The Geek Manifesto Why Science Matters

by Henderson, Mark

• ISBN13: 9780593068243
• ISBN10: 0593068246
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-09-15
• Publisher: Bantam Press

Summary

There has never been a better time to be a geek (or a nerd, or a dork). What was once an insult used to marginalize those curious people (in either sense of the word) and their obsessive interest in science has increasingly become a badge of honour. And we should be crying out for thema We live in a country where: Only one of our 650 MPs has worked as a research scientist. The Government's drugs adviser was sacked for making a decision based on scientific fact rather than public opinion A writer can be forced into court for telling the scientific truth The media would rather sell papers by scaremongering over MMR vaccines and GM crops than report the less sensational facts. Whether we want to improve education or cut crime, to enhance public health or to generate clean energy, science and its experimental method is critical. It's time to stop the nonsense! The Geek Manifesto shows us what needs to happen to entrench scientific thinking more deeply into politics and society. And how to turn our frustrated outrage into positive action that our country's leaders cannot ignore.

Author Biography

Mark Henderson, the Science editor of The Times, is an award-winning journalist who has covered science for The Times since 2000, building a reputation as one of the UK's most respected and best connected journalists in the field. As well as covering science news he is a regular contributor to comment pages and played a pivotal role in founding their science supplement, Eureka, for which he writes features and a regular column about science and politics. Freelance writing includes recent work for the British Medical Journal, Prospect, and the Royal Society's 350th anniversary programme. He is an accomplished broadcaster for TV and radio, whose recent appearances include BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC4's 'Dinner with Portillo', BBC Breakfast, Sky News, LBC and BBC R4's 'Material World'. He is also a regular panellist at the Royal Institutio, the Wellcome Collection and the Cheltenham Sciece Festival. In 2011 Mark Henderson was awarded the European Cancer Reporter Prize and the Royal Statistical Society Prize for statistical excellence in journalism.

Table of Contents

The Geeks Are Coming	p. 1
Geeking the Vote	p. 16
Policy-based Evidence	p. 45
Unfair and Unbalanced	p. 69
Geekonomics	p. 99
Science Lessons	p. 125
Doing Science Justice	p. 153
Placebo Politics	p. 183
Geeks and Greens	p. 213
Geeks of the World Unite!	p. 245
References	p. 251
Acknowledgements	p. 311
Index	p. 315
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