Anti-vaxxers: How to Challenge a Misinformed Movement (The MIT Press)

From science advocate and March on Science National Co-Chair Jonathan M. Berman, an essential takedown of the anti-vaccination movement, from its nineteenth-century antecedents to today's Facebook activists, offering strategies for refuting false claims of friends and family.

Vaccines are a documented success story, one of the most successful public health interventions in history. Yet there is a vocal anti-vaccination movement, featuring celebrity activists (including Kennedy scion Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and actress Jenny McCarthy) and the propagation of anti-vax claims through books, documentaries, and social media. In Anti-Vaxxers, Jonathan Berman explores the phenomenon of the anti-vaccination movement, recounting its history from its nineteenth-century antecedents to today's activism, examining its claims, and suggesting a strategy for countering them.