The official launch of "A Disgrace to the Profession": The World Scientists - in Their Own Words - on Michael E Mann, His Hockey Stick, and Their Damage to Science: Volume One is less than a fortnight away. It's the story of the most influential "science" graph of the 21st century, and its impact on the "climate wars". I'll be talking about it, and about my pushback against the climate mullahs on the radio today, with Milt Rosenberg in Chicago, and tomorrow, with Michael Graham in Georgia, and Howie Carr across New England. See our On the Air box at right. Meanwhile, Tom Dilatush reviews the book:
My expectation was for a lightly annotated collection of quotes – amusing and entertaining, but perhaps not particularly enlightening.
The reality is much different.
First of all, Mark's additions to the quotes aren't just brief annotations. They are entertaining, witty expositions of the context for each of his featured quotes. He describes the person he's quoting and the situation in which the quote was made. Often the featured quote is buttressed by additional quotes, from the same person or others... An impressive array of what I'll call real scientists beautifully articulate why they are unimpressed with Dr. Mann's "science".
I thought of myself as fairly well-read on the subject of AGW... Nevertheless, Mark's new book was full of surprises for me.
Most of all, this book is an absolutely devastating summary critique of Michael Mann, both personally and professionally... I wonder how Dr. Mann perceives this book? Surely it must give him a taste – a bitter, foul taste – of what he's up against in a fight with Mark Steyn. That's not a battle I'd be eager to fight, that's for sure.
You can find the rest of Tom Dilatush's review here.
~I'm still chugging through Helsinki University Professor Antero Järvinen's review in Finnish to see if it's a two-Finnish-thumbs-up or down, but readers seem to be enjoying hearing world-class scientists' damning judgments of Mann rendered into Finnish, so here's a couple more:
"It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist":
Lätkämaila on suurin ja menestynein pseudotieteellinen petos, minkä olen nähnyt pitkän fyysikonurani aikana.
"There is no point in any scientific group endorsing this. We are not crooks. And yet if we endorse this we are becoming that.":
Minkään tieteellisen ryhmän ei ole järkevää tukea lätkämailaa. Me emme ole roistoja. Jos me tuemme sitä, meistä tulee roistoja.
If you're in a Helsinki restaurant and spot Mann and Phil Jones at the next table, you may find these phrases from the Berlitz Mannish-Finnish language course very useful.
Personally autographed copies of "A Disgrace to the Profession" are available right now at the SteynOnline bookstore, and I'm signing them as fast as I can. But, if you can live without my cheery greeting, you can pre-order it from Amazon in print and Kindle. It's already Number One on the Environmental Science hit parade in Australia. Profits from the book go to prop up my end of the forthcoming trial, which will be highly consequential for free speech in the United States - but, if that sounds too heavy, Josh's cartoons are a lark and well worth the price of admission.
~There are other ways to support Mark's side in the upcoming Mann vs Steyn trial of the century, 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.