Naomi Oreskes: understanding the denial of science

Abstract

Social responses to anthropogenic climate change and the role of science in society are key concerns for Naomi Oreskes, Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. In her academic work and writing, Oreskes has explored how, and why, established scientific knowledge has become subject to vehement denial. In her 2010 book Merchants of Doubt, Oreskes and coauthor Erik M Conway showed that, for example, “climate change denial had nothing to do with flaws in the science, and had everything to do with market fundamentalism, political commitments to free market politics, and hostility to government action in the marketplace”, she explains.