Beyond the Hype: Inside Science’s Biggest Media Scandals From Climategate to Covid

Do you remember the ‘Climategate’ email leak? Or the ‘Frankenfood’-style headlines about the perils of GM foods? What about the time the government sacked its own science advisor for challenging drug laws?

Fiona Fox takes us behind the scenes of some of the most contentious stories in science over the past two decades. From animal research and genetically modified foods to hybrid embryos and a global pandemic, it demonstrates the vital importance of scientists talking to the media – and warns of the damage to public understanding when scientists are silenced on the defining issues of our times.

Fiona Fox became the founding director of the Science Media Centre in 2001. She has won several awards for her achievements, and in 2014, she was awarded an OBE for her services to science. She holds honorary fellowships at the Royal Society of Biology, the British Pharmacological Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Bristol. She writes regularly for science publications and occasionally for national newspapers. She is the author of Beyond the Hype: Inside Science’s Biggest Media Scandals From Climategate to Covid, a Guardian Science Book of the Year 2022.