Aside: Haven't logged in in over 2 months, due to move / etc. However, it's given me a chance to catch up on book reading, and I've started reading through a lot of books relating to climate, science, etc.
I'm going to occasionally post one-paragraph reviews of books I've gone through, and hopefully one or two recommendations will be helpful to people.
This time through, four reviews.
The Republican War on Science (Chris Mooney, 8/10)
Climate Change: Picturing the Science (Gavin Schmidt and Joshua Wolfe, 9.5/10)
Merchants of Doubt (Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, 8.5/10)
Furies of Calderon (Jim Butcher, 8/10) (for pleasure - good series!)
First, I'll start with the one that's perhaps the least-known to members here, but arguably the best of the lot. If you know anyone who is a skeptic on global warming, but is convincible, Climate Change: Picturing the Science is the way to go. Essays by multiple authors, paired with lots of great photography, it's easy to read and yet even the well-informed will likely learn something. Chapters 3 (Sea Changes, Anastasia Romanou) and 6 (Climate Drivers, Tim Hall) are particularly illuminating. It even includes some simple ways people can save $$ and save the environment, at the same time (I've found it's easiest to convince people to act when they end up saving money at the same time!). The only way in which it suffers is that a bit of its information is a bit "dated", in particular the dynamics of the ice sheets in the Antarctic (and the discussion of the political climate in the United States). This is in part because the book is also honest about the uncertainties, and they take great pains to go out on a limb. Almost as highly recommended in the end as Skeptical Science and Real Climate for good sources of accurate climate information which stand a chance at convincing skeptics (note: I love Climate Progress; however, Joe Romm's tone makes it a less convincing site to send skeptics too - no offense meant to him, there's a place for both types of advocacy :) ).
I would expect almost everyone here knows of The Republican War on Science, but this was the first time through for me. The book is well-researched, and it presents a very good thesis. I already knew of much of what he went over from my time in the sciences; however, I did not know all of it (in particular, the details of the Data Quality act, etc). Yet, unless he stuck it into one of his many footnotes, he missed a huge one - the funding level for science under the Bush admin was basically "flat", and this set back basic research in many areas. It perhaps did not fit into the overall thesis, but he could have put it into the stem cell discussion without it feeling out of place. Another place it could have been discussed is in tandem with Bush's downgrading of the influence of his science advisor. Other small gripes: I didn't always agree with Mooney's analysis, and his analysis was woven in so tightly with the factual narrative that it was hard sometimes to decouple the two areas and to be able to ask myself the question "Is his thesis supported, and do I agree with it?". This last aspect could be considered a "plus" to some people, but it isn't my own style, and I recognize that. The only other way in which The Republican War on Science suffers is that it's also a bit "dated" by now - his discussion on global warming denial, etc, can already have two more chapters written with just the events of the last three years.
Merchants of Doubt ends up being the "favorite cousin" of the Republican War on Science. It's newer - coming out just this year - and it focuses more on the behind-the-scenes players. It's got a great thesis, and it builds up a lot of support for it - in a nutshell, the exact tactics that were first used in the tobacco wars are being used now in the global warming "debate". The authors bring that thesis through other science-related topics including ozone depletion, acid rain, the "Star Wars" SDI of the Reagen era, and the banning of DDT. Many of the "players" come up time and time again in theozone depletionir discussion. The chapters on SDI, acid rain, DDT, and ozone depletion probably are the most illuminating, as the other stories are a bit better known. They also serve as an effective "bridge" from the beginning (tobacco) to the end (global warming) and they strengthen the thesis that this is deja vu all over again, helping to cut out support from the charge that some skeptics may make that "how do you know??". Merchants of Doubt suffers in two ways: first, I'd like to have seen more discussion of the global warming issue. Yes, it's been very, very well covered in other areas. But, as the largest "denial" campaign to date, they could have devoted even more to it (though, what they have is excellent). Second, they have a few small errors that I spotted, and though they will be corrected in a second printing, they can be annoying and distract a bit from the overall thesis. Still, if you really needed any more reasons to dislike the campaign against dealing with climate change, this book will supply it, easily.
A side effect of the latter two books, especially together, is increased disgust with the Reagen era's assault of science (though, notably, he was in charge when the Montreal Protocol was ushered through, and one cannot discount that in the analysis as a whole).
I highly recommend anything by Jim Butcher if you're a fantasy / SciFi genre fan. Furies of Calderon is the first in the Codex Alera, and I'm rereading it now. It's actually a better book the second time around (having read the entire series), since he sets up the rest of the series far better than I gave him credit for before.
I have a TON more books (all hail the public library!!), and I'll post them 3-4 at a time :).
Happy Reading!
PS: I haven't forgotten about my occasional chemistry series (for those who remember me from a couple months ago). Sometime after I get "trusted user" back I'll go back and write some of them(!).