About

"Science Under Attack” is the website of Ralph B. Alexander, a retired physicist and a science writer who puts science above political correctness. The author of Science Under Attack: The Age of Unreason and Global Warming False Alarm, as well as several recent reports on weather extremes and global warming, Ralph has long been concerned about today’s abuse and rejection of science – as opposed to technology, which is thriving.

Although we pay lip service to science, the emphasis on empirical evidence and logic that distinguish true science from pseudoscience or other imitations is missing from much of the public scientific debate on topics like climate change, vaccination and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This blog will examine how science is currently under attack in discussion of these hot-button issues, as well as others ranging from evolution to dietary fat. Apart from forces attacking science from within, the blog will highlight the challenges from external influences such as political and economic forces, activism and religious beliefs.

Ralph grew up in Perth, Western Australia and received his PhD in physics from the University of Oxford (where they call it a DPhil). His thesis research in the interdisciplinary area of ion-solid interactions reflected his interest in a wide range of scientific subjects. Dr. Alexander has held a variety of positions in research, academia and industry over the course of his scientific career, and now lives in California.

Blog Header

The header portrays one of several historical attacks on the famous Museum at Alexandria, in Egypt. The Museum, which lasted for 700 years, was a research institution and storehouse for works of Greek science and literature, thought at one point to have contained more than half a million papyrus scrolls. Ancient physical attacks on the Museum are symbolic of the modern-day assault on science from politics, groupthink and other forces.

The evidence notepad emphasizes the primary importance of empirical evidence in science.