False Prophets: Fraud and Error in Science and Medicine

by Alexander Kohn

It's naive to expect that the dishonesty that permeates many fields of human endeavor should be conspicuously absent in the realm of science. In fact, scientific breaches of ethics abound, covering a full spectrum of misconduct ranging from faulty research to outright fraud. In this book, a respected virologist places the scientific community under the microscope, probing the repercussions of various aspects of misconduct, including forgeries, plagiarism & overzealous grantsmanship. Professor Kohn chronicles some famous frauds & unearths several lesser-known incidents buried in the annals of science, medicine, history, archeology & psychology. He explores the motives for these deceptions & examines the conditions that allow & encourage fraud. This revised edition includes new information on the AIDS race.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

250 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.