The Coles Science Center Exhibit Series for Banned Books Week 2006
Part I
Unpopular Science: A History of Banned Books in the Sciences
In Part I of this two part series, honoring this year’s Banned Books Week (September 23-30), Coles Science Center gives a snippet of science history. Unpopular Science highlights historical examples of overt censorship in the sciences that took the form of book banning, blacklisting, and often the persecution of the scientists themselves. Intellectual freedom and free speech were indefensible; scientists were at the mercy of political rulers, the Spanish Inquisition and the Vatican
Part II of this series, to be unveiled later this semester, will focus on more modern, and more covert, forms of censorship in the sciences. Blatant banning is passé; however scientific theories that threaten the ideals of certain segments of society continue to be suppressed, despite politicians’ lip service to free speech and intellectual freedom.
