Around 2 years ago, I was honoured to be invited by geologist and long-time educator Tom Farmer to collaborate on a textbook that expounded on the principles of climate science as well as put climate change denial in perspective. That collaboration has now been published by Springer; the textbook is Climate Change Science: A Modern Synthesis (volume one of a two volume set).
The textbook is written for the introductory science student at the undergraduate college level. We describe the discipline of climate change science, and individual climate scientists whose expertise spans Earth history, geology, geography, biology, oceanography, astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering and more. We've attempted to cover a variety of the empirical evidence for and the effects of Earth's changing climate.
Significantly (and unique in climate textbooks to my knowledge), there is a detailed analysis of the phenomenon of climate change denial. Students learning climate science will need to put into proper context the myths and attacks on science conducted by those who deny the scientific consensus. One chapter is "Understanding Climate Change Denial", examining the social, psychological and rhetorical aspects of climate change denial. Another is "Rebuttals to Climate Myths" that debunks many of the most common climate myths (and yes, I made sure we adhered to the principles of the Debunking Handbook).
The book is available in hardcover and in e-book form (PDF format). You can also pre-order the hardcover from Amazon. You can find out more details including the full Table of Contents at the Springer website.
Tom Farmer has over 20 years of experience teaching environmental sciences at the undergraduate level, at the University of Virginia, University of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky University and Howard University. He wrote the initial curriculum and taught Geology at James Madison University and served as Associate Editor for The Professional Geologist. He has published 3 books: Earth Materials and Earth Processes, The Groundwater Monitoring System and Hydrogeology at Love Canal and Peat Bogs and Hydrology in the Lake Superior Region.
John Cook is the creator of Skeptical Science, winner of the Australian Museum 2011 Eureka Prize for the Advancement of Climate Change Knowledge. He is currently a research fellow in climate communication at the Global Change Institute, University of Queensland. He co-authored the book Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand with Haydn Washington and the online booklet The Debunking Handbook with Stephan Lewandowsky.
Posted by John Cook on Tuesday, 22 January, 2013
 |
The Skeptical Science website by Skeptical Science is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. |