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A review by libra17
Not a Scientist: How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent, and Utterly Mangle Science by Dave Levitan
5.0
Not a Scientist is a book that sorts the types of errors that politicians usually make with regards to science (credit snatching, blaming the blogger, butter up and undercut, etcetera), explains how to spot them, and offers advice on how to fact check information found in each of the error types. Each type of error has its own chapter, and Not a Scientist is pretty much built on the examples that make up the bulk of each chapter. There is also general information about the importance of science in public discourse and how an involved citizenry can go about keeping their representatives honest (or at least as accurate as possible).
I very much enjoyed Not a Scientist for its conversational tone as well as its plethora of examples, many of which I hadn't known (Levitan doesn't often go for the low-hanging fruit of the proverbial example tree). It is deliberately written in a way that is accessible for the general public and the author goes out of his way to fully explain the science of the various topics that come up in error examples, the implications of the science, and the far-reaching effects of errors. Not a Scientist is a book that would recommend.
I very much enjoyed Not a Scientist for its conversational tone as well as its plethora of examples, many of which I hadn't known (Levitan doesn't often go for the low-hanging fruit of the proverbial example tree). It is deliberately written in a way that is accessible for the general public and the author goes out of his way to fully explain the science of the various topics that come up in error examples, the implications of the science, and the far-reaching effects of errors. Not a Scientist is a book that would recommend.