John Cook is the Gandalf of science communication. Every time science hobbits like me get stuck fighting some invincible myth, he appears out of nowhere and shows us how it’s done.
Josh Willis, NASA Climate Scientist, Hobbit Nerd
Do what I did: get one copy for yourself and another one or two to have lying around somewhere as a conversation starter and/or pass around to others. My hope is that the book with its engaging content based on scientific facts will help to break climate silence by encouraging people to actually talk about climate change with others – one of the most important activities anybody concerned about its impacts can do to raise awareness.
Such a thorough look at climate science, and all the misinformation surrounding it. I wish it had been available when I started working on climate change, but I’m still extremely grateful that it’s around now!
Adam Levy (@ClimateAdam)
While its cartoon format makes this book widely accessible and even fun to read, its content is very serious, scientifically rigorous, well researched, with an original contribution from the author. All this to help us develop the cognitive capacity to decipher and understand the tactics used by climate change deniers, and counter them, a skill that is becoming so crucial one could say – without exaggeration – that it’s of vital importance for mankind’s survival. A must read.
Pascal Diethelm
Every page has a delightfully different layout incorporating text in different places and shapes, cartoons, and callouts, in text and in cartoons. The result is an easy and even fun read, racking up points at every turn. It is bright and cheery, in steep contrast to the subject matter. That alone makes it a worthy entry on the climate shelf.
People are always asking me, “What’s the best source for debunking the claims of climate change deniers?” Now I have an easy answer: buy a copy of John Cook’s new book, Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change.
Michael E. Mann, Penn State University,
Co-author of The Madhouse Effect
We all have that grumpy uncle, or neighbor, or old college friend, who says climate change is just a bunch of hooey. Finally, here’s a book that takes them on. Are climate scientists part of a secret global cabal to drain government funding? Is the data manufactured out of hockey sticks? Surely a little smoking (fossil fuels) is good for our health! This funny and factual walk through climate science and its impacts — and common arguments against them — will leave you informed, recharged, and excited to see the sequel: Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Solutions. I can’t wait!
Katharine Hayhoe, Texas Tech University
This book is an impressive work of art as well as an insightful comedy piece that effectively exploits cracks in climate denial arguments. Through this illustrated guide, John Cook capably pokes, prods and draws attention to incongruous, mythical, false, and contradictory claims made by a proverbial ‘cranky uncle’ in all our lives. From imagining US President Donald Trump as a climate communicator who proposes to build a sea wall and make the fish pay for it, to offering witty ‘sciencesplaining’ jokes throughout the chapters, this Cook book provides a recipe for both laughing and learning. In so doing, John Cook has creatively assembled a set of new and compelling pathways into knowing about and engaging with the challenges of climate change in the 21st century.
Max Boykoff, Author of Who Speaks for the Climate?
Everyone needs to be able to have a good laugh about climate change; this rare book provides it. It also answers many of your pressing questions, such as what to tell your crazy Uncle Joe when he insists at Thanksgiving dinner that climate change is a liberal hoax. Thank goodness for this book!
Naomi Oreskes, Author of Merchants of Doubt, The Collapse of Western Civilization
Sometimes you have to laugh at how ridiculous science denial is. John Cook’s new book helps us all laugh and learn, and in doing so transforms hard conversations into opportunities to communicate and connect. I’ll be talking with my own Uncle after reading this book.
Sarah Myhre, Founder, Rowan Institute
Most of us have a ‘cranky uncle’, even if it’s an aunt or a cousin. Perhaps we feel a bit cranky ourselves when we think about climate change and all its complexities. This entertaining book is the perfect antidote to climate confusion. ‘Cranky Uncles Vs. Climate Change’ treats its heavy topic with a light touch. It’s packed with both humor and serious information. Read this book and you’ll find your spirits boosted and your knowledge bank bolstered—and perhaps your cranky uncle will too.
Bob Henson, Author of The Thinking Person’s Guide to Climate Change
Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change is a fun way to learn about climate science and the psychology of denial. Come for the cartoons; stay for the science!
Dana Nuccitelli, Author of Climateology vs Pseudoscience
Another engaging contribution from John Cook for helping people understand the nuances of the climate change dialogue. But, using Lego to explain ocean acidification, that’s just brilliant!
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, The University of Queensland
John Cook’s Cranky Uncles vs Climate Change is the masterful culmination of many of his other endeavors—from SkepticalScience.com to The Debunking Handbook to The Consensus Project. Cook demonstrates his mastery at translating dense and, at times, impenetrable scholarly literatures on climate change and science denial to laypeople in ways that they will find instructive and engaging. Cook harnesses the power of light-hearted humor and engaging illustrations to help even the most novice among us better understand how and why climate change denial gets the science wrong.
In Cranky Uncles vs Climate Change, John Cook, harnesses the power of light-hearted humor and engaging illustrations to help even the most novice among us better understand how and why climate change denial gets the science wrong.
In this rather funny book, Cook demonstrates his mastery at translating dense and, at times, impenetrable scholarly literatures on climate change and science denial to laypeople in ways that they will find instructive and engaging.
Aaron McCright, Author of The Risk Society Revisited
Seriously funny! A phenomenal amalgam of clearly presented science and laugh-out-loud humor. Cook’s cartoons will help you inoculate your favorite curmudgeon while offering enough inside jokes to tickle climate science aficionados. Like the best kids movies that also keep the parents entertained, there’s something for everyone. I love this book.
Susan Hassol, Director, Climate Communication
Cook is one of the world’s foremost communicators of climate science, and this delightful book fully lives up to its promise to shine a disinfecting light onto the moral and rhetorical morass that is climate denial. The reader is taken on a fascinating, if sometimes frightening, journey from the peaks of scientific achievement to the nether regions of quantum denial. There is an amazing amount of interesting science in the book, brought to life by graphs and pictures that hammer home the seriousness of climate change as well as the travesty of its denial.
Stephan Lewandowsky, University of Bristol
I just finished John Cook’s book. Because the book is so humorous and well written, it’s easy to forget that you’re learning a lot of climate science as you read it. This book is indispensable for those who want to learn why scientists are so confident that we’re changing the climate and for those who want to understand why the political debate is so polarized. I highly recommend it.
Andrew Dessler, Texas A&M University