Yesterday, I received my advance copy of this book, and after spending about an hour with it, I Tweeted this:

Just received advance copy of book “A Disgrace to the Profession” from @ MarkSteynOnline all I can say is: Mann, that’s gonna leave a mark!

And today, after spending a full day with it, that statement still holds true.

I remember when Mann decided to sue NRO and Steyn for defamation, and despite all the laughing at the time there was this prescient thought from Dr. Judith Curry:

“Mark Steyn is formidable opponent. I suspect that this is not going to turn out well for you.”

Well, Part 1, or should I say, Volume 1 of that prediction is now in press. It’s a scorcher, hilarity, and a tale of science and politics gone awry all in one.

Steyn realized the word of a political pundit like himself can only travel so far in certain circles, and in a brilliant move, he has gathered a compendium of what other scientists have to say about Mann’s work on the “hockey stick”. And of course, he’s had it illustrated by Josh. My favorite is Mann as Yoda, wielding a hockey stick rather than a light saber, seen in this collage below:

The book has twelve chapters plus an introduction, prologue, and a postscript. In it. You’ll find quotes from scientists like this one:

and this one:

And there are many, many, more even harsher than that. Such as this one:

The final word of the last chapter goes to Dr. Judith Curry:

And there’s even a final chapter called:

…where you can read what the IPCC has to say about it. I’ll give Steyn credit, he strives for some balance here, but there’s just so few positive reviews that he could barely fill that chapter, much like there were no amicus curiae briefs filed with the DC Circuit Court on Mann’s behalf. I suspect many science professionals know what they are dealing with here, but fear coming forward. After all, who wants to be sued by Dr. Mann, and have discovery drag on for years?

I do like the chapter “Mann Overboard!” taken from one of our WUWT headlines by that name.

I quipped at the time this silliness with lawsuits all got started that “a Mann’s got to know his limitations” (With apologies to Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan). We’ll know soon if any of this has sunk in to Dr. Mann’s understanding of what he is really up against.

So far, Mann’s predictable supporters haven’t weighed in, except for the borderline Harvard man, Dr. Russell Seitz, who didn’t bother to buy the book (Amazon notes “Verifed Purchaser” in such reviews), but has plenty to say about it on Amazon (see below). Like the hockey stick itself, Seitz’s review is done by proxy, not by actually reading it. It’s sad and yet hilarious that this sycophant posted a review for a book that not only he apparently didn’t read, but wasn’t even available yet for shipping!

That right there symbolizes the whole problem of climate zealotry in a nutshell: it’s what they believe is there, and they won’t look beyond their own beliefs to form rational opinions, and so cling to the irrational tribalism that has polarized the climate issue.

I recommend Steyn’s book highly, because it really gets to the heart of the matter about that lack of scientific rigor in climate science that has become a poster child for “noble cause corruption”.

You can pre-order it on Amazon here, shipping starts August 14 15th.

The text from Amazon says:

The “hockey stick” graph of global temperatures is the single most influential icon in the global-warming debate, promoted by the UN’s transnational climate bureaucracy, featured in Al Gore’s Oscar-winning movie, used by governments around the world to sell the Kyoto Accord to their citizens, and shown to impressionable schoolchildren from kindergarten to graduation. And yet what it purports to “prove” is disputed and denied by many of the world’s most eminent scientists. In this riveting book, Mark Steyn has compiled the thoughts of the world’s scientists, in their own words, on hockey-stick creator Michael E Mann, his stick and their damage to science. From Canada to Finland, Scotland to China, Belgium to New Zealand, from venerable Nobel Laureates to energetic young researchers on all sides of the debate analyze the hockey stock and the wider climate wars it helped launch.

After you buy it and receive it, I recommend posting an Amazon review based on what you’ve read, unlike the irascible Dr. Russell Seitz, who apparently posts fake reviews by proxy.

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