Galileo's Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and One

Galileo's Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and One Scholar's Search for Justice

New York Times Book ReviewÂ
"[S]mart, delightful... a splendidly entertaining education in ethics, activism and science.â€

Editors's Choice, New York Times Book Review

An impassioned defense of intellectual freedom and a clarion call to intellectual responsibility, Galileoâ€™s Middle Finger is one Americanâ€™s eye-opening story of life in the trenches of scientific controversy. For two decades, historian Alice Dreger has led a life of extraordinary engagement, combining activist service to victims of unethical medical research with defense of scientists whose work has outraged identity politics activists. With spirit and wit, Dreger offers in Galileoâ€™s Middle Finger an unforgettable vision of the importance of rigorous truth seeking in todayâ€™s America, where both the free press and free scholarly inquiry struggle under dire economic and political threats.

This illuminating chronicle begins with Dregerâ€™s own research into the treatment of people born intersex (once called hermaphrodites). Realization of the shocking surgical and ethical abuses conducted in the name of â€œnormalizingâ€ intersex childrenâ€™s gender identities moved Dreger to become an internationally recognized patient rightsâ€™ activist. But even as the intersex rights movement succeeded, Dreger began to realize how some fellow progressive activists were employing lies and personal attacks to silence scientists whose data revealed uncomfortable truths about humans. In researching one such case, Dreger suddenly became the target of just these kinds of attacks.

Troubled, she decided to try to understand moreâ€”to travel the country to ferret out the truth behind various controversies, to obtain a global view of the nature and costs of these battles. Galileoâ€™s Middle Finger describes Dregerâ€™s long and harrowing journeys between the two camps for which she felt equal empathy: social justice activists determined to win and researchers determined to put hard truths before comfort. Ultimately what emerges is a lesson about the intertwining of justice and of truthâ€”and a lesson of the importance of responsible scholars and journalists to our fragile democracy.

BooklistÂ (starred review)
"A crusader in the mold of muckrackers from a century ago, Dreger doesnâ€™t try to hide her politics or her agenda. Instead she advocates for change intelligently and passionately. Highly recommended."

KirkusÂ (starred review):Â
â€œLet us be grateful that there are writers like Dreger who have the wits and the guts to fight for truth.â€Â
Jared Diamond, author ofÂ Guns, Germs, and SteelÂ andÂ The World until Yesterday
â€œAlice Dreger would win a prize for this yearâ€™s most gripping novel, except for one thing: her stories are true, and this isnâ€™t a novel. Â Instead, itâ€™s an exciting account of complicated good guys and bad guys, and the pursuit of justice.â€
Country USA
Manufacturer Penguin Books
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2015-03-10
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Penguin Books
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2015-03-10
Format	Kindle eBook

Galileo's Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and One Scholar's Search for Justice

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