The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience
Drew Gwilliams reviews a book about how science should work, and what happens when it all goes wrong
Distinguishing science from non-science and pseudoscience, or the demarcation problem, is a key issue in the philosophy of science and has important implications for society at large. Which research should public funds support? Should evolution be taught in schools? Is climate change a hoax? In his most recent book, The Scientific Attitude, researcher Lee McIntyre is not attempting to solve the demarcation problem, but argues that the scientific attitude is a key component to defining and defending science.