It has often been assumed that science is somehow sheltered from the political, economic and social
influences which drive modern society’s relationship with the environment. Its’ ability to produce
‘objective’ knowledge lends science its’ credibility, and thus its authority, not only in identifying new
technologies and applicationsi
, but also in resolving environmental and social issues. From this
perspective, the scientific method uncovers ‘truth’ and is hindered only by the irrational beliefs of
individuals and groups who, for various reasonsii do not accept its’ authority.
The prevailing theoretical self-concept of science implies that the sciences cannot
make value judgements with the authority of their rationality. They deliver socalled
neutral figures, information or explanations which are to serve as the
unbiased basis for decisions on the broadest variety of interests. Which interests
they select, however, on whom or what they project causes, how they interpret
the problems of society, what sort of potential solutions they bring into view –
these are anything but neutral decisions. (Beck 1992)
An alternative view (see quote above) contends that scientific knowledge is never definitive but is rather
the product of an historic, evolutionary process which is continually open to re-interpretation. This
qualified model of knowledge is consistent with the scientific method itself, which maintains an attitude
of skepticism at its core. The choice of the subject of scientific enquiry, as well as the application of the
knowledge subsequently produced, is far from ‘neutral.’ From this perspective, environmental issues
are a social construct, which uses multiple sources of information to define.
In this exercise we will examine the quintessential environmental issue of pollution, and the pivotal role
that DDT has played in the formation of this issue and of the environmental movement more generally.
This exercise will expose you to the complexity and the social dimensions of environmental issues, as
well as introduce you to a set of tools that will help you to examine other societal issues. The analytical
basis of this assignment is the ability to track relative word content through Google’s database of books.
The Google Ngram Vieweriii is an online search engine that charts frequencies of words or word strings
in Goggle’s Text Corporaiv. In essence, the viewer can follow the rise and fall of particular words
throughout the period 1500 to 2008 for over 5 million books. For the purposes of this exercise we
assume that the relative frequency of words or word strings matches societal utilization of particular
terms, and thus indicates interest in these terms through timev
.
The task is relatively straightforward: i) you will search for the term ‘DDTvi’ using the Google N-Gram
Viewer over the period 1930 until 2008; ii) you will relate or associate key dates along the derived

timeline to critical articles, books, or events that may have fostered the indicated societal
interestdisinterest; iii) you will then summarize and critique these events with an annotated
bibliography (i.e. if they are a publication) or a short description (i.e. if they are an event or a piece of
legislation); and finally iv) you will provide an overview of the current debate surrounding the
environmental issue as related to your timeline. There is no right or wrong answer in this exercise, only
those which are better researched, and more thorough.
EXERCISE
In this assignment your submission will include a combination of short answers, an annotated
bibliography, as was well as a short essay that synthesizes your results (see Step 4). You will use
resources from the UTSC Library as well those that are available online such as the Google Search
engine. I would encourage you to begin using a bibliometric database such as ZOTERO to keep track of
your research (It makes things much easier).
STEP 1: Start by visiting the Google Ngram Viewer site https://books.google.com/ngrams .
 Enter the term ‘DDT’ in capital letters into the NGram Viewer, limiting the search to the years
1930 to 2008.
 Capture the resulting diagram and use it to guide your research into the issuevii. Keep in mind
that you will be asked to label the diagram (e.g. A-F) according to the chronological position of
key events (e.g. the publication of key articles, policies andor regulations) that likely caused a
change in the usage of the term DDT. You will be asked to identify at least 5 eventsviii, but
definitely no more than 10.
 See Figure 1 with explanation below.
STEP 2: Much of the information regarding environmental issues is often held within the popular media,
or in various institutional reports (e.g. documents published by the UN for instance, but also from
ENGOs such WWF) but this information needs to be checked against multiple sources.
 Use the Google search engine to identify various pivotal events that helped define the ‘DDT’
issue. It’s alright to refer to Wikipedia at this stageix, as it is with other online resources keep in
mind that information sources have an inherent bias in how they portray the issue. You may
also use the term ‘timeline’ with ‘DDT’.
 Use the above information to start building your own timeline; don’t forget that you are
essentially explaining the Google NGram diagram created in Step 1, hence shifts in the usage of
the term ‘DDT’ should be associated with causal events.
 Use credible sources where possible. For example, both the journals ‘Science’ and ‘Nature’ have
News sections which tend to be related to scientific articles. But you can also use sources such
as the New York Times, the BBC, the Guardian, The Economist, as well as information from
ENGOs etc. Keep in mind the inherent bias associated with each resource.
STEP 3: Check the scientific literature for critical articles that help explain the Timeline. Using an online
database will also facilitate your access to these articles. Keep in mind that this exercise is not intended
to be an exhaustive search. In fact, it is often difficult to directly relate the ‘science’ to the issue as with
‘climate change’ which is why the IPCC was created (we will discuss this in class). Lags do occur between
the publication of a particular scientific article and its update by the policy community for instance.
 Using the SCOPUSx bibliographic database hosted by the UTSC libraryxi, undertake a simple
search for key articles using the term within the