Dr Judith Curry of Georgia Tech, a scientist who has paid a great price for standing up to Michael E Mann and his Big Climate enforcers, has written a fascinating review of my new book "A Disgrace To The Profession". Here's what Dr Curry has to say:
The backstory on Mann vs Steyn is described in previous posts [link] and links therein. The short story is this. Mann is suing Steyn (and others) for defamation regarding a statement about 'the fraudulent hockeystick'. Steyn is countersuing...
Anthony Watts reminds me of this statement I made in a previous post: "Mark Steyn is formidable opponent. I suspect that this is not going to turn out well for you." This book certainly supports my statement.
The book is organized around quotes from Ph.D. scientists (100+) that have made remarks about Mann, either publicly in interviews, on blogs, or in private emails that were revealed through FOIA or unauthorized releases (e.g. Climategate, SkS). This is not just a compilation of quotes from the 'usual suspects'; I was unfamiliar with many of these individuals, and impressed by their credentials. Each chapter begins with an overview and context about the particular theme, then each subsection is devoted to a particular scientist, beginning with a brief biosketch of that scientist and including backstory and context.
There is much wit and plenty of zingers in Steyn's narrative (not sure if anyone helped him with the technical aspects of this; seems pretty solid).
Dr Curry focuses on the scientists who broadly support the "consensus" - ie, they're non-deniers - yet strongly reject Mann, his methods and his morality. In other words, even if you take Mann's side in the "climate wars", you don't really want him on your side at all. On the other hand, if you're one of his very few diehard supporters, Dr Curry makes an intriguing suggestion:
This certainly looks to me like the basis of a strong defense. With regards to Steyn's countersuit, if he makes a lot of money off this book, that would rather argue against large damages from his countersuit. JC message to AGW alarmists and Mann's supporters: buy Steyn's book, this will help diminish Steyn's case against Mann for large damages.
Dr Curry's theory is that it's harder for me to demand $30 million in damages from Mann if I've just made $30 million on a book about Mann. So her message to the handful of remaining Mann-boys around the Internet is: buy Steyn's book and you'll destroy his case! Go for it, Bob Ward, Greg Mann-Laden, Eli Rabett, David Appell, Barry Bickmore. Buy ten copies and really stick it to me!
Dr Curry concludes:
Apart from my own concerns about the hockey stick (Hiding the Decline), I am greatly concerned about Mann's bullying behavior inserting itself into the scientific process (collaboration, peer review, public communication). My concerns go beyond the general strategies of adversarial science. to what I regard as unethical behavior.
It is a sad state of affairs for climate science that this book had to be written (it was brought on by Michael Mann's lawsuit – without the lawsuit, Steyn obviously wouldn't have bothered). At a time when the U.S. and the world's nations are trying to put together an agreement to tackle climate change (for better or for worse), Steyn's book reminds everyone of Climategate, why the public doesn't trust climate scientists and aren't buying their 'consensus'... I hope that everyone will learn that adversarial science as practiced in its pathological form by Michael Mann doesn't 'pay' in the long run.
There follow hundreds of comments, some of them very perceptive, including one from "tonyb" suggesting that Josh's cartoons rather than my repellent prose are the real star of the book.
~Professor Antero Järvinen of the University of Helsinki has also reviewed the book but in Finnish. My Finnish is not what it was, so I'm working slowly through his review, but it's fun to see what some of his fellow scientists' damning judgments of Mann look like rendered in another language:
"The behavior of Michael Mann is a disgrace to the profession"?
Michael Mannin käytös on häpeäksi ammattikunnalle.
"A colossal mistake"?
Kolossaalinen moka.
"We now know that the hockey stick graph is fraudulent"?
Me tiedämme nyt, että lätkämaila on vilpillinen.
For my next book, I'm thinking of doing a Finnish phrase book consisting entirely of useful insults of Michael Mann to try on your Helsinki waiter.
I thank Professor Järvinen for his review. Our Finnish readers can find the whole thing here.
~Laura Rosen Cohen has never agreed that the pen is mightier than the sword, but, in this case, is willing to believe that the pen is mightier than the Stick.
~Meanwhile, Anthony Watts notes:
Steyn's book on Mann surges in Amazon rankings, leaving climate alarmism books in the dust
I'm glad to see that. We're still doing our exclusive early access to the book at SteynOnline, so its rise at Amazon is impressive considering it won't be available there - in print and Kindle - until September 1st. The paperback is selling so briskly that Amazon is already offering near-bestseller discounts, so if you don't want want to pay full freight and can live without my Professor Sir John Hancock, FRS, PhD, hop on over to Mr Bezos' joint and save yourself eight bucks. It's already Number One on the Climatology Hit Parade, with Climate Change: The Facts still at Number Eight, and Michael E Mann's Dreary Predictions - whoops, sorry, Dire Predictions - down at Number 14.
~On Saturday I'll be talking about the book north of the border with everyone's favorite piano-playing imam Andrew Lawton, live across Canada on The Roy Green Show, at 4pm Eastern/1pm Pacific. Check our On The Air box at top right for full details.
~There are other ways to support Mark's pushback against Big Climate, if you're so inclined:
1) STEYNONLINE GIFT CERTIFICATES
You can buy a gift certificate starting at $25 (and soaring way up from there), for yourself or your friends and family. The gift certificates have no expiration date, so if, in ten years' time, your favorite nephew has a sudden burning desire for $100 worth of Mark's disco CD, it'll still be valid. On the other hand, if you want to buy a certificate and sit on it until Mark wins the case, that works, too.
The gift certificates are available online here. Alternatively, US and Canadian customers can make a telephone purchase by calling (866) 799-4500 toll free from 8am to 3pm Eastern time on weekdays.
Aside from "A Disgrace To The Profession", he's written lots of other books, on free speech and much more. They're available individually or as part of various special offers.
3) EXCLUSIVE STEYN vs THE STICK TRIAL MERCHANDISE
Our "Steyn vs the Stick" and "Clash of Sticks" designs are available both on mousepads and coffee mugs and as T-shirts and sweat shirts.
