When I was in high school, I was taught that DDT is dangerous. That this was a scientifically proven fact. DDT caused cancer, and it caused the thinning of egg shells in predatory birds. Thus it was responsible for the near-extinction of the bald eagle, the peregrine falcon, and other raptors.

Claims are now appearing (at least according to this site) that there's no evidence to support these "scientific" assertions. Yet I was taught them as "facts" when in school, and to this day I have never seen an official retraction. According to Steven T. Milloy, the ban was the product of a lying scientist who died last summer. Ron Bailey also pointed out that Rachel Carson's theories, while wrong, are still being invoked at the cost of millions of third world lives.

Millions died because science lied?

(Some scientists are still claiming that DDT is dangerous.)

Needless to say, all of this pisses me off bigtime.

Where is science?

A more proper question should be what is science?

I have no idea. If science is a form of politics, I can handle that. Much as I hate politics, I accept the fact that it is battleground of opinion. Things like facts and truth are often of secondary importance. It's all a game, and it can be a form of art.

If science is the same thing, then how on earth can I say that I hate science? I should enjoy watching scientists in one camp launch ad hominem attacks against scientists in the other camp, and yell at each other like schoolboys. It ought to delight me to see a Dreyfus-style circling of the wagons by scientists whose bogus theories caused millions to die.....

Maybe I really don't hate science after all. Maybe I only hate it when it masquerades as truth, and scientists pose as bearers of the truth.

At least when politicians do that, people laugh.

UPDATE: Is my problem maybe that I'm expecting too much of science? After all, students nowadays (at least at the Julian Thomas school) are taught that it's OK to be wrong in science:

Nearly 90 students at Julian Thomas are participating, many for the first time.

"It's amazing how enthusiastic they are," said Ruth Navis, school science specialist.

Fifth-grader Shaquanda Hollins, 12, tested whether Kool-Aid or water froze faster. Her hypothesis, that water would freeze faster, proved wrong, but she was still excited to show off her handiwork at the fair.

"It's cool," she said. "You put all your work into it and stuff, and then lots of people get to see it."

Completing the projects was a lesson in responsibility and time management, Navis said. Some students also had to cope with experiments that didn't turn out quite the way they expected.

"In science, you can be wrong, and that's OK," Navis told her students. "But what did you learn from that?"

It's probably a total coincidence that just today at the same school, an 8 year old beat the principal with a stick:

Apmann approached the student when she saw him carrying a large pole - about 28 inches long and 1½ inches in diameter - on school grounds, Macemon said. When she went to take away the pole, the boy started swinging it at her. The boy struck Apmann several times before he was subdued by other staff members.

The pole, recovered by police, was broken into three pieces.

The boy was being held Thursday at the Racine County Juvenile Detention Center. He told police he brought the pole from home as protection from other students, but did not explain why he attacked Apmann, Macemon said.

Precautions were taken at the Julian Thomas on Thursday, said Linda Flashinski, Unified's director of communication and public affairs.

Outside doors were locked and students remained in their classrooms, except for specialty classes, Flashinski said. There were no recesses and students ate lunch in classrooms. A crisis counselor was available for students and staff.

"Dr. Ann Laing, assistant superintendent for elementary education, spent the day at Julian Thomas to oversee and assist staff and students through the day," Flashinski said.

Hey, it's OK!