Naomi Oreskes
A historian who exposed how a small group of scientists manufactured public uncertainty about climate change and other existential threats.
Born 1958 (age 68)·American historian of science·Birthday: November 25·Baby Boomers
Biography
Naomi Oreskes is a scholar who wields history as a tool to dissect the present. Trained as a geologist, she shifted her focus to the history of science, bringing a rigorous, evidence-based lens to how scientific knowledge is made and, crucially, how it can be undermined. Her career reached a pivotal point with her 2004 paper 'The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change,' which systematically demonstrated overwhelming agreement among experts. This work led directly to her most famous contribution, the book 'Merchants of Doubt,' co-authored with Erik Conway. It revealed how a handful of the same physicists, often with ties to industry and conservative think tanks, campaigned to sow public doubt about the science behind tobacco smoke, acid rain, the ozone hole, and global warming. By tracing the playbook of denial, Oreskes moved the conversation from debating facts to analyzing the machinery of disinformation, making her an essential voice in the fight for scientific integrity.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Naomi was born in 1958, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Naomi Was Born
The biggest hits of 1958
#1 Movie
South Pacific
Best Picture
Gigi
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Naomi's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1958Born
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1963Started school
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1971Became a teenager
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1974Could drive
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1976Could vote
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1979Turned 21
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1988Turned 30
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 40
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2008Turned 50
Barack Obama elected first Black US president; financial crisis
Gas: $3.27/galHome: $153,100Min wage: $6.55/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Low" — Flo RidaBest Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
2018Turned 60
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
Gas: $2.72/galHome: $211,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"God's Plan" — DrakeBest Picture: Green Book
2026Age 68 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Co-authored the seminal book 'Merchants of Doubt,' which traced the strategy of scientific denialism from tobacco to climate change.
- Published the influential 2004 paper 'The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change' in the journal Science.
- Became a Professor of the History of Science and an Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University.
- Authored 'Why Trust Science?', a book examining the social foundations of scientific reliability.
Did You Know?
She began her academic career with a bachelor's degree in geology from the Royal School of Mines in London.
Her doctoral dissertation at Stanford was on the geological history of the seafloor.
She has been a frequent invited speaker at the United Nations on climate change and policy.
She narrated a documentary film adaptation of 'Merchants of Doubt' released in 2014.
“Doubt is crucial to science—in the version we call curiosity or skepticism. But it also can be used to undermine science.”
