Not a Scientist Audiobook By Dave Levitan cover art

Not a Scientist

How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent and Utterly Mangle Science

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Not a Scientist

By: Dave Levitan
Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
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About this listen

An eye-opening tour of the political tricks that subvert scientific progress.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan created one of the dumbest talking points of all time: "I'm not a scientist, but..." Since then, politicians have repeatedly committed egregious transgressions against scientific knowledge prefaced by this seemingly innocuous phrase. Yet, as science journalist Dave Levitan reveals, that line is just the tip of the melting iceberg when it comes to rhetorical tools wielded to attack scientific findings that don't cooperate with political agendas. Just listen to Mike Huckabee dismiss climate change as "a sunburn", Donald Trump suggest that vaccines cause autism, or Todd Akin's infamous invention of "legitimate rape".

With a taxonomer's eye, Levitan captures and categorizes these deceptions by chapter, assigning delightful names like "The Butter-Up and Undercut", "The Literal Nitpick", "The Straight-Up Fabrication", and many more. His sharp-elbowed humor dismantles our leaders' deceptive arguments while illuminating the real science behind the worst soundbites from our elected non-scientists.

©2017 Dave Levitan (P)2017 Audible, Inc.
Philosophy Politics & Government Science & Technology
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Interesting and Timely Book

The author did a good job of standing up for science without being partisan as well as equipping the reader with useful tools to analyze political rhetoric against scientific true. I enjoyed the book and thought the voice performance was great.

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We've never needed a book like this more

This book is an excellent way to begin thinking critically over how politicians present science. As science policy becomes increasingly important in our daily lives it behoves us all to have the skills to recognize when or politicians are misrepresenting the science we use to guide us.

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Clearly has something against conservatives.

I would have preferred an unbiased perspective against politicians, instead, the author is clearly biased and this demeans the message he is trying to make.

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