And Yet It Warms

Most federal judges have little scientific knowledge or training. They therefore often approach with some trepidation the many cases pending before them involving science, ranging from patent disputes to pharmaceutical class action suits to litigation over artificial intelligence.To help acquaint federal judges with the basics of such subjects, the research and educational arm of the federal judiciary, the Federal Judicial Center (FJC), began publishing the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence in 1994. It includes chapters on general topics such as the scientific method and others on more specific subjects that a judge may have to confront in a given case, such as epidemiology, toxicology, neuroscience, or computer science. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, in her foreword to the most recent edition, writes, “The manual is the product of close collaboration among highly respected scientists, engineers, judges, and lawyers. It delves into the scientific subjects that judges most often face. It explains scientific approaches and explores scientific uncertainties and limits.”No judge is required to consult the manual in any given case. It is simply a tool that is available if the ...