What does the well informed American voter interested in the intersection of science and politics read?

What does the well informed American voter interested in the intersection of science and politics read? Well, not just read, but read to become more informed about current events and controversies. And, I'm thinking here of books that look at the science/politics intersection rather than how politics works or how science works.

I do not harbor the illusion that any one is really looking for something to read in order to pick a candidate or a party. That one of the parties is anti-science (mainly) and the other is pro-science (mainly) is well established. But one likes to become more informed in case, for instance, you run into one of the politicians in person, or have to argue your case with someone you know who does not get it yet.

Here I offer a handful of suggestions, but this is a quirky list, a list culled from my own particularistic experience in this area. If you are reading A Vote for Science there is a pretty good chance that you have a suggestion or two of your own. Please add them in the comments!

The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town America by Lauri Lebo is a must read for anyone interested in the issue of life science evolution. This is not about policy at the national level, and perhaps does not belong on this list or on this blog. But it is so important and so good and so scary that I include it anyway.

Chris Mooney's two books are obvious choices. The Republican War on Science is the obvious, somewhat older, general text, and the more recent Storm World addresses the hurricane and global warming controversy in particular, and serves as an excellent case study of the clash between anti-science policy and the real sometimes dangerous (as in hurricanes) world.

Undermining Science: Suppression and Distortion in the Bush Administration by Seth Shulman looks interesting (I have not read it yet) According to Publishers Weekly, this book reviews "the evidence of how the Bush administration has systematically denied and doctored scientific findings that fail to support its political positions, journalist Shulman adds some new details in this accessible book. Combining thorough research with lucid prose and a sense of mounting outrage, he charges that the president's appointees and advisers are not only threatening the scientific enterprise but also American democracy itself."

Perhaps a bit tangential but I think important is the area of animal research and the activities that have recently pushed (repushed?) this issue into the spotlight. Discovering Biology in a Digital World reviews "The Animal Research Wars," and it appears to be well recommended.

Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future is favorablly reviewed by Nick Anthis as ...

both engaging and illuminating. It would be difficult or even impossible to find someone who this book would not be relevant for, and, as the environmental writer Elizabeth Kolbert writes, "Big Coal should be read by anybody who owns a microwave, or an iPod, or a table lamp, which is to say everyone." I couldn't agree more, and as we continue daily to flip the switches that empower the continued degradation of our and the earth's health via coal, hopefully we can shine some light on this dirty little secret as well. Big Coal is a great start in this endeavor.

Suggestions?