Merchants Of Doubt, By Naomi Oreskes and Erik M Conway

At the outset, the American authors declare, "This is a story about fighting facts and merchandising doubt".

You might guess the perpetrators were from the dubious end of PR but they are scientists, often in the pay of lobby groups.

Targets include UCLA professor Martin Cline, who, when asked in court if smoking 60 cigarettes a day for 20 years might contribute to lung cancer, replied: "[You] could not say [that] with certainty."

Other areas scientific hagglers blurred include global warming, defence strategy and acid rain.

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