Book review: are we all scientific experts now? by Harry Collins

A series of recent scientific scandals, frauds, and failures have led some to question science’s pre–eminence. Revelations such as Climate gate or debates about the safety of the MMR vaccine have dented public confidence in science. Are We All Scientific Experts Now? is a valuable contribution to the ways in which we ascribe value to expertise, writes William Allen. Although Collins convincingly answering the book’s title question with a resounding ‘no’, what is most interesting and refreshing about his analysis is that it enables people holding different kinds of expertise to recognise their role in scientific debate.