Yes, We Have No Neutrons

Yes, We Have No Neutrons

Author: A. K. Dewdney

Publisher: New York ; Toronto : J. Wiley

Published: 1997-04

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13:

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In this entertaining expose of science gone awry, the author of "200% of Nothing" tells the stories of eight notorious cases of "bad science"--research projects that turned out to be bogus, either because of faulty methodology or faulty interpretations of results.


Off the Main Sequence

Off the Main Sequence

Author: Tom Easton

Publisher: Wildside Press LLC

Published: 2006-10-01

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 080951205X

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Tom Easton has served as the monthly book review columnist for Analog Science Fiction for almost three decades, having contributed during that span many hundreds of columns and over a million words of penetrating criticism on the best literature that science fiction has to offer. His reviews have been celebrated for their wit, humor, readability, knowledge, and incisiveness. His love of literature, particularly fantastic literature, is everywhere evident in his essays. Easton has ever been willing to cover small presses, obscure authors, and unusual publications, being the only major critic in the field to do so on a regular basis. He seems to delight in finding the rare gem among the backwaters of the publishing field. "A reviewer's job," he says, "is not to judge books for the ages, but to tell readers enough about a book to give them some idea of whether they would enjoy it." And this he does admirably, whether he's discussing the works of the great writers in the field, or touching upon the least amongst them. This companion volume to "Periodic Stars" (Borgo/Wildside) collects another 250 of Easton's best reviews from the last fifteen years of "The Reference Library." No one does it better, and no other guide provides such lengthy or discerning commentary on the best SF works of recent times. Complete with Introduction and detailed Index.


Author:

Publisher: Odile Jacob

Published:

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 2738189423

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Beyond Reason

Beyond Reason

Author: A. K. Dewdney

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2004-05-10

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 0471652423

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A mind-bending excursion to the limits of science and mathematics Are some scientific problems insoluble? In Beyond Reason, internationally acclaimed math and science author A. K. Dewdney answers this question by examining eight insurmountable mathematical and scientific roadblocks that have stumped thinkers across the centuries, from ancient mathematical conundrums such as "squaring the circle," first attempted by the Pythagoreans, to G?del's vexing theorem, from perpetual motion to the upredictable behavior of chaotic systems such as the weather. A. K. Dewdney, PhD (Ontario, Canada), was the author of Scientific American's "Computer Recreations" column for eight years. He has written several critically acclaimed popular math and science books, including A Mathematical Mystery Tour (0-471-40734-8); Yes, We Have No Neutrons (0-471-29586-8); and 200% of Nothing (0-471-14574-2).


Just A Theory

Just A Theory

Author: Moti Ben-Ari

Publisher: Prometheus Books

Published: 2011-04-26

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1615922423

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Some people claim that evolution is "just a theory". Do you know what a scientific theory really is? Just a theory is an overview of the modern concepts of science. A clear understanding of the nature of science will enable you to distinguish science from pseudoscience (which illegitimately wraps itself in the mantle of science), and real social issues in science from the caricatures portrayed in postmodernist critiques.Prof. Ben-Ari''s style is light (even humorous) and easy to read, bringing the latest concepts of science to the general reader. Of particular interest is his analysis of the terminology of science (fact, law, proof, theory) in relation to the colloquial meaning of these terms.Between chapters are biographical vignettes of scientists - both familiar and unfamiliar - showing their common commitment to the enterprise of science, together with a diversity of backgrounds and personalities.This accessible, informative, and comprehensive work will give lay readers a good grasp of real science.


The Brain-Shaped Mind

The Brain-Shaped Mind

Author: Naomi Goldblum

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2001-08-23

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9780521000949

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Will brain scientists ever be able to read our minds? Why are some things harder to remember than others? Based on recent brain research and neural network modelling, The Brain-Shaped Mind addresses these, and other, questions, and provides a clear account of how the structure of the brain influences the workings of the mind. Neuroscientists are now learning about our minds by examining how the neurones in the brain are connected with one another and the surrounding environment. This book explores how neural networks enable us to recognise objects and learn new things, and what happens when things go wrong. The reader is taken on a fascinating journey into what is arguably one of the most complicated and remarkable aspects of our lives.


The Republic of Science

The Republic of Science

Author: Ian C. Jarvie

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2022-06-13

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9004495835

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This book offers a careful re-reading of Popper's classic falsificationist demarcation of science, stressing its institutional aspects. Popper's social thinking about science, individuals, institutions, and rationality is tracked through The Poverty of Historicism and The Open Society and Its Enemies as he criticises and improves his earlier work. New links are established between the works of the 1935-1945 period, revealing them as a source for criticism of the institutions and governance of science.


Eight Preposterous Propositions

Eight Preposterous Propositions

Author: Robert Ehrlich

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-04-13

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 069122840X

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Placebo cures. Global warming. Extraterrestrial life. Psychokinesis. In a time when scientific claims can sound as strange as science fiction--and can have a profound effect on individual life or public policy--assessing the merits of a far-out, supposedly scientific idea can be as difficult as it is urgent. Into the breach between helpless gullibility and unyielding skepticism steps physicist Robert Ehrlich, with an indispensable guide to making sense of "scientific" claims. A series of case studies of some of the most controversial (and for the judging public, deeply vexing) topics in the natural and social sciences, Ehrlich's book serves as a primer for evaluating the evidence for the sort of strange-sounding ideas that can shape our lives. A much-anticipated follow-up to his popular Nine Crazy Ideas in Science, this book takes up issues close to readers' everyday reality--issues such as global warming, the dangers of cholesterol, and the effectiveness of placebos--as well as questions that resonate through (and beyond) civic life: Is intelligent design a scientific alternative to evolution? Is homosexuality primarily innate? Are people getting smarter or dumber? In each case, Ehrlich shows readers how to use the tools of science to judge the accuracy of strange ideas and the trustworthiness of ubiquitous "experts." As entertaining as it is instructive, his book will make the work of living wisely a bit easier and more reliable for scientists and nonscientists alike.