Merchants of Doubt Characters

Along with Fred Seitz, S. Fred Singer is one of the two central “merchants of doubt” that Oreskes and Conway focus on in their book. He was an atmospheric physicist who worked… read analysis of S. Fred Singer

Along with S. Fred Singer, the physicist Frederick Seitz is one of the two main “merchants of doubt” whose stories stand at the center of Oreskes and Conway’s book. After working… read analysis of Frederick Seitz

Benjamin Santer is a leading climate scientist who specializes in using advanced statistical methods to analyze atmospheric data. He served as the primary author on a key chapter of the second official IPCC report, and… read analysis of Benjamin Santer

William Nierenberg was a successful oceanographer and nuclear physicist who helped develop the atomic bomb during World War II and later founded the George C. Marshall Institute with his friends and colleagues Fred Seitz and… read analysis of William Nierenberg

Roger Revelle was a distinguished oceanographer and climate scientist who is best known for being among the first to argue that humankind’s industrial CO2 emissions could cause global climate change. He advised the government extensively… read analysis of Roger Revelle

Carl Sagan was the most famous and influential astronomer of the 20th century. He is best known for popularizing science and researching the conditions that could produce extraterrestrial life. However, he also did significant research… read analysis of Carl Sagan

I. L. Baldwin was a bacteriologist and biological weapons researcher who wrote a critical review of Silent Spring in Science in 1962. While he agreed with all of Rachel Carson’s conclusions, he thought that… read analysis of I. L. Baldwin

Bert Bolin was a respected Swedish meteorologist who wrote an important early report on acid rain in 1971. He later helped found the IPCC and served as its first chair from 1988–1997. He was also… read analysis of Bert Bolin

Martin J. Cline is a prominent geneticist at UCLA who conducted groundbreaking biomedical research but also seriously violated scientific ethics rules in a 1980 experiment and worked extensively for the tobacco industry. He studied the… read analysis of Martin J. Cline

James E. Hansen is a leading climate scientist and global warming activist. He is well-known for his widely broadcasted 1988 testimony to Congress, which helped make global warming a matter of widespread public concern. Robert… read analysis of James E. Hansen

Robert Jastrow was a prominent NASA physicist who became a prominent “merchant of doubt” after retirement. A strong believer in free market capitalism, U.S. global power, and nuclear proliferation, he founded the George… read analysis of Robert Jastrow

Harold Johnston was the leading atmospheric chemist who first discovered that nitrogen oxide emissions from SSTs could deplete the atmosphere’s ozone layer. His finding led to more important work on ozone, including the studies that… read analysis of Harold Johnston

Gene E. Likens is the pioneering biologist and forest ecologist who led the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study in New Hampshire and first identified acid rain as a serious problem in North America through his research… read analysis of Gene E. Likens

Steven J. Milloy is a tobacco and fossil fuel lobbyist who has frequently appeared in the media to spread doubt about the dangers of DDT, ozone destruction, secondhand smoke, climate change, and more… read analysis of Steven J. Milloy

Dixy Lee Ray was a zoologist who served as the chair of the Atomic Energy Commission during the Nixon administration and later became the governor of Washington from 1977 to 1981. She was a firm… read analysis of Dixy Lee Ray

Sherwood Rowland was an atmospheric chemist who won the 1995 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his research proving that CFCs destroy Earth’s ozone layer. He also served on William Nierenberg’s panel to study acid… read analysis of Sherwood Rowland

Thomas Schelling was the Nobel Prize-winning economist who chaired the NAS’s second review panel on global warming. Based on the dubious assumption that future environmental destruction has little significant economic cost, Schelling concluded that… read analysis of Thomas Schelling

Edward Teller was a prominent but controversial nuclear physicist who played an important role in the development of the atomic bomb. Along with other physicists like Robert Jastrow and Fred Singer, Teller worked to… read analysis of Edward Teller

Reagan was the president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative system and consistently promoted corporate interests over environmental protection concerns. To this end, his administration helped suppress… read analysis of Ronald Reagan