Science for Sale: How the US Government Uses Powerful Corporations and Leading Universities to Support Government Policies, Silence Top Scientists, Jeopardize Our Health, and Protect Corporate Profits

by David L. Lewis

When Speaker Newt Gingrich greeted Dr. David Lewis in his office overlooking the National Mall, he looked at Dr. Lewis and said: “You know you’re going to be fired for this, don’t you?” “I know,” Dr. Lewis replied, “I just hope to stay out of prison.” Gingrich had just read Dr. Lewis’s commentary in Nature, titled “EPA Science: Casualty of Election Politics.” Three years later, and thirty years after Dr. Lewis began working at EPA, he was back in Washington to receive a Science Achievement Award from Administrator Carol Browner for his second article in Nature. By then, EPA had transferred Dr. Lewis to the University of Georgia to await termination—the Agency’s only scientist to ever be lead author on papers published in Nature and Lancet.

The government hires scientists to support its policies; industry hires them to support its business; and universities hire them to bring in grants that are handed out to support government policies and industry practices. Organizations dealing with scientific integrity are designed only to weed out those who commit fraud behind the backs of the institutions where they work. The greatest threat of all is the purposeful corruption of the scientific enterprise by the institutions themselves. The science they create is often only an illusion, designed to deceive; and the scientists they destroy to protect that illusion are often our best. This book is about both, beginning with Dr. Lewis’s experience, and ending with the story of Dr. Andrew Wakefield.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Politics

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 3, 2014

Reviews

[Bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book makes some very important points and does expose some serious problems in the EPA and other research venues, but it is poorly enough written that I soon lost interest. Some good editing could have reduced the length of this book in half (maybe more) without losing anything. In fact, editing it down would make it have more impact. As it is I felt like I was reading the same things 3-4 times over. This is partly due to the author's justified anger over how he was treated as a whistle blower. I was also turned off a bit by his advocacy for Andrew Wakefield, the scientist behind the MMR vaccine/autism scandal. Although I can partly agree with Lewis' assessment of the Wakefield controversy, i.e. that Wakefield was unjustly charged with fraud, Lewis also seems to hint that there may have been something to do with the link to autism. Considering that no other research has turned up any link to autism, and that we now know that autism begins prenatally, there is no scientific sense in even still suspecting any sort of link.

[Wee Lassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy cow was this book good. I found it really tapped into my righteous anger.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The government hires scientists to support its policies; industry hires them to support its business; and universities hire them to bring in grants that are handed out to support government policies and industry practices. Organizations dealing with scientific integrity are designed only to weed out those who commit fraud behind the backs of the institutions where they work. The greatest threat of all is the purposeful corruption of the scientific enterprise by the institutions themselves. The science they create is often only an illusion, designed to deceive; and the scientists they destroy to protect that illusion are often our best.” - in Science for Sale by David L. Lewis, PhD (2014)

Just when you think it can't be any worse, a book like Science for Sale dryly reveals that the bureaucratic and political corruption of the Washington alphabet agencies is beyond your wildest imaginings.

With a forward by Marc Edwards, whistleblower over lead in the water in 2004 Washington DC and 2015 Flint Michigan, Science for Sale explains with the detail and clarity only possible from a top tier microbiologist like author David L. Lewis, that the EPA, FDA, USDA, CDC, etc. are beyond corrupt. They collude with polluters to poison our soil with biosolids, residential & industrial waste products they treat to "sludge magic" in order to market it as a safe soil to use in playgrounds and agriculture, and with reporters to destroy careers of scientist whistleblowers.

If you want to have any idea over what is going on with the environmental crises and social unrest over "public health" mandates, you must read this book.

[Rob Pruden · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author makes a very important contribution to the notion that when government and industry are involved science so often is severely compromised. However he beats it to death telling the same tales over and over to the point where I lost interest. Book could have benefitted from some serious editing.

[J Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling and courageous testimonial of the compromise of integrity in government "science."

[Deirdre E Siegel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant… SUA living in off around the unproperly treated by-products of human and animal waste, unhygienic safety standards without trialled testing, court cases with paid for verdicts for the profit before people crowd, the list goes on.
A sad indictment of a country’s administration more than willing to experiment on its citizens
in order to add zeros to a specific demographic because they can.
Thank you for your collection of words David L Lewis PhD and your eloquence Stephen Hoye,
very much appreciated gentlemen. :-)

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was hard to give this book 4 stars because I didn't like what I was reading. Our government is so corrupt. Ugh.

[Richard Willsea · Rating 1 out of 5]

An inside baseball story of the EPA....

[Bri Ziegenhagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this for the tea on sludge