Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
3rd out of 19 books
—
12 voters
Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science
This fair andwitty appraisal examines some of the crazes andquackeries that have masqueraded as science. Discussions includehollow earth theories; Charles Fort and the Fortean Society; Wilhelm Reich and orgone sex energy;dianetics; flying saucers;food and medical fads; much more. "A very able and even-tempered presentation."— The New Yorker....more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
June 1st 1957
by Dover Publications (NY)
(first published 1952)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
822)
How do you tell a scientist from a crank?
It's a difficult assessment, but it turns out that there are subtle but important linguistic clues.
For example, a crank might say:
"To know of the earth's concavity... is to know God, while to believe in the earth's convexity is to deny Him and all his works. All that is opposed to Koreshanity is antichrist."
- Koresh (b. Cyrus Reed Teed), self-proclaimed messiah, who believed that we live on the inside of a hollow sphere.
"Either you believe in me and learn...more
It's a difficult assessment, but it turns out that there are subtle but important linguistic clues.
For example, a crank might say:
"To know of the earth's concavity... is to know God, while to believe in the earth's convexity is to deny Him and all his works. All that is opposed to Koreshanity is antichrist."
- Koresh (b. Cyrus Reed Teed), self-proclaimed messiah, who believed that we live on the inside of a hollow sphere.
"Either you believe in me and learn...more
Although the book is quite old, it still has much to offer the modern skeptic, since many of the "fads and fallacies" of sixty years ago are still around. Scientology is a case in point. At the time Gardner was writing, it was in its birth pangs and was called Dianetics. He didn't take it very seriously, thinking that it had already spent itself. What he has to say about L. Ron Hubbard is interesting, though I am sure more is known today. Gardner accepts Hubbard's war hero status without questio...more
An interesting and enjoyable read, but like the somewhat similarly themed
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
it suffers from a few noteworthy issues.
The first is the lack of references. Quotes occur often, but the exact location they are drawn from is not always attributed. Now, I will admit that I'm unlikely to track down any of the works mentioned (OK, maybe some of the Hollow Earth ones), but at the same time a reference as to where and when a quote was stated would ma...more
The first is the lack of references. Quotes occur often, but the exact location they are drawn from is not always attributed. Now, I will admit that I'm unlikely to track down any of the works mentioned (OK, maybe some of the Hollow Earth ones), but at the same time a reference as to where and when a quote was stated would ma...more
Over 50 years old and still fantastic reading. Interesting not just for what it says but for what it doesn't say. The section on crank medicien has homeopathy naturopathy (both of which could have been written last year) chirporactic and osteopathy, the later two now being a little more respectable, osteopathy having almost totally thrown off the pseudoscience and magical thinking and many chiropractic practitioners having done the same
There is a section on dianetics, which was pretty new at the...more
There is a section on dianetics, which was pretty new at the...more
I read this as a kid and it's stayed with me ever since. Gardner's takedowns of various pseudosciences, from now-long-forgotten crackpottery like Fletcherism to others, like Dianetics and its current incarnation, Scientology, which continue to plague us to this day, are the perfect thing for a budding skeptic to hone their critical thinking skills on, skills that are needed more than ever in a world in which delusions like birtherism, climate change denial, "intelligent design" creationism, "alt...more
In this pioneering work of skepticism, Martin Gardner, best known as the Mathematical Games columnist for Scientific American, discusses a vast array of pseudoscientific beliefs ranging from silly but harmless to downright evil and dangerous.
Frankly, I was slightly surprised that this book is considered a classic in the skeptical literature. Perhaps it was the first of its kind; perhaps the author was taking some risks denouncing popular pseudoscience so baldly during the 1950s. Though he does a...more
Frankly, I was slightly surprised that this book is considered a classic in the skeptical literature. Perhaps it was the first of its kind; perhaps the author was taking some risks denouncing popular pseudoscience so baldly during the 1950s. Though he does a...more
I can't believe I waited so long to read this foundational book from the grandfather of the Skeptic's Movement. It is both discouraging and encouraging to see what has changed and stayed the same in the past 50 years. So while it is disappointing to see some obscure cults have grown beyond expectation (dianetics), most are unheard of now. It is also bittersweet to see that American anti-intellectualism and anti-science is nothing new, and neither is a society's short attention span.
A romp through the curious worlds occupied by influential crank scientists — worlds in which the earth is flat or hollow, and invisible orgone radiation will help us undo our prenatal mental implants and fend off the saucer people. You’ll recognize many of the names (L. Ron Hubbard, Wilhelm Reich, Immanuel Velikovsky) and be first introduced to many others. Gardner acknowledges that there is a broad grey area between crank science and orthodox science where wild (but perhaps true) theories live,...more
More of an overview than an analysis, so it starts to drag in places. Doesn't really address bogusness that isn't 'in the name of science' (astrology, etc), but a couple of chapters are worthwhile. Flat earth theorists in particular cracked me up, and ESP is debunked convincingly. Read the parts that interest you, and skip the rest
Good, clean, fun debunking. Part of the enjoyment is the outlandishness of some of the theories debunked -- for instance, genius bees from Mars flying UFOs! Or two kinds of tiny creatures who live in our brains and make us creative and logical (these are the Menorgs) or disorganized (the Disorgs) -- yes, the guy who came up with the following had followers and was the inventor of the passenger airplane to boot!
Gardner obviously enjoys when the pseudoscience he punctures is unintentionally hilar...more
Gardner obviously enjoys when the pseudoscience he punctures is unintentionally hilar...more
This book is a lot of fun. Not as dense Gardner's Science: Good, Bad, and Bogus, and Fads and Fallacies might be better for it. He sounds less like an irate man here, quibbling over minor, often semantic, details, Gardner instead provides a critical overview of strange beliefs.
This is the classic work on pseudoscience. Gardner is also an insightful and amusing writer. He gives such nonsense as Scientology, UFOlogy, homeopathy, and flat-earth theory a lot of slack, which only makes their silliness more evident. Recommended most highly.
Feb 10, 2009
Benjamin
added it
Fasincating look at fringe thought in many of it's modern forms. Second edition dates to late 50s thus leaving out the more familiar and contemporary 'heresies'. Enteraining if somewhat stultifying after a point.
As heard on Point of Inquiry.
Gardner takes apart Scientology, General Semantics, and whatnot. I read this as a kid. A great skeptical classic.
Read it a long long time ago, but loved it. Was my first introduction to Martin Gardner.
A classic
Healthy disrespect. See global warming. It is worth being sceptical, and noting that "consensus," real or imagined, has nothing to do with the reliability or validity of a proposition. If more people believed (or disputed) that the world was flat, would it be more or less true? The same applies to characterization such as "in denial" or "conspiracy," or even "undeniable," which isn't science at all. Just rhetoric.
Man, people believed some crazy nonsense in the 50s. Homeopathy, Dianetics, chiropractic, hollow earth, dowsing... Well, at least those fads have run their course and people are approaching life with a more sensible and logical outlook now. Oh, wait... Shit.
As a practitioner of hoaxes for good causes and as an occasional fraud investigator, I found this to be essential training. Bravo!
Apr 01, 2011
Erik Graff
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
the credulous
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
sciences
This book is now quite dated, Velikovsky et alia not being figures of much concern nowadays.
Jun 28, 2007
Joseph
added it
One of the earliest of the great debunkers. If you like this, try his more math-oriented books.
May 21, 2013
allimo
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2013
Hector Sanchez
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2013
Tyro Kathar
marked it as to-read
May 16, 2013
Joe
marked it as to-read
May 12, 2013
Joe Keegan
marked it as to-read
May 12, 2013
Pernin
marked it as to-read
May 11, 2013
Fernando
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Martin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature (especially the writings of Lewis Carroll), philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion. He wrote the Mathematical Games column in Scientific American from 1956 to 1981, and published over 70 books.
More about Martin Gardner...
Share This Book
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...
Jan 25, 2013 09:42pm
Jan 26, 2013 01:13am