People take great pride in the scientific culture in which they live. But large parts of society are in fact awash with ideas and preconceptions that are far removed from actual science. Successful science author John Grant turns his attention to this phenomenon, from pyramidology to the law of attraction, paranormal activity and the search for Bigfoot and Atlantis. In a text full of witty observations, delightful asides and deft skewering, Grant is unafraid to expose some of the most popular false beliefs.
Credulity can be expensive. So don't believe everything you hear. It's a good lesson to teach in this modern era in which the communications revolution allows scores of hopeful persuaders to bid for our attention daily, trying to sell us a product, a service, their qualifications for public office or the proposition that our very lives depend on taking their advice. Opinion shapers have learned that their chances of getting attention increases in proportion to the size of the catastrophe they promise if we don't heed their warnings. Thus, in our modern era, we learn that unless we act now, the entire planet and all the life it bears is at risk. Their claims are bolstered by those magic words: "scientists say." This book asserts that the record of such claims shows that they should be taken with a large spoonful of skepticism. Credulity not only can cost a great deal of money, but in some notable cases it has cost lives.
The good name of true science has been hijacked for several decades by politicians in support of dubious political goals. The good name of true science, which has transformed the world we live in marvelous ways over the last 200 years, has been hijacked for several decades by politicians seeking to employ science and scientists in support of dubious political goals. They have used their power over grants to universities and their power over federal regulatory agencies and United Nations initiatives to this end. Bogus Science examines a series of scares perpetrated by American politicians in collaboration with the UN over the last fifty years: DDT, acid rain, the "ozone hole" and of course "global warming." These scares have cost the world trillions of dollars and all have been debunked by serious scientists. Author George Melloan argues that protection of the environment is a goal that all rational people share, and the incredible advance of genuine science has brought about great strides in creating a cleaner, healthier, and safer human environment in the course of modern history. But that noble cause has been hijacked by zealots motivated by other impulses, which in the extreme derive from what some social philosophers describe as anti-humanism. "Environmentalist" claims, even when deceptive, are particularly seductive to young people seeking meaning in their lives. And sure enough, zealots have brought their influence to bear on millions of schoolchildren who have been told that their lives will be cut short if they disregard the warnings of modern Pied Pipers. While discussing the power politicians have over science, Melloan looks into the growing scandal in science about a lack of reproducibility of experiments or studies purporting to be "scientific." Real scientists know that if an experiment or a computer model is to be deemed valid, the same methodology employed by other scientists must achieve the same result. The absence of this, often in studies printed in professional journals, is shocking to many scientists. One example of flawed experiments is the great novel coronavirus panic of 2020. It was fanned by dubious data gleaned from a computer model devised by a team at the Imperial College London. It predicted 500,000 deaths in the U.K. and 2 million in the U.S. Looking at that frightening prospect, politicians ordered "lockdowns" that idled much of the global economy and threw millions of people out of work and into social isolation. They have done enormous economic and psychological damage over three months. But now we are finding that the coronavirus was nowhere near as dangerous as forecast by the computer model. And so far, the London team, like the global warming modelers and other scientists, have not revealed its methodology.
A searing exposé of the misuses and misrepresentations of science from the time of Galileo continuing through to the present day, this new edition includes updates on the asbestos industry, the chemicals industry, the sugar industry, the agriculture industry (the abuse of antibiotics), and the automobile industry (lead in gasoline). The final chapter has been expanded to include the full-blooded assault on science mounted by the Trump administration.
Fair, witty appraisal of cranks, quacks, and quackeries of science and pseudoscience: hollow earth, Velikovsky, orgone energy, Dianetics, flying saucers, Bridey Murphy, food and medical fads, and much more.
Now in an expanded paperback edition, Innocence Project attorney M. Chris Fabricant presents an insider’s journey into the heart of a broken, racist system of justice and the role junk science plays in maintaining the status quo. "Fierce and absorbing . . . Fabricant chronicles the battles he and his colleagues have fought to unravel a century of fraudulent experts and the bad court decisions that allowed them to thrive." —Washington Post From CSI to Forensic Files to the celebrated reputation of the FBI crime lab, forensic scientists have long been mythologized in American popular culture as infallible crime solvers. Juries put their faith in "expert witnesses" and innocent people have been executed as a result. Innocent people are still on death row today, condemned by junk science. In 2012, the Innocence Project began searching for prisoners convicted by junk science, and three men, each convicted of capital murder, became M. Chris Fabricant's clients. Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System chronicles the fights to overturn their wrongful convictions and to end the use of the "science" that destroyed their lives. Weaving together courtroom battles from Mississippi to Texas to New York City and beyond, Fabricant takes the reader on a journey into the heart of a broken, racist system of justice and the role forensic science plays in maintaining the status quo. At turns gripping, enraging, illuminating, and moving, Junk Science is a meticulously researched insider's perspective of the American criminal justice system. Previously untold stories of wrongful executions, corrupt prosecutors, and quackery masquerading as science animate Fabricant’s true crime narrative. The paperback edition features a brand-new index as well as an updated introduction and final chapter chronicling the Innocence Project’s continued fight against junk science in courtrooms across America.
"Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity ... An explosion of scientific discoveries in the last twenty years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now ... neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming"--Amazon.com.
A hilarious lampoon of scientific inquiry into the psychic. Life after death, spirit communication, the astral plane, reincarnation: on the relatively rare occasions when scientists have tried to apply their methods to the paranormal, they’ve often ended up embarrassed—fooled by obvious charlatans, deluded into making irrational and unsubstantiated claims, or frustrated in their attempt to find something that just isn’t there. John Grant—author of Discarded Science and Corrupted Science—investigates the pseudoscience of spooky stuff to fascinating and humorous effect. From scamming mediums, to poltergeist fakery, to heavenly hallucinations, Grant spares ardent believers and gullible thinkers no mercy in this rollicking history of psychic “phenomena.”
In this lively collection, Gardner examines the rich and hilarious variety of pseudoscientific conjectures that dominate the media today. With a special emphasis on parapsychology and occultism, these witty pieces address the evidence put forth to support claims of ESP, psychokinesis, faith healing, and other pseudoscience.
