Potential Discussion: Taken By Storm
It probably doesn’t surprise anyone out there that I consider Milton Friedman one of the greatest minds of our century. There few philosophical scientists who are both profoundly brilliant and successful in their own field that have also have influenced mankind and public policy for the better. Genius’ like Stephen Hawking deserve all the credit due to their discoveries but at the end of the day a black hole doesn’t help anyone. Currently anyway.
As Alan Greenspan once said, “There are very few people over the generations who have ideas that are sufficiently original to materially alter the direction of civilization. Milton is one of those very few people.”
One of the things that Friedman was known for was encouraging people to discuss issues. His documentaries called “Free to Choose” involving a panel discussion at the end composed of people from all sides of an issue are still relevant to today.
In order to honor the memory of this great scientist, I am proposing that the few of you who crawl into the dangerous lair of my blog, entertain each other in a discussion of an interesting book called “Taken by Storm: The Troubled Science, Policy, and Politics of Global Warming” during the end of this year. Hence I’ll give you some time to read it, I’ll write a short review, and then we can discuss it and see what everyone thinks. I think it would be fun to do this instead of everyone not having a chance to check it out and taking my word for things.
Some points on Taken by Storm:
- Get the 2007 version. Its been updated.
- Main Author is Dr. Christopher Essex a professor of applied mathematics and theoretical physics at University of Western Ontario. He works on computational models such as climate models, and was a NSERC fellow at the Canadian Climate Center.
- Dr. Ross McKitrik is a professor of economics at University of Guelph and specializes in economic analysis of air pollution, environmental policy and climate change.
- The book was the 2002 winner of the Canadian Donner Prize in public policy.
I would like, in the future, for everyone to watch the free “Free to Choose” videos one day and hold a discussion on them. It would be a neat experience.
Anyone in?
