"STATES OF FEAR: Science or Politics?" -- Best-selling Novelist Michael Crichton and Scientists to Discuss the Politicization of Science, San Francisco (11/15/05)
http://www.independent.org/events/detail.asp?eventID=111
Is environmental debate today, including global warming, biotechnology, and other issues, based on science or politics? Are popular accounts of such issues rooted in science or phantom risks? Are government policies focusing on the trivial while ignoring the real, and in the process wasting limited resources, crippling human innovation to address true dangers, and inviting tyranny? MICHAEL CRICHTON'S new bestseller, STATE OF FEAR, which discusses such issues, may in time be viewed as a landmark, both cautionary and prophetic. This very timely event will feature a major presentation by Dr. Crichton, along with a discussion by a panel of distinguished scientists, examining the increasing politicization of science.
FEATURED SPEAKER:
Michael Crichton, "the father of the techno-thriller," is the author of 21 books including THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, COMA, JURASSIC PARK, TIMELINE, THE LOST WORLD, PREY, and STATE OF FEAR, selling more than 150 million copies and translated into 36 languages, with twelve made into films. The recipient of an Emmy, a Peabody, and a Writer's Guild of America award for the TV series, ER, he is a graduate of Harvard Medical School, and has been Visiting Lecturer in Anthropology at Cambridge University; Henry Russell Shaw Traveling Fellow; post-doctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences; and Visiting Writer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
PANEL OF DISTINGUISHED SCIENTISTS:
Sallie L. Baliunas is a research astrophysicist and former Deputy Director and Director of Science Programs at Mount Wilson Observatory. The recipient of the Newton-Lacy-Pierce Prize and the Bok Prize, she received her Ph.D. in astrophysics from Harvard University.
William M. Gray is Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, head of the Tropical Meteorology Project at CSU, and a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society.
George H. Taylor is the State Climatologist for Oregon and Professor of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University.
WHEN:
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Program: 8 p.m.
Author book signing after program
WHERE:
Hotel Nikko
222 Mason Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
For a map and directions, see
http://www.hotelnikkosf.com/page.asp?pid=8
TICKETS: Preferred seating, $65; regular seating, $35; Independent Institute/World Affairs Council Members, $25. Reserve tickets and books at http://www.independent.org/store/events/event_detail.asp?eventID=111.
Praise for Michael Crichton's latest bestseller, STATE OF FEAR:
"In STATE OF FEAR, Michael Crichton delivers a lightening technopolitical thrillerSevery bit as informative as it is entertaining."
--THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
"Michael Crichton's new book will appeal to your inner techie."
--WASHINGTON POST
"STATE OF FEAR is a valuable education in the guise of entertainment. Do yourself a favor and buy it."
--PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
For more information about this event, see
http://www.independent.org/events/detail.asp?eventID=111