False Prophets

by Alexander Kohn

Did Newton fudge his figures? Who counted Mendel's peas? What lay behind Cyril Burt's disturbing statistics on race and intelligence? This work chronicles the famous frauds - from Piltdown man to the Hitler diaries - and unearths some lesser-known incidents buried in the scientific literature. Taking examples from all areas of science and medicine as well as anthropology, archaeology and psychology the author explores the deceivers' motives and discusses the conditions and pressures that make fraud possible. For this revised edition, the author has taken the opportunity to introduce new evidence on some of the case studies originally discussed. He has also added material on the controversy surrounding the attempts by different groups of scientists to establish the origins of AIDS. In a completely new chapter he asks whether fraud is endemic to science, whether errors in the publication of the results of scientific research are unavoidable and what happens to scientists who "blow the whistle" on their colleagues or corporations.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

248 pages, Hardcover

First published September 25, 1986

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not particularly appreciate this book. There were some interesting errors that cannot be accounted for by publication date such as the misattribution of HeLa cells to Helen Lack (actually Henrietta Lacks released by 1971 and even more widely by 1985) and the description of anorexia as a condition related to a loss of appetite?? But my main issue with this was actually the format of writing? In general there were unclear delineations between source material being paraphrased versus the authors own opinions.

However Kohn does get some props for the comedy I got from this statement: “Because of the long education period candidates for a research career have to undergo, they have few opportunities to confront themselves with external reality. The educational processes thus selects people who subconsciously desire to escape the external reality… also delays his emotional maturation, characterized by inner assurance, humor and equanimity…. persistence of theses emotional problems”

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book amounts to a sociological history of fraud in the physical sciences, its methods and motives, ranging from the early Enlightenment to modern times and including such notables as Newton and Mendel. I picked it up at the Amaryth Bookstore on Davis Street in Evanston, IL.