xii, 372 pages ; 25 cm

""Doubt is our product," a cigarette executive once observed, "since it is the best means of competing with the 'body of fact' that exists in the minds of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy."" "In this expose, David Michaels reveals just how prevalent - and how effective - such strategies have become. He argues that to keep the public confused about the hazards posed by global warming, secondhand smoke, asbestos, lead, plastics, and many other toxic materials, industry executives have hired unscrupulous scientists and lobbyists to dispute the scientific evidence that would alert the public to these dangers. Their goal is the manufacture of doubt."--Jacket

Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-356) and index

The manufacture of doubt -- Workplace cancer before OSHA : waiting for the body count -- America demands protection -- Why our children are smarter than we are -- The enronization of science -- Tricks of the trade : how mercenary scientists mislead you -- Defending secondhand smoke -- Still waiting for the body count -- Chrome-plated mischief -- Popcorn lung : OSHA gives up -- Defending the taxicab standard -- The country has a drug problem -- Daubert : the most influential Supreme Court ruling you've never heard of -- The institutionalization of uncertainty -- The Bush administration's political science -- Making peace with the past -- Four ways to make the courts count -- Sarbanes-Oxley for science : a dozen ways to improve our regulatory system

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