Using one of the two articles you just read, explain in a short paragraph why you think scientific evidence provided by Patterson or by researchers examining the effects of second-hand cigarette smoke was countered so strongly by the big petroleum and tobacco companies. How do you think the “big money” provided by these industries to fund alternate research efforts reflects the importance of the role of funding in research?
Choose one of the two articles. You can either read about Patterson’s discovery of lead originating from human activity in the environment in the following summary of a Cosmos episode or you can read the second article to find out how researchers have determined that the development of “reduced-harm” cigarettes research funded by big tobacco has attempted to compromise sound evidence accepted and agreed upon by the scientific community.
Article 1: Neil deGrasse Tyson Cosmos Episode 7 ‘The Clean Room’ recap: Clair Patterson, Earth Age and Danger of Lead
Article 2: Big Tobacco and Science: Uncovering the Truth