Voodoo Science:The Road from Foolishness to Fraud

The Road from Foolishness to Fraud

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Science, Other Sciences, Philosophy & Social Aspects, History, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book Voodoo Science:The Road from Foolishness to Fraud by Robert L. Park, Oxford University Press, USA
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Robert L. Park ISBN: 9780199881215
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Publication: May 25, 2000
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Robert L. Park
ISBN: 9780199881215
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication: May 25, 2000
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

In a time of dazzling scientific progress, how are we to separate genuine breakthroughs from the noisy gaggle of false claims? Touching on everything from Deepak Chopra's "quantum alternative to growing old," and "free energy" machines, to unwarranted hype surrounding the International Space Station, Robert L. Park leads us through the dim back alleys of fringe science, down the gleaming corridors of Washington power and even into our evolutionary past to search out the origins of voodoo science. Along the way, Park offers some simple and engaging science lessons, showing us that you don't have to be a scientist to spot the foolish and fraudulent science that swirls around us. While incorporating elements of high humor, from Joe Newman and his Energy Machine to the French "sniffer plane," this hard-hitting account also tallies the cost: the billions spent by the public on worthless therapies, the tax dollars squandered on huge government projects that are doomed to fail, the investors bilked by schemes that violate the most fundamental laws of nature. But the greater cost is human: fear of imaginary dangers, reliance on magical cures, and above all, a sort of upside-down view of how the world works. To expose the forces that sustain voodoo science, Park closely examines the role of the media, the courts, bureaucrats and politicians, as well as the scientific community. Scientists, he observes, insist that the cure for voodoo science is to raise the general scientific literacy. But what is it that a scientifically literate society should know? It is not specific knowledge of science the public needs, Park argues, so much as a scientific world view--an understanding that we live in an orderly universe governed by natural laws that cannot be circumvented by magic or miracles.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In a time of dazzling scientific progress, how are we to separate genuine breakthroughs from the noisy gaggle of false claims? Touching on everything from Deepak Chopra's "quantum alternative to growing old," and "free energy" machines, to unwarranted hype surrounding the International Space Station, Robert L. Park leads us through the dim back alleys of fringe science, down the gleaming corridors of Washington power and even into our evolutionary past to search out the origins of voodoo science. Along the way, Park offers some simple and engaging science lessons, showing us that you don't have to be a scientist to spot the foolish and fraudulent science that swirls around us. While incorporating elements of high humor, from Joe Newman and his Energy Machine to the French "sniffer plane," this hard-hitting account also tallies the cost: the billions spent by the public on worthless therapies, the tax dollars squandered on huge government projects that are doomed to fail, the investors bilked by schemes that violate the most fundamental laws of nature. But the greater cost is human: fear of imaginary dangers, reliance on magical cures, and above all, a sort of upside-down view of how the world works. To expose the forces that sustain voodoo science, Park closely examines the role of the media, the courts, bureaucrats and politicians, as well as the scientific community. Scientists, he observes, insist that the cure for voodoo science is to raise the general scientific literacy. But what is it that a scientifically literate society should know? It is not specific knowledge of science the public needs, Park argues, so much as a scientific world view--an understanding that we live in an orderly universe governed by natural laws that cannot be circumvented by magic or miracles.

More books from Oxford University Press, USA

Cover of the book The Christian Century and the Rise of the Protestant Mainline by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book Abraham Lincoln by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book The Lees Of Virginia : Seven Generations Of An American Family by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book Desert Christians:An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book Klansville, U.S.A:The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights-era Ku Klux Klan by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book Counterinsurgency by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book China In World History by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book Unbecoming British : How Revolutionary America Became a Postcolonial Nation by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book Pink Ribbon Blues: How Breast Cancer Culture Undermines Women's Health by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book Experimental Philosophy by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book Friendly Fire : American Images of the Vietnam War by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book The Caucasus:An Introduction by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book Hanuman's Tale:The Messages of a Divine Monkey by Robert L. Park
Cover of the book Living with Mild Cognitive Impairment:A Guide to Maximizing Brain Health and Reducing Risk of Dementia by Robert L. Park
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy