Pseudoscience: The Conspiracy Against Science - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262037424 ISBN 13: 9780262037426

Publisher: Mit Pr, 2014

Synopsis

Case studies, personal accounts, and analysis show how to recognize and combat pseudoscience in a post-truth world.

In a post-truth, fake news world, we are particularly susceptible to the claims of pseudoscience. When emotions and opinions are more widely disseminated than scientific findings, and self-proclaimed experts get their expertise from Google, how can the average person distinguish real science from fake? This book examines pseudoscience from a variety of perspectives, through case studies, analysis, and personal accounts that show how to recognize pseudoscience, why it is so widely accepted, and how to advocate for real science.

Contributors examine the basics of pseudoscience, including issues of cognitive bias; the costs of pseudoscience, with accounts of naturopathy and logical fallacies in the anti-vaccination movement; perceptions of scientific soundness; the mainstream presence of “integrative medicine,” hypnosis, and parapsychology; and the use of case studies and new media in science advocacy.

Contributors
David Ball, Paul Joseph Barnett, Jeffrey Beall, Mark Benisz, Fernando Blanco, Ron Dumont, Stacy Ellenberg, Kevin M. Folta, Christopher French, Ashwin Gautam, Dennis M. Gorman, David H. Gorski, David K. Hecht, Britt Marie Hermes, Clyde F. Herreid, Jonathan Howard, Seth C. Kalichman, Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Arnold Kozak, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Emilio Lobato, Steven Lynn, Adam Marcus, Helena Matute, Ivan Oransky, Chad Orzel, Dorit Reiss, Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter, Kavin Senapathy, Dean Keith Simonton, Indre Viskontas, John O. Willis, Corrine Zimmerman

About this title

About the Author:

Allison B. Kaufman is Research Scientist in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut, where she is also Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology.

Review:

[Kaufman and Kaufman] have done a masterful job of curating a series of essays on science and pseudoscience....This comprehensive work can not be praised enough. Highly recommended.

―Choice

...an invaluable volume that examines the cognitive biases that lead to pseudoscience, the history of pseudoscience, the reasons for its wide acceptance, how it is endangering our society, how to recognize it, and how we might reduce its impact....a tour-de-force, a compendium of vital information about science....The book is an excellent antidote to fake news and a handy reference.

―Science-Based Medicine

About this edition

• Publisher: Mit Pr
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0262037424
• ISBN 13: 9780262037426
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 510
• Editor: Kaufman Allison B., Kaufman James C.