دانلود کتاب Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future

The theme is interesting and important, and this is why I bought the book. Sadly, it is poorly written. E.g., each chapter should clearly state the points and conclusions.

The book gives me, a professional scientist, the impression they do not know what science is. A scientific theory consists of a mathematical framework (a collection of consistent statements), along with empirical verification. While the mathematics must be fully consistent, the observations and experiments can at best give partial agreement. Educators must teach the principles of mathematics and science when discussing theories.

A theory is not validated by a majority vote. They discuss global warming, which is a hoax designed for increasing government control over our lives and livelihoods. The logic and evidence of the "deniers" is overwhelming. Once the authors are taken in by this hoax, it is hard to trust anything they say.

They discuss religion, failing on two counts. One is that the God idea cannot be based upon a consistent set of principles, as God existed prior to everything and so cannot be discussed using scientific theories or concepts.

The second failing is totally ignoring Islam, with its belief that Allah (God) gave a perfect set of rules for living, contradicting science, according to which perfection is logically impossible. This fact explains the sad lack of scientific progress in the Islamic world. America is moving toward Islam, as both our present government and Islamic governments prefer big governments. This movement is very dangerous for science. The scientist must have the freedom to say "You are wrong!", however, when a Congressman in Congress says the President of the U.S. is wrong, he is criticized.