The Institute of Advanced Studies presents a free lecture Merchants of Doubt: How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming , Professor of History and Science Studies, University of California, San Diego

‘Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway have demonstrated what many of us had long suspected: that the ‘debate’ over the climate crisis - and many other environmental issues - was manufactured by the same people who brought you ‘safe’ cigarettes. Anyone concerned about the state of democracy in America should read this book.’

Former US Vice President Al Gore, author of An Inconvenient Truth

In this lecture, Naomi Oreskes will discuss her book Merchants of Doubt (Bloomsbury 2010, co-authored by Erik M. Conway).

In Merchants of Doubt, Oreskes and Conway roll back the rug on the dark corner of the American scientific community, showing how ideology and corporate interests, aided by a too- compliant media, have skewed public understanding of some of the most pressing issues of our era.

The book tells the story of how a loose-knit group of high-level scientists and scientific advisers, with deep connections in politics and industry, ran effective campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific knowledge over four decades.

Remarkably, the same individuals surface repeatedly - some of the same figures who have claimed that the science of global Lecture Details warming is ‘not settled’ denied the truth of studies linking Date: Monday 22 November 2010 smoking to lung cancer, coal smoke to , and CFCs to the ozone hole. ‘Doubt is our product,’ wrote one tobacco Time: 6pm executive. These ‘experts’ supplied it. Venue: Social Sciences Lecture Theatre, UWA

Naomi Oreskes’ lecture will contribute to the public discussions The nearest car park is P3 off Hackett Entrance 1. about held by the Institute of Advanced Studies this year. The lecture is free and open to the public, no RSVP required. About Naomi Oreskes Merchants of Doubt will be available for sale from outside the lecture theatre before and after the event from 5.30pm. Naomi Oreskes is Professor of History and Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego. Institute of Advanced Studies

Her research focuses on the historical The University of Western Australia development of scientific knowledge, M021, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009 methods, and practices in the earth Tel +61 8 6488 1340 and environmental sciences, and on Email [email protected] understanding Web www.ias.uwa.edu.au and dissent.

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