Steigerwald * Origins *
Deeply researched and thoughtful…The tensions he describes are entirely familiar, but they take on a fresh appearance with the historical backdrop he provides, and his nuanced portrait of the positions of the key protagonists produces a welcome respect for the complexity of ongoing intellectual and political controversies…Jewett concludes with a plea to approach science more matter-of-factly. -- John Casterline * Population and Development Review *
