What will I learn about: how major industries deliberately used public relations firms and funded biased research to cast doubt on established scientific facts?

Discover how major industries deliberately used public relations firms and funded biased research to cast doubt on established scientific facts.

What will I learn about: Learn how corporate interests escalated their tactics by attacking the scientific method itself, dismissing peer-reviewed data as 'junk science' to hide the dangers of secondhand smoke?

Learn how corporate interests escalated their tactics by attacking the scientific method itself, dismissing peer-reviewed data as 'junk science' to hide the dangers of secondhand smoke.

What will I learn about: how fringe groups exploited media policies like the Fairness Doctrine to give their propaganda equal airtime and artificially prolong scientific debates?

Understand how fringe groups exploited media policies like the Fairness Doctrine to give their propaganda equal airtime and artificially prolong scientific debates.

What will I learn about: how powerful organizations recruited previously respected scientists to act as credible mouthpieces for dangerous misinformation campaigns?

Find out how powerful organizations recruited previously respected scientists to act as credible mouthpieces for dangerous misinformation campaigns.

What will I learn about: Uncover how political agendas drove the US government and conservative institutions to actively undermine valid science regarding nuclear weapons and acid rain?

Uncover how political agendas drove the US government and conservative institutions to actively undermine valid science regarding nuclear weapons and acid rain.

Merchants of Doubt

How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues From Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming

Naomi Oreskes & Erik M. Conway

★ 3.8 / 5(305 ratings)

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Categories:

Society & Culture Nature & the Environment

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

💡Did you know that the same elite scientists who defended the tobacco industry also pioneered the tactics used to stall action on climate change today?
💡Have you ever wondered how a handful of vocal individuals can convince the public that a scientific consensus is actually a heated debate?
💡Are you curious about the secret playbook that powerful corporations use to manipulate the media and undermine public health for decades?

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Key Takeaways from Merchants of Doubt

✓Discover how major industries deliberately used public relations firms and funded biased research to cast doubt on established scientific facts.
✓Learn how corporate interests escalated their tactics by attacking the scientific method itself, dismissing peer-reviewed data as 'junk science' to hide the dangers of secondhand smoke.
✓Understand how fringe groups exploited media policies like the Fairness Doctrine to give their propaganda equal airtime and artificially prolong scientific debates.
✓Find out how powerful organizations recruited previously respected scientists to act as credible mouthpieces for dangerous misinformation campaigns.
✓Uncover how political agendas drove the US government and conservative institutions to actively undermine valid science regarding nuclear weapons and acid rain.

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Merchants of Doubt

Mind Map

Merchants of Doubt

The Playbook of Doubt+

Tobacco & Health Risks+

Nuclear Weapons & SDI+

Acid Rain & Emissions+

Ozone Layer Depletion+

Global Warming Denial+

DDT & Anti-Regulation+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 7

What was the primary strategy used by the tobacco industry in the mid-twentieth century to combat emerging scientific evidence that smoking was harmful?

A. Admitting the health risks but arguing that smoking was a matter of personal freedom
B. Transitioning their business model entirely to smokeless tobacco products
C. Casting doubt on scientifically proven facts to create public uncertainty
D. Suing independent medical researchers for defamation and loss of revenue

Question 2 of 7

How did the tobacco industry and its allied scientists attempt to discredit the EPA's 1992 report on the dangers of secondhand smoke?

A. By claiming the EPA had no legal jurisdiction to regulate indoor air quality
B. By attacking the 'weight of evidence' approach and labeling it 'junk' science
C. By proving that the EPA scientists were secretly funded by pharmaceutical companies
D. By arguing that secondhand smoke only affected people with pre-existing respiratory conditions

Question 3 of 7

How did a small group of conservative scientists at the George C. Marshall Institute keep the scientific debate alive regarding the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) despite widespread opposition?

A. They utilized the Fairness Doctrine to secure equal media airtime for their minority views
B. They published thousands of peer-reviewed papers proving the technological feasibility of SDI
C. They successfully lobbied Congress to defund universities that opposed the defense program
D. They organized nationwide grassroots protests to emphasize the threat of the Soviet Union

Question 4 of 7

Why did the US government heavily edit the scientific review on acid rain chaired by William A. Nierenberg in the 1980s?

A. To protect the delicate diplomatic and trade relationship between the US and Canada
B. To hide the fact that acid rain was primarily caused by natural volcanic activity
C. To make the proposed remedies appear doubtful and avoid the financial costs of taking action
D. To ensure the highly technical report was easily understandable for the general public

Question 5 of 7

When scientific evidence linked chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to the depletion of the ozone layer, what alternative cause did the aerosol industry propose to defend their products?

A. Solar flares and increased sunspot activity
B. Natural sources such as volcanic dust
C. Radioactive fallout from Cold War nuclear testing
D. Unprecedented greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural livestock

Question 6 of 7

In the 1980 Carbon Dioxide Assessment Committee report on global warming, how did economists influence the government's response to the issue?

A. They argued that transitioning to renewable energy would create a massive economic boom
B. They insisted that carbon taxes were the only viable solution to prevent global catastrophe
C. They framed the report to suggest that new technology and human adaptation would resolve the issue without needing to regulate fossil fuels
D. They proved that the financial cost of global warming was significantly higher than natural scientists had previously estimated

Question 7 of 7

What was the underlying political motive behind the media's vilification of Rachel Carson and the DDT ban in the early 2000s?

A. To promote the use of a newly patented, more expensive chemical pesticide
B. To turn public opinion against environmental regulations in general
C. To secure immediate government funding for malaria eradication programs in Africa
D. To discredit the newly formed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Merchants of Doubt — Full Chapter Overview

1Recommendation
21 — The tobacco industry deliberately misled the public about the dangers of smoking.
32 — The tobacco industry kept casting doubt on secondhand smoke and science itself.
43 — The scientific debate over nuclear weapons was deliberately drawn out.
54 — The US government downplayed scientific findings on acid rain in the 1970s.
65 — The ozone layer hole remained under debate into the 1990s.
76 — The science behind global warming struggled for acceptance in the 1980s.
87 — In the early 2000s, a long-dormant pesticide debate was revived as an attack on environmental regulation.
98 — Final summary

Merchants of Doubt Summary & Overview

Merchants of Doubt (2011) examines some of the world’s major scientific debates on topics including the environment, smoking and nuclear weapons. These blinks will explain how a handful of extremely vocal scientists have heavily misrepresented these issues through the mainstream media, often with the goal of aiding corporate and industry interests.

Who Should Listen to Merchants of Doubt?

Anyone interested in politics, the media and public opinion
Journalists, activists and anyone with a social conscience

About the Author: Naomi Oreskes & Erik M. Conway

Naomi Oreskes teaches at Harvard University where she specializes in the history of science. She has previously spent 15 years as a professor of history and science studies at the University of California, San Diego, and is also respected authority on geophysics and global warming.

Erik M. Conway is a historian and author, and currently works at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.