As if it weren’t bad enough that we face the existential challenges of climate change and pandemics—which will likely increase in frequency and severity due to climate change—but that we, at the same time, must battle the forces of antiscience that exacerbate those very problems—and are even bringing back once-eliminated diseases like measles.

Taking on these forces is the unenviable task taken up by two of the world’s leading scientists: Michael E. Mann, climatologist and geophysicist, and Peter J. Hotez, scientist, physician, and Director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics.

In between advancing human knowledge and developing life-saving vaccinations for the least privileged, Mann and Hotez have been fighting a decades-long rearguard battle against nonspecialist ignoramuses who sow scientific doubt purely for political and financial gain. What they’ve learned along the way about this well-funded antiscience movement—and how to fight back—is presented in this book.

In a nutshell, here’s the problem: Starting at the top, insanely wealthy plutocrats and state actors that stand to lose billions from climate and pandemic responses fund campaigns, political and scientific, that challenge established, consensus science so that collective inaction allows their businesses to operate unimpeded and without consequence. Because they are so well-funded—examples being the Koch brothers, Elon Musk, and Rupert Murdoch—they can essentially bribe venial politicians and scientists (always a slim minority) to cast doubt on scientific findings they don’t like. They then rely on idiotic influencers and, in some cases, the mainstream media itself, to amplify the pseudoscience into general acceptance among the population at large.

These are the “five forces” outlined in the book: plutocrats, petrostates, pros, phonies, and the press (I would add the populace and public education, but more on that later). You will learn exactly who is funding antiscience propaganda, exactly who it benefits and how, all the methods by which false information is amplified, and, also, as if by second thought, what the science actually says about climate change, infectious disease, and vaccination.

Don’t be surprised if you become annoyed at the fact that we shouldn’t even need to be discussing any of this. Idiotic politicians and plutocrats set the agenda about what we talk about so that we never get around to having serious conversations about what to do about real issues, because any kind or response to climate or public health emergencies necessarily places restrictions on business activity. The incentives here are so obvious and against the public’s interest that it hardly seems necessary that we even need a book to explain it.

But we do, clearly, because right-wing propaganda is so effective that the average person knows nothing about its origins, motivations, or methods. One such method, highlighted by the authors, is the tendency of the right to preemptively accuse the other side of that which it itself is guilty. So when Hotez works on developing low-cost or free hookworm-anemia vaccines for the poorest people in Africa, the right incoherently attacks him for prioritizing financial gain when it’s clearly they who want unimpeded and limitless power and profits. Propaganda lesson number one: divert attention away from the real problem so no one looks too closely at you.

The authors do a phenomenal job of listing the five forces of the antiscience movement and their methods. But they miss a sixth, maybe even seventh, element: the populace and public education. We should remember that all the propaganda in the world wouldn’t work on an educated population. So those that repeatedly fall for conspiracy theories shoulder much of the blame, as do our public schools that fail to teach the appropriate skills in critical thinking, philosophy, media literacy, and the scientific method. The authors don’t sufficiently touch on these areas, but they do note how conspiracy theories overwhelmingly target the least educated.

And that brings me to my biggest criticism of the book. Hotez had previously declined a debate with RFK Jr. on the Joe Rogan podcast, under the rationale that vaccine-skeptics with no actual credentials should not be legitimated. But this runs counter to the point the authors make in the book that scientists need to be more visible and do a better job communicating to the public.

Yes, it’s true that RFK has no business debating scientists and that the playing field is not equal. But the people that know this are not the listeners of the Joe Rogan podcast. And that’s the point; you’re not educating the general public by submitting academic papers and speaking at scientific conferences. Or by appearing on CNN. You convince the people you really need to be convincing by appearing on the platforms they pay attention to. For most vaccine skeptics, that means right-wing media, and you need to debate right-wing propagandists, whether you like it or not.

Just as when Jordan Peterson gets embarrassed when debating atheists, I’m sure RFK would likewise get shown up when discussing a topic he has no credentials in or understanding of with a real expert. The worst case scenario is that Rogan’s listeners won’t change their mind after the debate, but they certainly won’t without the debate, either. If he had debated him, the best-case scenario is that Hotez wins over a few listeners with the capacity to follow an argument and the evidence.

If the authors want to win the war on antiscience, they must be willing to take on its most prominent voices, even if those voices lack respectability. And they always will lack respectability, because otherwise they wouldn’t represent anti-scientific opposition. This doesn’t mean you have to debate every science-denier you encounter, but the most prominent ones cannot be ignored.

This book couldn’t have been published at a better time given the state of the world. It is critically improvements more people read it and gain perspective on what is happening and how to fight for science.

This is a great book. It was highly informative and, at the same time, chilling, as we are seeing in real-time the effects of science under siege. The book is well-paced and written in a conversational tone. Hotez and Mann pull no punches; their message is direct and blunt. And they make suggestions for action, many of which they are already doing and leading by example. This book is a must-read for anyone concerned about the future of science in America and elsewhere. Thank you to Netgalley and PublicAffairs for the advance reader copy.