Freeman Dyson at Realclimate
Real Climate's Eric Steig and Ray Pierrehumbert have written an
engaging post about Freeman Dyson, the world-renowned physicist and
member of the Global Warming
Policy Foundation's academic advisory board.
Quoting Kenneth Brower, Dyson's biographer, they try to answer
the question:
"How could someone as smart as Freeman Dyson… be so wrong about
climate change and other environmental concerns?"
They observe that Dyson's fascination has always been with the
stars and space travel, rather than the earth. They also question
his knowledge of ecosystems and biodiversity, suggesting he is more
of an "extreme techno-optimist" than a climate sceptic.
... Dyson has an abiding faith in the
ability of technology to do anything we want it to. It's not
surprising, then, that Dyson thinks we can 'fix climate' as well.
That, in itself, makes Dyson not so much a "global warming skeptic"
as an extreme techno-optimist. In fact, even leaving technology
aside, he has a touching faith that whatever humans may do to the
environment, it usually turns out for the best.
Read it here.