In January, the Trump transition team arranged for two scientists to meet with Trump. Since then, both have been considered frontrunners to become the new presidential science advisor, who typically heads the Office of Science and Technology Policy. While the two—Princeton’s William Happer and Yale’s David Gelernter—have radically different backgrounds, they have a couple of things in common: strong support for science in general and extreme skepticism of climate science in particular.

There’s no indication that Trump will name a science advisor in the near future, especially as his national security team is in turmoil. But Happer, a retired physicist, has put himself in the news by granting interviews in which he calls climate science a cult. So it seems like an appropriate time to take a good look at both of the candidates.

William Happer

Happer’s biggest research achievement came in the development of technology that provided Earth-based telescopes with adaptive optics that allow them to compensate for the distortions introduced by the atmosphere. He also has a long history of involvement with the government, having served on a panel of physicists that advised the US on military issues and serving in the Department of Energy.