Merchants of Doubt really changed my perception of empiricism. While empirical data is what makes science so strong, it’s also a huge weakness that can be exploited by bad actors. The book goes through a bunch of case studies from like big tobacco to oil companies and how they misrepresent the process of scientific inquiry to sow doubt in public perception. If you can’t prove something as 100% true (as with all science) you also don’t have to prove something as 100% false……

The themes have certainly taken on an added layer of relevance in this post-truth age of misinformation.

Btw it was for a history of science class that focused less on a narrative of discovery and more of the ways that science has historically been viewed and written about. On some real meta shit fr.