Below, co-authors Michael Mann and Peter Hotez share five key insights from their new book, Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces that Threaten Our World.
Michael is presidential distinguished professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and Media. He contributed to the award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize and was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2020.
Peter is dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also the codirector of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the COVID-19 vaccine and is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine.
What’s the big idea?
Anti-science is humankind’s foremost threat. You’d think it’s climate change or pandemics, but any hope of successfully overcoming those crises starts with battling through a minefield of misinformation and propaganda against science. Until we defeat the forces of anti-science, our ability to apply practical, reasonable solutions to current and impending disasters is severely handicapped.
1. The threat of anti-science.
Over the past decade, the world has suffered catastrophic losses in human life from pandemics and irreparable damage from the effects of climate change. Jointly, these two crises pose an unprecedented threat to our future. To make matters worse, their impacts are mutually reinforcing and are gaining in both strength and potency. In the absence of concerted interventions, the situation will grow far worse in the years ahead.
These dual drivers of societal risk alone would constitute humankind’s most daunting test. But the situation is even worse because our efforts to respond to the existential challenges of pandemics and the climate crisis are hampered by a common underlying threat: politically and ideologically motivated opposition to science from powerful special interests. There is a highly organized, well-funded campaign of anti-science, and it has now emerged as its own deadly force. We must contend with orchestrated disinformation on a diverse range of topics ranging from genetically modified foods or needless nutritional supplements to fluoridation of drinking water. The list grows day by day.
2. Five key forces of anti-science.
There are five key anti-science forces that threaten our planet. We call them The Five P’s:
- Plutocrats
- Authoritarian Petrostates (assisted by polluters and some politicians)
- The “Pros” (who use their professional credentials to promote unsupported views)
- Propagandists (who amplify anti-science on social media and other venues)
- The Press (including even the mainstream press)
Together, these forces constitute a vast and complex web of hate speech, lies, and public deception. This anti-science superstorm is causing loss of human life on a massive scale and threatens our entire planet.
3. Anti-science enables disaster.
In the U.S., consequences of climate and pandemic/vaccine denialism became starkly apparent in 2025. In regard to the former, we saw unprecedented property destruction from the Los Angeles wildfires that wiped out entire sections of the city, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. Also, the death toll from summer flash floods in river systems, such as in Texas, could exceed 200 people. The summer/fall may also see a resurgence of mosquito-borne illnesses, such as West Nile virus, dengue, chikungunya, Zika, or even yellow fever.
As for vaccine denialism, the U.S. is experiencing its worst resurgence of measles in 33 years, predominantly the result of a massive four-state measles epidemic that began in West Texas in January 2025. So far, it has resulted in almost 100 hospitalizations and two deaths of unvaccinated school-aged children. This occurred on the heels of 200,000 Americans needlessly dying because they refused COVID vaccinations in 2021-22.
4. A brain drain is being forecast.
Politically motivated attacks on science also threaten the future of scientific research in the U.S. They include significant cuts to the National Institute of Health and the National Science Foundation funding, as well as a lack of transparency regarding grant security. In other words, we are seeing both actual cuts to government-supported science and a type of psychological warfare of uncertainty.
In addition, prominent research universities such as Harvard, Columbia, and the University of California system are being threatened with billions of dollars in losses to their research enterprise. The net effect: Young people now rethink pursuing careers in science, while midcareer scientists have begun to apply for positions in the UK, European Union, Australia, and Canada. An unprecedented brain drain is being forecast.
“Young people now rethink pursuing careers in science.”
We are also seeing witch-hunt-style attacks against scientists play out in congressional hearings as prominent American scientists are hauled in front of C-SPAN cameras to be humiliated for the sole crime of helping humanity through scientific research. This, too, will accelerate an already concerning brain drain. The U.S. is a nation built on the strength of our research universities and institutions. Dismantling this infrastructure will weaken our national security.
5. We face a battle against forces of darkness.
The Lord of the Rings provides a useful metaphorical framing for our plight. The Ring of Power? The fossil fuels that empower authoritarians, petrostates, and plutocrats. The Dark Lord Sauron we are fighting is the polluter/petrostate juggernaut. They pose a threat to the planet (climate change) as well as to us (promoting deadly health behaviors). Just as the Ring had to be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom, the coal, natural gas, and oil that imperil us today must be kept in the ground—together with a cesspool of deadly health disinformation. And just as with Saruman, the old “friend” turned foe, our press (and media) have been increasingly unhelpful or outright malicious in the narratives they promote. The Uruk-hai and Orcs are the politicians, pros, and propagandists down in the trenches of social media, parroting and spreading anti-science.
So, we must do battle against the forces of darkness, fighting back against a malevolent movement that represents all that is bad in the world: fascism, authoritarianism, racism, misogyny, and bigotry. Antiscientific disinformation is this enemy’s preferred weapon. We do this not because our success is guaranteed. Given the forces mobilized against us, we are clearly the underdog. And no White Wizard will come to our rescue. But we have truth and justice on our side, and the stakes couldn’t be greater. We fight for a livable planet, for us, our children, and future generations—because it’s worth fighting for.
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