skip to content
Voodoo science : the road from foolishness to fraud
ClosePreview this item

Voodoo science : the road from foolishness to fraud

Author: Robert L Park
Publisher: New York : Oxford University Press, 2000.
Edition/Format:   Book : EnglishView all editions and formats
Summary:
"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  Read more...
Rating:

(not yet rated) 0 with reviews - Be the first.

 

Find a copy in the library

&AllPage.SpinnerRetrieving; Finding libraries that hold this item...

Details

Additional Physical Format: Online version:
Park, Robert L.
Voodoo science.
New York : Oxford University Press, 2000
(OCoLC)646998102
Document Type: Book
All Authors / Contributors: Robert L Park
ISBN: 0195135156 9780195135152
OCLC Number: 41951308
Notes: Includes index.
Description: x, 230 p. ; 25 cm.
Contents: It's not news, it's entertainment : in which the media covers voodoo science --
The belief gene : in which science offers a strategy for sorting out the truth --
Placebos have side effects : in which people turn to "natural" medicine --
The virtual astronaut : in which people dream of artificial worlds --
There ought to be a law : in which Congress seeks to repeal the laws of thermodynamics --
Perpetuum mobile : in which people dream of infinite free energy --
Currents of fear : in which power lines are suspected of causing cancer --
Judgment day : in which the courts confront "junk science" --
Only mushrooms grow in the dark : in which voodoo science is protected by official secrecy --
How strange is the universe? : in which ancient superstitions reappear as pseudoscience.
Responsibility: Robert L. Park.
More information:

Abstract:

"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." "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."--Jacket.

Reviews

User-contributed reviews
Retrieving GoodReads reviews...

Tags

Be the first.
Confirm this request

You may have already requested this item. Please select Ok if you would like to proceed with this request anyway.

Linked Data


<http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41951308>
library:oclcnum"41951308"
library:placeOfPublication
library:placeOfPublication
owl:sameAs<info:oclcnum/41951308>
rdf:typeschema:Book
rdfs:seeAlso
rdfs:seeAlso
schema:about
schema:about
schema:about
schema:about
rdf:typeschema:Intangible
schema:name"Sciences--Aspect social--États-Unis."
schema:about
rdf:typeschema:Intangible
schema:name"Fraude scientifique--États-Unis"
schema:about
schema:about
schema:about
rdf:typeschema:Intangible
schema:name"Science--United States."
schema:about
schema:about
rdf:typeschema:Intangible
schema:name"Fraude scientifique--États-Unis."
schema:about
rdf:typeschema:Intangible
schema:name"Sciences--Aspect social--États-Unis"
schema:about
schema:author
schema:datePublished"2000"
schema:description"It's not news, it's entertainment : in which the media covers voodoo science -- The belief gene : in which science offers a strategy for sorting out the truth -- Placebos have side effects : in which people turn to "natural" medicine -- The virtual astronaut : in which people dream of artificial worlds -- There ought to be a law : in which Congress seeks to repeal the laws of thermodynamics -- Perpetuum mobile : in which people dream of infinite free energy -- Currents of fear : in which power lines are suspected of causing cancer -- Judgment day : in which the courts confront "junk science" -- Only mushrooms grow in the dark : in which voodoo science is protected by official secrecy -- How strange is the universe? : in which ancient superstitions reappear as pseudoscience."
schema:inLanguage"en"
schema:name"Voodoo science : the road from foolishness to fraud"
schema:numberOfPages"230"
schema:publisher
schema:reviews
rdf:typeschema:Review
schema:itemReviewed<http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41951308>
schema:reviewBody""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." "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."--BOOK JACKET."
Close Window

Please sign in to WorldCat 

Don't have an account? You can easily create a free account.