Reality Check

Recipient of the 2013 James Shea Award of the National Association of Geology Teachers for outstanding writing and editing in the geosciences. Donald R. Prothero is Emeritus Professor of Geology at Occidental College and Lecturer in Geobiology at the California Institute of Technology. He has published 32 books, including Rhinoceros Giants: The Paleobiology of Indricotheres (IUP, 2013); Earth: Portrait of a Planet; The Evolution of Earth; Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters; Catastrophes!; and After the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals (IUP, 2006).

Prothero's treatise will give the science-minded something to cheer about, a brief summary of the real data that supports so many critical aspects of modern life.(Publishers Weekly) The shabby tactics of science denialists sparked this astute exposition of what we lose when science is sidelined. . . . Ultimately, Prothero argues, by claiming that clear findings on climate change, biodiversity loss and overpopulation are false, deniers inch us closer to catastrophic planetary tipping points.(Nature) Strongly recommended for popular-science readers who want better to be able to explain and defend science and scientific methods to others.(Library Journal) Reality Check is an entertaining, thought-provoking, and informative read.(Reports of the National Center for Science Education)

• 1. Reality CheckIntroductionBelief vs. Reality2. Science, our Candle in the DarknessA World TransformedWhat Is Science?Baloney DetectionWhom Can We Trust?3. Selling Out Science"Cancer by the Carton"The Truth Will Set You Free—If You Can Find ItSecondhand Smoke Kills, TooStar Wars vs. Nuclear Winter—How To Crucify Carl Sagan4. Making the Environment the Enemy: Acid Rain, the Ozone Hole, and the Demonization of Rachel CarsonThe Tragedy of the CommonsAcid Rain: Death from the SkiesThe Ozone Hole: Another Environmental Crisis ResolvedRachel Carson and DDT: How Far Will the Anti-Environmentalists Go?5. Warm Enough for You?Political Hot AirGlobal Climate Change: the Scientific EvidenceThe Global Climate Denialist ConspiracyIt's all Politics—and Our Planet Is the Hostage6. Gimme that Old Time Religion: Creationism and the Denial of Humanity's Place in NatureThe Battle that Never EndsWhy Do We Say Evolution Is Real?What Is Creationism?What Is Intelligent Design Creationism?The Creationists' Standard (Discredited) ArgumentsWhy Should We Care?7. Jenny's Body Count: Playing Russian Roulette with Our ChildrenThe "Good Old Days"The Anti-VaxxersVaccines and Autism: Is There a Link?Playing Russian Roulette—With Other People's Children8. Victims of Modern Witch Doctors: AIDS DenialismThe Strangest Denialism of AllThe Scourge of AfricaIgnorance that Kills: AIDS DenialismDenying Death9. If it Quacks like a Quack: Snake-Oil Con Artists in an Era of Medical ScienceModern Snake-Oil SalesmenHomeopathy: The "Water Cure" RevisitedBack-Cracking: The Chiropractic Con GameWhere is the Evidence?10. Down the Slope of Hubbert's Curve: The End of Cheap Oil and Natural ResourcesThe Never-Ending Oil CrisisThe Wealth of NationsThe End of Cheap OilWhat Do We Do?11. Crowded Enough for You? Human Overpopulation and its ConsequencesThe Ticking Time BombOnce Upon a Time . . . Do the Math!In Growth We TrustThe Limits of Human PopulationOur Fellow Planetary Passengers: Do They Count?12. Rejection of Reality: How Denial of Science Threatens Us AllUnscientific AmericaIs our Children Learning Science?Why Do They Do It?IdiocracyConsequencesIndex