Critical Focus | Science, What Science?
THE MICROSCOPE
2020, Volume 68:1, pp. 33–45
DOI
https://doi.org/10.59082/WEOL6496
AUTHOR
Brian J. Ford
EXCERPT
There was a time when science was everywhere, probing for truth, exposing hidden facts, and clarifying reality. That is (roughly) what I do in my day job, and it is the guiding principle behind this column. But it opened the door to exploitation, and people would sometimes appropriate the principle to suit themselves. They saw it as a way to patronize and confuse people with complex terms, as a means to claim large grants for small projects, and — above all — as a way of keeping the public firmly in their place. This is what I call “Nonscience.” It is a racket. And it is bigger now than ever before.