The Deadly Rise of Anti-science: A Scientist's Warning

A good discussion of the anti-science around COVID-19 and the vaccines developed to deal with it. The author was one of the scientists who helped develop the vaccine, as well as other vaccines through his career. He has been subjected to hate and threats as a result of his work, not just starting with COVID, but previously around other vaccines. The only problem I have with the work is that, in his discussion of where anti-vax came from, how it evolved, and so forth, he gives too little attention to those on the left who were pushing the anti-vax ideas for decades. As a scientist who did my work in environmental science, I was subjected to regular assaults on my integrity because of my use of vaccines and medications, most of those show more coming from WITHIN my scientific circles, and all of them from people who were on the left. Other than that, the work is well written, well researched, and should be a must read for anyone who wants to understand the current upside-down world we live in where ignorance = strength and knowledge doesn't exist outside of your own head for most people. show less

**.5

For the second time in a day, I was bamboozled by the title. The book is not actually about the dangers of anti-science thinking, it's all about the resistance to forced vaccination and mask mandates*. While there is certainly some of the former involved in the latter, it's a gross oversimplification of the situation, ignoring the politics and legitimate health concerns. By equating "government imposed health policy" with "science", he's doing the same thing that led many to be skeptical in the first place.

Almost completely missing (he does eventually mention some of them in a single paragraph towards the end) are the equally dangerous climate deniers, flat earthers, chemtrail conspiracies, anti-fluoride activists, GMO rejecters, show more opponents to electric vehicles and nuclear power, etc. FFS we recently had a president who thought that stem cells were people, and far too many people in power believe anti-scientific nonsense like creationism, astrology, and assorted types of magical thinking. Not to mention the ones that oppose public education, and/or are generally anti-intellectual.

Therefore, the whole anti-vax thing is just a tiny symptom of a much larger problem, and this whole book should have been a single chapter in the larger story. To make things worse, he repeats himself at least 3 or 4 times, to the point that I thought the audiobook had skipped back to a previous chapter. It's the same whining about being persecuted, even though he voluntarily put himself in the spotlight with a target on his back by leaping at opportunities to appear on TV.

+1 star to offset the idiots who downrated it for promoting vaccines

*just to be clear, I personally support both and think that not only were they not draconian, they didn't go nearly far enough. But I'm reviewing the book here, not the policy. show less

Well respected scientist. Thank God we have people like him who are smart enough to think of creating vaccines that protect us all. Repetitive. He made some good points about how scientists need to be together to help combat the misinformation. But it was a stretch to get to 163 pages.