Introduction : scientific authority and the created controversy
Lessons from the philosophy of science
Defining science and the empiricist approach
Challenges for the naïve empiricist
A revolution in how we think about sciences
Sciences as historically and socially situated
Points to remember : part I
Biases, arguments and created controversies
Inherent irrationality: cognitive biases and heuristics
Thinking more clearly : arguments, reasoning and informal fallacies
Created controversies and how to detect them
Points to remember : part II
Exposing created controversies
Environmental scare : the case of anthropogenic climate change
Sciences, religion and an intelligently designed controversy?
Issues of public health: aids, autism and gmos
Points to remember : part III
