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Voodoo Science #1
Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud
In a time of dazzling scientific progress, how can we separate genuine breakthroughs from the noisy gaggle of false claims? From Deepak Chopra's "quantum alternative to growing old" to unwarranted hype surrounding the International Space Station, Robert Park leads us down the back alleys of fringe science, through the gleaming corridors of Washington power and even into our evolutionary past to search out the origins of voodoo science. Along the way, he offers simple and engaging science lessons, proving that you don't have to be a scientist to spot the fraudulent science that swirls around us.
While remaining highly humorous, this hard-hitting account also tallies the the billions spent on worthless therapies, the tax dollars squandered on government projects that are doomed to fail, the investors bilked by schemes that violate the most fundamental laws of nature. But the greatest cost is fear of imaginary dangers, reliance on magical cures, and above all, a mistaken view of how the world works.
To expose the forces that sustain voodoo science, Park examines the role of the media, the courts, bureaucrats and politicians, as well as the scientific community. Scientists argue that the cure is to raise general scientific literacy. But what exactly should a scientifically literate society know? Park argues that the public does not need a specific knowledge of science so much as a scientific world view--an understanding that we live in an orderly universe governed by natural laws that cannot be circumvented.
While remaining highly humorous, this hard-hitting account also tallies the the billions spent on worthless therapies, the tax dollars squandered on government projects that are doomed to fail, the investors bilked by schemes that violate the most fundamental laws of nature. But the greatest cost is fear of imaginary dangers, reliance on magical cures, and above all, a mistaken view of how the world works.
To expose the forces that sustain voodoo science, Park examines the role of the media, the courts, bureaucrats and politicians, as well as the scientific community. Scientists argue that the cure is to raise general scientific literacy. But what exactly should a scientifically literate society know? Park argues that the public does not need a specific knowledge of science so much as a scientific world view--an understanding that we live in an orderly universe governed by natural laws that cannot be circumvented.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
37 people are currently reading
2,090 people want to read
About the author
Robert L. Park
11books13followersRobert Lee Park is an emeritus professor of physics at the University of Maryland, College Park and a former Director of Public Information at the Washington office of the American Physical Society. Park is most noted for his critical commentaries on alternative medicine and other pseudoscience, as well as his criticism of how legitimate science is distorted or ignored by the media, some scientists, and public policy advocates as expressed in his book Voodoo Science. He is also noted for his preference for robotic over to manned space exploration.
ŷ knows of another author, named "Robert Park"; some of the books listed here (e.g. the concrete topics) may well belong there.
ŷ knows of another author, named "Robert Park"; some of the books listed here (e.g. the concrete topics) may well belong there.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
December 30, 2016
I estimate 1/3 of the physics explained in 'Voodoo Science' was over my pay grade, but the rest is certainly clear as glass. I recommend everyone read this, even if you pick up only the outline of why some recent 20th-century 'discoveries' are either scams or don't work. Don't waste time beating up on yourself if some of Park's explanations are too hard to understand - Congress and some scientists are also often easily tricked by sales pitches full of pseudo-science and excited but ignorant mainstream media chatter.
Dr. Robert Park's book is invaluable because such a sophisticated scoffer of scientific discoveries and claims keeps scientists and inventors aware they must follow established research methodologies if they wish to remain legitimate in the long view. However, a sideways conclusion I got is even discredited experiments still can find support and infusions of cash by hopeful investors.
Park does not include notes or a bibliography (astonishing!), although there is an index. I believe in the substance of his book anyway because the events he writes about were also current events that I followed through the decades. I can vouch for his recollections and statements of the TV news stories and magazine coverage, but not the physics particulars which show why these science 'marvels' were a fail. Park's book has a cranky-rant undertone as well (a bit annoying, actually), but considering his peeve is falsified science results or experiments whose results cannot be duplicated, his accumulated lifetime of respected credentials and education serve him well in his argumentation and debate.
From page 39:
"The success and credibility of science are anchored in the willingness of scientists to obey two rules:
1. Expose new ideas and results to independent testing and replication by other scientists.
2. Abandon or modify accepted facts or theories in the light of more complete or reliable experimental evidence."
He debunks the discoveries of:
several cold fusion scientists
coherent consciousness field of transcendental meditation
ESP
Vitamin O
water memory
CigArrest
magnetic deficiency syndrome
Thera:P magnetic therapy (only $39.95!)
biofield therapeutics
the value of the International Space Station (!!!!!!)
various eternal motion and energy machines
various causes of cancer - (NOT) electricity, microwaves, or magnetic energies
Roswell
Ronald Reagan and the Strategic Defense Initiative
Deepak Chopra and quantum healing
while offering scientific explanations why crackpot science gains traction among believers in spite of lack of proof:
neuroscience
placebo effect
Park is fussily pedantic and he obviously despises any ideas which wander outside of the rigid box of known physics which we know to be running behind all the universe. There is no discussion of black holes or Time or other horrible theories where the maths appear to lead. Thankfully. Although I think him sort of a humorless martinet, I am sure his fact-based logic, based on proven, reproducible experiments, is spot on.
Dr. Robert Park's book is invaluable because such a sophisticated scoffer of scientific discoveries and claims keeps scientists and inventors aware they must follow established research methodologies if they wish to remain legitimate in the long view. However, a sideways conclusion I got is even discredited experiments still can find support and infusions of cash by hopeful investors.
Park does not include notes or a bibliography (astonishing!), although there is an index. I believe in the substance of his book anyway because the events he writes about were also current events that I followed through the decades. I can vouch for his recollections and statements of the TV news stories and magazine coverage, but not the physics particulars which show why these science 'marvels' were a fail. Park's book has a cranky-rant undertone as well (a bit annoying, actually), but considering his peeve is falsified science results or experiments whose results cannot be duplicated, his accumulated lifetime of respected credentials and education serve him well in his argumentation and debate.
From page 39:
"The success and credibility of science are anchored in the willingness of scientists to obey two rules:
1. Expose new ideas and results to independent testing and replication by other scientists.
2. Abandon or modify accepted facts or theories in the light of more complete or reliable experimental evidence."
He debunks the discoveries of:
several cold fusion scientists
coherent consciousness field of transcendental meditation
ESP
Vitamin O
water memory
CigArrest
magnetic deficiency syndrome
Thera:P magnetic therapy (only $39.95!)
biofield therapeutics
the value of the International Space Station (!!!!!!)
various eternal motion and energy machines
various causes of cancer - (NOT) electricity, microwaves, or magnetic energies
Roswell
Ronald Reagan and the Strategic Defense Initiative
Deepak Chopra and quantum healing
while offering scientific explanations why crackpot science gains traction among believers in spite of lack of proof:
neuroscience
placebo effect
Park is fussily pedantic and he obviously despises any ideas which wander outside of the rigid box of known physics which we know to be running behind all the universe. There is no discussion of black holes or Time or other horrible theories where the maths appear to lead. Thankfully. Although I think him sort of a humorless martinet, I am sure his fact-based logic, based on proven, reproducible experiments, is spot on.
August 24, 2008
This highly readable book is an excellent discussion of how the lack of scientific literacy in America affects all of us.
Physicist Robert Park begins this wide survey of bad science with a discussion of how the media is helping to confuse Americans by regularly covering stories of exciting, but highly improbable, scientific claims. In a detailed discussion of the cold fusion disaster of 1989, he then goes on to look at basic human nature and how wishful thinking on the part of a scientist can lead from self-delusion to fraud with remarkable speed.
Though Park discusses some of the usual suspects such as homeopathy, astrology, and Deepak Chopra’s quantum stretches, he also spends a lot of time looking at more conventional scientific issues such as the manned space program. Park eloquently explains how politics, national pride and emotion have contributed to the wasting billions of dollars on a program that is—from a scientific standpoint—totally not worth it.
The chapter that I enjoyed the most is the one in which Park did a detailed breakdown of the EMF scare that began when a seriously flawed study showed a correlation between rates of childhood leukemia and the proximity of power lines. Park explains how that one flawed study, combined with an overzealous reporter trying to sell books, kept that fear alive for decades, causing great suffering to both parents and those with houses near suspect , not to mention the diversion of enormous amounts of money to numerous follow up studies that ultimately showed that there was absolutely no connection.
Despite the findings of solid science on the EMF-cancer connection, the fear may well have been kept alive by hungry lawyers looking for the next big tort payday had it not been for some positive developments in how the courts relate to matters of science. Strong precedent has now been set requiring any science testimony admitted to an argument to be based on sound, accepted principles and not simply on some fringe scientists� willingness to say that anything might cause cancer in exchange for a paycheck.
Despite this very positive step, Park’s book makes it clear that the public’s lack of basic scientific literacy allows people to be exploited and manipulated in unacceptable ways. Though parts of the book go into more scientific detail than I generally find interesting, Park’s argument is so compelling I made a point of re-reading these sections, making sure I understood them, so that I hopefully will no longer be part of the problem.
Physicist Robert Park begins this wide survey of bad science with a discussion of how the media is helping to confuse Americans by regularly covering stories of exciting, but highly improbable, scientific claims. In a detailed discussion of the cold fusion disaster of 1989, he then goes on to look at basic human nature and how wishful thinking on the part of a scientist can lead from self-delusion to fraud with remarkable speed.
Though Park discusses some of the usual suspects such as homeopathy, astrology, and Deepak Chopra’s quantum stretches, he also spends a lot of time looking at more conventional scientific issues such as the manned space program. Park eloquently explains how politics, national pride and emotion have contributed to the wasting billions of dollars on a program that is—from a scientific standpoint—totally not worth it.
The chapter that I enjoyed the most is the one in which Park did a detailed breakdown of the EMF scare that began when a seriously flawed study showed a correlation between rates of childhood leukemia and the proximity of power lines. Park explains how that one flawed study, combined with an overzealous reporter trying to sell books, kept that fear alive for decades, causing great suffering to both parents and those with houses near suspect , not to mention the diversion of enormous amounts of money to numerous follow up studies that ultimately showed that there was absolutely no connection.
Despite the findings of solid science on the EMF-cancer connection, the fear may well have been kept alive by hungry lawyers looking for the next big tort payday had it not been for some positive developments in how the courts relate to matters of science. Strong precedent has now been set requiring any science testimony admitted to an argument to be based on sound, accepted principles and not simply on some fringe scientists� willingness to say that anything might cause cancer in exchange for a paycheck.
Despite this very positive step, Park’s book makes it clear that the public’s lack of basic scientific literacy allows people to be exploited and manipulated in unacceptable ways. Though parts of the book go into more scientific detail than I generally find interesting, Park’s argument is so compelling I made a point of re-reading these sections, making sure I understood them, so that I hopefully will no longer be part of the problem.
February 3, 2022
I believe that many of the most important decisions and actions based on them affecting the public are the results of conspiracies, of intentionally secretive deliberations and operations. I believe, for instance, that the murders of JFK and RFK were conspiratorially orchestrated as were the cover-ups. I believe further that UFO phenomena have involved governments on several levels. Park's 'Voodoo Science' contributes evidence in this regard with specific reference to the events outside Roswell, NM in 1947 and the Star Wars craziness of the Reagan and Bush administrations. All of this is demonstrated within the broader context of pseudoscientific claims dating back centuries to Mesmer. In so doing, Park, formerly professor of physics at the University of Maryland, College Park, and director of public information at the Washington office of the American Physical Society, explores the difference between scientific and non-scientific beliefs.
Most interesting to me were Park's arguments against 'manned' space programs and in favor of robotic explorations. Here, he having been involved in the public debate, his exposition serves to show how political and economic interests have manipulated and distorted the facts of a matter.
Also treated in some detail and, again, dealing with issues with which he had personal involvement, are the multiple cases of what amount to perpetual motion claims and the whole cold fusion controversy arising in the eighties.
Most interesting to me were Park's arguments against 'manned' space programs and in favor of robotic explorations. Here, he having been involved in the public debate, his exposition serves to show how political and economic interests have manipulated and distorted the facts of a matter.
Also treated in some detail and, again, dealing with issues with which he had personal involvement, are the multiple cases of what amount to perpetual motion claims and the whole cold fusion controversy arising in the eighties.
January 12, 2010
In 1983, Robert Park, then chairman of the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland, agreed to set up and direct a Washington office of public affairs for the American Physics Society. This book evolved as a result of his continuing efforts in that role for the next 16 years, synthesizing material from weekly bulletins, op-ed columns and various articles in the popular press.
Park is refreshingly clear that he is not writing for other scientists. His target audience is the general, non-specialist, reader and one of the many appealing qualities of this book is his skill in writing at an appropriate level for that target readership.
I liked this book a lot. It lacks the stridency and tone of superiority that mar Damian Thompson's "Counterknowledge", and the writing is more disciplined than that in Shermer's "Why People Believe Weird Things". Although it covers similar ground, Park's book has more of a hard science focus than the other two, possibly reflecting his background as a physicist. Other welcome features in the book, traceable to the author's role as public affairs liaison, are a discussion of the role of bad science reporting in promulgating scientific nonsense and consideration of the interface between science and public policy. The material in "Voodoo Science" is thus a useful complement to Shermer's book (I don't really recommend "Counterknowledge" - Thompson does an adequate job, but his supercilious tone throughout makes him insufferable). To give an idea of the scope of "Voodoo Science", it seems easiest to give the chapter headings:
1. It's not news, it's entertainment (science coverage in the media, with particular attention given to cold fusion)
2. The belief gene (science as a strategy for sorting out the truth)
3. Placebos have side effects (homeopathy, "natural medicine", and other bogus remedies)
4. The virtual astronaut (public policy and space exploration)
5. There ought to be a law (in which congress seeks to repeal the laws of thermodynamics)
6. Perpetuum mobile
7. Currents of fear (power lines, electromagnetic fields, and cancer)
8. Judgment day (the courts confront "junk science")
9. Only mushrooms grow in the dark (how official secrecy can protect voodoo science)
10. How strange is the universe? (ancient superstitions reappear as pseudoscience)
Homeopathy, cold fusion, healing magnets, Deepak Chopra's 'quantum alternative to growing old', extra-sensory perception, the Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars"), government coverups of alien autopsies, X-ray lasers, spurious "cancer clusters", Belgian sniffer planes (alleged to be able to detect oilfields from on high), and a dazzling array of perpetual motion machines -- they're all here in this amusing, well-written book.
Park is refreshingly clear that he is not writing for other scientists. His target audience is the general, non-specialist, reader and one of the many appealing qualities of this book is his skill in writing at an appropriate level for that target readership.
I liked this book a lot. It lacks the stridency and tone of superiority that mar Damian Thompson's "Counterknowledge", and the writing is more disciplined than that in Shermer's "Why People Believe Weird Things". Although it covers similar ground, Park's book has more of a hard science focus than the other two, possibly reflecting his background as a physicist. Other welcome features in the book, traceable to the author's role as public affairs liaison, are a discussion of the role of bad science reporting in promulgating scientific nonsense and consideration of the interface between science and public policy. The material in "Voodoo Science" is thus a useful complement to Shermer's book (I don't really recommend "Counterknowledge" - Thompson does an adequate job, but his supercilious tone throughout makes him insufferable). To give an idea of the scope of "Voodoo Science", it seems easiest to give the chapter headings:
1. It's not news, it's entertainment (science coverage in the media, with particular attention given to cold fusion)
2. The belief gene (science as a strategy for sorting out the truth)
3. Placebos have side effects (homeopathy, "natural medicine", and other bogus remedies)
4. The virtual astronaut (public policy and space exploration)
5. There ought to be a law (in which congress seeks to repeal the laws of thermodynamics)
6. Perpetuum mobile
7. Currents of fear (power lines, electromagnetic fields, and cancer)
8. Judgment day (the courts confront "junk science")
9. Only mushrooms grow in the dark (how official secrecy can protect voodoo science)
10. How strange is the universe? (ancient superstitions reappear as pseudoscience)
Homeopathy, cold fusion, healing magnets, Deepak Chopra's 'quantum alternative to growing old', extra-sensory perception, the Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars"), government coverups of alien autopsies, X-ray lasers, spurious "cancer clusters", Belgian sniffer planes (alleged to be able to detect oilfields from on high), and a dazzling array of perpetual motion machines -- they're all here in this amusing, well-written book.
June 13, 2009
Science!
Is there anything it can't do?
Voodoo Science offered an in depth look into the pseudoscience the plagues the National conscious. The book examined some of the more popular aspects of pseudoscience (i.e. perpetual motion machines, homeopathy, Roswell, etc.) and the reasons why such claims are inherently false. Throughout the book a nod is given to the scientific method, as well as a sobering account of why such a method is importance.
Scientists are not cast as infallible, but rather as humble and logical - and not beyond corruption. If they are wrong, they step down, pseudoscience occurs when they do not. The logic of the book was what attracted me, and the patience with which it viewed those who step outside of the scientific bounds. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who is searching for an explanation of why scientists should be respected, and why their work is as important as it is.
Is there anything it can't do?
Voodoo Science offered an in depth look into the pseudoscience the plagues the National conscious. The book examined some of the more popular aspects of pseudoscience (i.e. perpetual motion machines, homeopathy, Roswell, etc.) and the reasons why such claims are inherently false. Throughout the book a nod is given to the scientific method, as well as a sobering account of why such a method is importance.
Scientists are not cast as infallible, but rather as humble and logical - and not beyond corruption. If they are wrong, they step down, pseudoscience occurs when they do not. The logic of the book was what attracted me, and the patience with which it viewed those who step outside of the scientific bounds. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who is searching for an explanation of why scientists should be respected, and why their work is as important as it is.
January 11, 2021
Voodoo Science is a well written, entertaining and sarcastic look at many of the popular pseudo–scientific claims people believe despite the fact that no evidence exists to support them. The list includes: homeopathy and magnet therapy, perpetual motion/energy machines, cold fusion, the scientific value of the space station, adverse health affects of magnetic fields, UFOs, quantum intelligence and others. He also provides a good overview of the scientific method and how its self regulating mechanisms eventually relegate bad ideas to the trash heap.
Unfortunately, despite advances in knowledge, our built in belief engine in conjunction with an uneducated public and compliant media continues to propagate foolish and fraudulent science. The fact that the book “The Secret� remains a best seller is evidence that we still have far to go to banish magical thinking from our culture.
It would be more amusing if these beliefs didn’t cause great harm. In its more benign forms it can take the form of money wasted on false cures or fraudulent investments. At it’s more viral it creates a basic misunderstanding of the way in which the world works � leading to government policies that endanger us all.
Unfortunately, despite advances in knowledge, our built in belief engine in conjunction with an uneducated public and compliant media continues to propagate foolish and fraudulent science. The fact that the book “The Secret� remains a best seller is evidence that we still have far to go to banish magical thinking from our culture.
It would be more amusing if these beliefs didn’t cause great harm. In its more benign forms it can take the form of money wasted on false cures or fraudulent investments. At it’s more viral it creates a basic misunderstanding of the way in which the world works � leading to government policies that endanger us all.
April 11, 2010
A MUST read. SERIOUSLY.
Very much a fan of his explanations on homeopathic medicine and energy field cleansing, not to mention how the media "dumbs down" society in terms of actual scientific logic, findings and theory.
Some of it was a little heady for me because I am NOT strong personally in science, so I had to backtrack a little when I realized my comprehension was down (EMBARAAAASSING).
I liked that he explained WHY we want to believe in voodoo/pseudo/junk science (though his personal lack of belief in God was apparent and he didn't give ANY credence to believe... he wasn't in your face about it, but stated it as fact that there ISN'T a god... which to me, it very much IS NOT fact. He exists.)
Was glad to be brought up to date on how the judicial system effects all this.
SERIOUSLY. READ THIS BOOK.
Very much a fan of his explanations on homeopathic medicine and energy field cleansing, not to mention how the media "dumbs down" society in terms of actual scientific logic, findings and theory.
Some of it was a little heady for me because I am NOT strong personally in science, so I had to backtrack a little when I realized my comprehension was down (EMBARAAAASSING).
I liked that he explained WHY we want to believe in voodoo/pseudo/junk science (though his personal lack of belief in God was apparent and he didn't give ANY credence to believe... he wasn't in your face about it, but stated it as fact that there ISN'T a god... which to me, it very much IS NOT fact. He exists.)
Was glad to be brought up to date on how the judicial system effects all this.
SERIOUSLY. READ THIS BOOK.
February 3, 2020
This is a book that is well worth the read. It talks about a few things that are involved in why an amateur or a scientist can go from an honest mistake to an act of fraud. The book doesn't just go after low hanging fruit like people that believe that the world is flat or the Moon Landing was faked, instead it shows how people can allow their actual beliefs to overcome good science and lead them down a wrong path.
Things like Perpetual Motion, Cold Fusion, and even X-Ray Lasers. These are things that can, in fact, sound very plausible especially to those with a less well-grounded scientific background. He gives the rationale behind why such things won't work and in some cases the places where the mistakes were made. This is a great book for looking at what is said as being possible and comparing it to what is probable. (an area that I feel our school systems have singularly failed to prepare US citizens to do) He also explains a little about Scientist Speak. In general, scientists avoid speaking in absolutes, instead couching phrases with things like there is no evidence that shows that cancer is caused by exposure to power lines. This means in a plain language no and trying to find out is a waste of money.
Personally I would like to see books like this as required reading in our Public Schools so that we can stop having comments like Windmills built to provide electrial energy cause ear cancer.
Things like Perpetual Motion, Cold Fusion, and even X-Ray Lasers. These are things that can, in fact, sound very plausible especially to those with a less well-grounded scientific background. He gives the rationale behind why such things won't work and in some cases the places where the mistakes were made. This is a great book for looking at what is said as being possible and comparing it to what is probable. (an area that I feel our school systems have singularly failed to prepare US citizens to do) He also explains a little about Scientist Speak. In general, scientists avoid speaking in absolutes, instead couching phrases with things like there is no evidence that shows that cancer is caused by exposure to power lines. This means in a plain language no and trying to find out is a waste of money.
Personally I would like to see books like this as required reading in our Public Schools so that we can stop having comments like Windmills built to provide electrial energy cause ear cancer.
June 5, 2018
"Voodoo Science"
كتاب ممتع و ثري بالمعلومات يوضح كيفية التفرقة بين علم الڤودو ( و هي العلوم التي لاتلتزم بالمنهج العلمي و لاتراعيه في بحث او تحربة ) ، و العلوم الحقيقية، و لقد قسم المؤلف روبرت بارك استاذ الفيزياء بجامعة ماريلاند علم الڤودو الى ٤ مجموعات :
pathological science,
و فيه يخدع العلماء انفسهم في المقام الاول
junk science,
و يشمل تنظير أجوف يهدف الى ارباك المجتمع العلمي
pseudoscience,
و يدعي أصحابه انه يستند الى أسس علمية بينما هو ينبثق عن أساطير و خرافات مثل ادعاءات ديباك شوبرا بالعلاج باستخدام الكوانتوم
و اخيرا
fraudulent science.
و يطرح خصيصا للاحتيال على الناس و الغش و النصب
و يتكون هذا الكتاب المضيء من ١٠ فصول : ١- ليست اخبارا علمية و لكنها فقرات مسلية ٢- جين الايمان ٣- البلاسيبو له اثار جانبية ٤- رائد الفضاء الافتراضي ، ٥- يجب ان يكون هناك قانون٦- المحرك الدائم ٧-تيارات الخوف ، ٨- يوم القيامة ، ٩- عيش الغراب فقط هو الذي ينمو في الظلام ، ١٠- غرابة العالم .
وأجمل فصل من وجهة نظري هو العاشر الذي لخص فيه أفكار الكتاب
و لقد مللت كثيرا من موضوع الاندماج الذري على البارد
Cold fusion
و لكن على ما يبدو انه موضوع المؤلف المفضل .
و اخيرا كتاب جميل انصح بقراءته
كتاب ممتع و ثري بالمعلومات يوضح كيفية التفرقة بين علم الڤودو ( و هي العلوم التي لاتلتزم بالمنهج العلمي و لاتراعيه في بحث او تحربة ) ، و العلوم الحقيقية، و لقد قسم المؤلف روبرت بارك استاذ الفيزياء بجامعة ماريلاند علم الڤودو الى ٤ مجموعات :
pathological science,
و فيه يخدع العلماء انفسهم في المقام الاول
junk science,
و يشمل تنظير أجوف يهدف الى ارباك المجتمع العلمي
pseudoscience,
و يدعي أصحابه انه يستند الى أسس علمية بينما هو ينبثق عن أساطير و خرافات مثل ادعاءات ديباك شوبرا بالعلاج باستخدام الكوانتوم
و اخيرا
fraudulent science.
و يطرح خصيصا للاحتيال على الناس و الغش و النصب
و يتكون هذا الكتاب المضيء من ١٠ فصول : ١- ليست اخبارا علمية و لكنها فقرات مسلية ٢- جين الايمان ٣- البلاسيبو له اثار جانبية ٤- رائد الفضاء الافتراضي ، ٥- يجب ان يكون هناك قانون٦- المحرك الدائم ٧-تيارات الخوف ، ٨- يوم القيامة ، ٩- عيش الغراب فقط هو الذي ينمو في الظلام ، ١٠- غرابة العالم .
وأجمل فصل من وجهة نظري هو العاشر الذي لخص فيه أفكار الكتاب
و لقد مللت كثيرا من موضوع الاندماج الذري على البارد
Cold fusion
و لكن على ما يبدو انه موضوع المؤلف المفضل .
و اخيرا كتاب جميل انصح بقراءته
May 13, 2024
For a class lol and I got to like chapter 5 booooo
December 3, 2024
Had to read it for my seminar but you know it’ll count to my reading goal for the year! I actually found this to be really interesting, and it presented some interesting points of view towards the questioning of how science is presented to the general public. Basically, question everything, educate yourself, and be aware of the prevalence of pseudoscience.
August 24, 2019
Convincing, entertaining and worthwhile
Professor Park has a dry satirical wit that he unleashes here on the practitioners of what he calls "voodoo science." This oblique reference to Reaganomics is no accident since one of Park's targets in this fun-to-read debunking is the Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars"), a pseudoscientific fraud that, in the author's words "only left the United States more vulnerable" and out thirty billion dollars. The fact that we "won" the cold war is seen as fortuitous and irrelevant. His attack on Edward Teller, Reagan's trusted science advisor, and his phony "super excaliber" x-ray laser is close to hilarious, and reminds me a little bit of some of the shtick in the film "Dr. Strangelove."
Park also takes apart the cold fusion delusion which he says went from incompetence to self-deception to outright fraud. He quotes the science editor of an Italian newspaper who called Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, the University of Utah scientists who concocted the delusion, "fornicating priests" for their betrayal of science and for defiling "the temple of truth."
Other targets include parapsychologists and their statistical "proofs"; NASA (for its manned space program instead of a robotic program that is both cheaper and more effective); homeopathic medicine, which Park claims is no medicine at all beyond a placebo value; Congress for being duped by the likes of Joe Newman and his infinite energy machine, and others; the media, especially Paul Brodeur of the New Yorker for ranting about a nonexistent connection between electromagnetic fields and cancer, and Michael Guillen of ABC news for TV "entertainments" that lent credence to a certain James Patterson and his magical energy beads as well as to such notions as psychokinesis and astrology.
Park even goes after that darling of public television and the New Age set, best-selling author, Deepak Chopra. He writes, "Physicists wince at Chopra's use of the word quantum in the context of a discussion of cancer." He suggests that "Dr. Chopra's familiarity with quantum theory consists of having read Hawking's enormously popular book on cosmology, A Brief History of Time" (p. 193). He adds on page 208, "We cannot help but notice...that the author of Ageless Mind shows unmistakable signs of growing old right along with the rest of us."
I like the way Park shows that governmental secrecy is often just a way of keeping incompetence and delusion, fraud and embarrassing mistakes covered up. He gives not only examples from the U.S. but describes how the French government under Valery Giscard d'Estaing covered up $200-million that was thrown away on a so-called "sniffer plane," an aircraft with a device that was supposed to be able to map mineral deposits from the air. Turns out it was just a bold-faced fraud dreamed up by a Count de Villegas.
In short, Park has both barrels loaded, takes dead aim and blasts fake science to smithereens. Unfortunately, somebody else will just have to do it again next week, since everybody knows people love to believe, be it aliens or vast conspiracies or just in the seductive "myth of the self-educated genius fighting against a pompous, closed minded establishment" (p. 112). Park is to be commended for writing this book because, as he notes on page 177, "It is an axiom in the publishing business...that pseudoscience will always sell more books than the real science that debunks it." This axiom may be wearing thin since I notice that Voodoo Science is number 326 on Amazon.com's sales rankings while (e.g.) Suppressed Inventions, a book touting everything Park debunks here (and more), is number 65,934. Not that this proves anything; however, having read both books (or as much of the latter as I could stand) this is reassuring.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is�
Professor Park has a dry satirical wit that he unleashes here on the practitioners of what he calls "voodoo science." This oblique reference to Reaganomics is no accident since one of Park's targets in this fun-to-read debunking is the Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars"), a pseudoscientific fraud that, in the author's words "only left the United States more vulnerable" and out thirty billion dollars. The fact that we "won" the cold war is seen as fortuitous and irrelevant. His attack on Edward Teller, Reagan's trusted science advisor, and his phony "super excaliber" x-ray laser is close to hilarious, and reminds me a little bit of some of the shtick in the film "Dr. Strangelove."
Park also takes apart the cold fusion delusion which he says went from incompetence to self-deception to outright fraud. He quotes the science editor of an Italian newspaper who called Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, the University of Utah scientists who concocted the delusion, "fornicating priests" for their betrayal of science and for defiling "the temple of truth."
Other targets include parapsychologists and their statistical "proofs"; NASA (for its manned space program instead of a robotic program that is both cheaper and more effective); homeopathic medicine, which Park claims is no medicine at all beyond a placebo value; Congress for being duped by the likes of Joe Newman and his infinite energy machine, and others; the media, especially Paul Brodeur of the New Yorker for ranting about a nonexistent connection between electromagnetic fields and cancer, and Michael Guillen of ABC news for TV "entertainments" that lent credence to a certain James Patterson and his magical energy beads as well as to such notions as psychokinesis and astrology.
Park even goes after that darling of public television and the New Age set, best-selling author, Deepak Chopra. He writes, "Physicists wince at Chopra's use of the word quantum in the context of a discussion of cancer." He suggests that "Dr. Chopra's familiarity with quantum theory consists of having read Hawking's enormously popular book on cosmology, A Brief History of Time" (p. 193). He adds on page 208, "We cannot help but notice...that the author of Ageless Mind shows unmistakable signs of growing old right along with the rest of us."
I like the way Park shows that governmental secrecy is often just a way of keeping incompetence and delusion, fraud and embarrassing mistakes covered up. He gives not only examples from the U.S. but describes how the French government under Valery Giscard d'Estaing covered up $200-million that was thrown away on a so-called "sniffer plane," an aircraft with a device that was supposed to be able to map mineral deposits from the air. Turns out it was just a bold-faced fraud dreamed up by a Count de Villegas.
In short, Park has both barrels loaded, takes dead aim and blasts fake science to smithereens. Unfortunately, somebody else will just have to do it again next week, since everybody knows people love to believe, be it aliens or vast conspiracies or just in the seductive "myth of the self-educated genius fighting against a pompous, closed minded establishment" (p. 112). Park is to be commended for writing this book because, as he notes on page 177, "It is an axiom in the publishing business...that pseudoscience will always sell more books than the real science that debunks it." This axiom may be wearing thin since I notice that Voodoo Science is number 326 on Amazon.com's sales rankings while (e.g.) Suppressed Inventions, a book touting everything Park debunks here (and more), is number 65,934. Not that this proves anything; however, having read both books (or as much of the latter as I could stand) this is reassuring.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is�
May 12, 2011
This book is written not so much for scientists but more for anyone with an interest in scientific misconduct/fraud. Robert Park writes in "Voodoo Science" that voodoo science has a way of evolving ... from self-delusion to fraud. He uses the term voodoo science to cover them all: pathological science, junk science, pseudoscience, and fraudulent science. In pathological science, scientists fool themselves. Junk science refers to scientists who use their expertise to befuddle and mislead others (one example:lawyers). Pseudoscience has the trappings of science without any evidence. Fraudulent science is old-fashioned lying.
Well written entertaining chapters cover everything from cold fusion to homeopathy. A chapter on "Star Wars" explores junk science that often hides behind official secrecy in the armed forces. Written before the 2003 shuttle accident, Park also argues that space science would be most efficiently accomplished using space robots. Politicians and the American public love astronauts, so we waste billions of dollars on manned space missions.
And what would a book on scientific fraud be without a chapter on perpetual motion? Recommended: very entertaining read.
My rating -- 4.5/5
Well written entertaining chapters cover everything from cold fusion to homeopathy. A chapter on "Star Wars" explores junk science that often hides behind official secrecy in the armed forces. Written before the 2003 shuttle accident, Park also argues that space science would be most efficiently accomplished using space robots. Politicians and the American public love astronauts, so we waste billions of dollars on manned space missions.
And what would a book on scientific fraud be without a chapter on perpetual motion? Recommended: very entertaining read.
My rating -- 4.5/5
April 21, 2013
A thought-provoking look at what passes for science in some quarters. It wasn't quite what I'd expected from the title, but it is quite an enjoyable read nevertheless. Some people will believe anything! See more at: .
August 3, 2019
علم وودوو Voodooscience�(جاده ای از حماقت تا تقل�) نوشته رییس سابق انجمن فیزیک آمریکا رابرت پارک د� پاسخ به اباطیل دیپاک چوپرا در عرفان کوانتومی و سوء استفاده از مفاهیم علمی.
June 22, 2018
Finally, a popular science book that was interesting, informative, and well-written. As someone who enjoys science, but doesn't have much of a scientific education, I found the explanations in this book perfectly easy to understand. I especially appreciated the discussions on physics and why certain pseudo-scientific ideas can't be right unless all of understood physics are wrong. I thought the sections on homeopathic "medicine" and EMF radiation were especially effectively written.
The one thing that stood out as kind of odd to me is the chapter on space and space exploration. It doesn't seem to fit into the flow of the rest of the book, and reads like it was jammed in as an afterthought. It's a good chapter, explaining why the billions of dollars that have been spent on various space programs have not returned enough scientific results to be worth it. However, a better fit with the topic of the book, in my opinion, would have been an examination of something like the moon hoax theories and why they're wrong. I hadn't thought about the lack of results from the money spent on manned missions to space, so I appreciated that, but the chapter lacked coherence with the rest of the book.
Overall, a great popular science book, especially for people interested in physics and crank and pseudo-scientists involved with "cold fusion" and perpetual motion machines.
Because I read the paper edition of this book, I am including my highlights here:
I came to realize that many people choose scientific beliefs the same way they choose to be Methodists, or Democrats, or Chicago Cubs fans. They judge science by how well it agrees with the way they want the world to be. p. ix
"The most common of all follies," wrote H.L. Mencken, "is to believe passionately in the palpably untrue." p. 31
People will work every bit as hard to fool themselves as they will to fool others - which makes it very difficult to tell just where the line between foolishness and rad is located. p. 31
It is not so much knowledge of science that the public needs as a scientific worldview - an understanding that we live in an orderly universe, governed by physical laws that cannot be circumvented. p. 40
Simplistic arguments and homespun humor are more effective in such a debate than citing the laws of thermodynamics. Debate has a way of seeming to elevate a controversy into an argument between scientific equals. It is an arena made for voodoo science. p. 42-3
[Re: homeopathic "medicine"] To be precise, at a dilution of 30X you would have to drink 7,574 gallons of the solution to expect to get just one molecule of the medicine. p. 53
Few scientists or inventors set out to commit fraud. In the beginning, most believe they have made a great discovery. But what happens when they finally realize that things are not behaving as they believed? p. 104
It is ingrained in the American character to believe that a simple, virtuous man can accomplish things that are beyond the reach of closed-minded, so-called experts. p. 108
...it never pays to underestimate the human capacity for self-deception.... p. 122
The officials at the utility companies who were responsible for venture capital investments ... mistrusted the authority of science. That's not the same as mistrusting scientists. You should mistrust scientists; all sorts of outrageous claims are made by people who represent themselves as scientists. p. 135
Whether electromagnetic radiation is ionizing is independent of the intensity, or number, of photons; it depends only on the energy of the individual photons.
Breaking a chemical bond with a photon is like throwing stones at something on the other side of a river. If you can't throw that far, it won't matter how many stones you throw. p. 147
It is a general rule in epidemiology that if a better measure of a suspected agent results in a lower risk, there is almost certainly an unidentified "confounding factor." p. 156
That depends, of course, on what you mean by "possible". Richard Wilson, a Harvard physicist who had researched the problem, illustrated "possible" this way: Suppose someone tells you a dog is running down the center of Fifth Avenue. You might think it unusual, but it's certainly possible, and you would have no reason to doubt the story. If the claim is that it's a lion running down Fifth Avenue, it's still possible, but you would probably want some sort of supporting evidence - perhaps a report of a lion escaping from the Bronx Zoo. But if someone tells you a stegosaurus is running down Fifth Avenue, you would assume that he's mistaken. In some sense it might be "possible" the he's seen a stegosaurus, but it's far more likely that he saw a fog and thought it was a stegosaurus. Indeed, most reasonable people would agree that the possibility that there could really be a stegosaurus running down Fifth Avenue is too small to even bother checking out. p. 160-161
In the long run, however, episodes like Roswell leave the government almost powerless to reassure its citizens in the face of far-fetched conspiracy theories and pseudoscientific hogwash. p. 181
Galaxies collided, stars exploded, worlds were obliterated. Humans were powerless before such forces. But terror mingled with wonder. Wonder that fragile, self-replicating specks of matter, trapped on a tiny planet for a few dozen orbits about an undistinguished star among countless other stars in one of billions of galaxies, have managed to figure all this out. That is perhaps the strangest thing about the universe. Strange and very wonderful. p. 213
The one thing that stood out as kind of odd to me is the chapter on space and space exploration. It doesn't seem to fit into the flow of the rest of the book, and reads like it was jammed in as an afterthought. It's a good chapter, explaining why the billions of dollars that have been spent on various space programs have not returned enough scientific results to be worth it. However, a better fit with the topic of the book, in my opinion, would have been an examination of something like the moon hoax theories and why they're wrong. I hadn't thought about the lack of results from the money spent on manned missions to space, so I appreciated that, but the chapter lacked coherence with the rest of the book.
Overall, a great popular science book, especially for people interested in physics and crank and pseudo-scientists involved with "cold fusion" and perpetual motion machines.
Because I read the paper edition of this book, I am including my highlights here:
I came to realize that many people choose scientific beliefs the same way they choose to be Methodists, or Democrats, or Chicago Cubs fans. They judge science by how well it agrees with the way they want the world to be. p. ix
"The most common of all follies," wrote H.L. Mencken, "is to believe passionately in the palpably untrue." p. 31
People will work every bit as hard to fool themselves as they will to fool others - which makes it very difficult to tell just where the line between foolishness and rad is located. p. 31
It is not so much knowledge of science that the public needs as a scientific worldview - an understanding that we live in an orderly universe, governed by physical laws that cannot be circumvented. p. 40
Simplistic arguments and homespun humor are more effective in such a debate than citing the laws of thermodynamics. Debate has a way of seeming to elevate a controversy into an argument between scientific equals. It is an arena made for voodoo science. p. 42-3
[Re: homeopathic "medicine"] To be precise, at a dilution of 30X you would have to drink 7,574 gallons of the solution to expect to get just one molecule of the medicine. p. 53
Few scientists or inventors set out to commit fraud. In the beginning, most believe they have made a great discovery. But what happens when they finally realize that things are not behaving as they believed? p. 104
It is ingrained in the American character to believe that a simple, virtuous man can accomplish things that are beyond the reach of closed-minded, so-called experts. p. 108
...it never pays to underestimate the human capacity for self-deception.... p. 122
The officials at the utility companies who were responsible for venture capital investments ... mistrusted the authority of science. That's not the same as mistrusting scientists. You should mistrust scientists; all sorts of outrageous claims are made by people who represent themselves as scientists. p. 135
Whether electromagnetic radiation is ionizing is independent of the intensity, or number, of photons; it depends only on the energy of the individual photons.
Breaking a chemical bond with a photon is like throwing stones at something on the other side of a river. If you can't throw that far, it won't matter how many stones you throw. p. 147
It is a general rule in epidemiology that if a better measure of a suspected agent results in a lower risk, there is almost certainly an unidentified "confounding factor." p. 156
That depends, of course, on what you mean by "possible". Richard Wilson, a Harvard physicist who had researched the problem, illustrated "possible" this way: Suppose someone tells you a dog is running down the center of Fifth Avenue. You might think it unusual, but it's certainly possible, and you would have no reason to doubt the story. If the claim is that it's a lion running down Fifth Avenue, it's still possible, but you would probably want some sort of supporting evidence - perhaps a report of a lion escaping from the Bronx Zoo. But if someone tells you a stegosaurus is running down Fifth Avenue, you would assume that he's mistaken. In some sense it might be "possible" the he's seen a stegosaurus, but it's far more likely that he saw a fog and thought it was a stegosaurus. Indeed, most reasonable people would agree that the possibility that there could really be a stegosaurus running down Fifth Avenue is too small to even bother checking out. p. 160-161
In the long run, however, episodes like Roswell leave the government almost powerless to reassure its citizens in the face of far-fetched conspiracy theories and pseudoscientific hogwash. p. 181
Galaxies collided, stars exploded, worlds were obliterated. Humans were powerless before such forces. But terror mingled with wonder. Wonder that fragile, self-replicating specks of matter, trapped on a tiny planet for a few dozen orbits about an undistinguished star among countless other stars in one of billions of galaxies, have managed to figure all this out. That is perhaps the strangest thing about the universe. Strange and very wonderful. p. 213
August 3, 2016
His examples may be slightly dated, but the concept is crucial: science is a specific discipline, not just anything with that label. Professor Robert L. Park discusses the ways junk science masquerades as the real thing, and details how much accepting such claims costs all of us.
It’s Not News, It’s Entertainment opens the book. This is a crucial point; if the largely entertainment-focused media did not supportively cover these topics as it does, most junk science claims would not get very far. Their willingness to support junk science is motivated by ratings and readership. (No less true in the "blogosphere" than in traditional media, I think.)
Park next takes on The Belief Gene, the concept that we are all equipped to give credence to an idea that has once captured our attention. Using the Natural Law Party’s peace experiment of 1993, and fears about global warming, he looks at how this system of building beliefs proceeds apart from data collection, and often, in opposition to the data gathered. This is the “don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up� mindset.
Placebos Have Side Effects builds on the first two essays to examine the voodoo medicine field, specifically, homeopathy and magnet therapy. Park discusses the placebo effect, and concedes that placebos do have a medical effect: “The placebo� works by fooling the brain into thinking the problem is being taken care of. Once the brain is persuaded that things are under control, it may turn the [pain] signal down by releasing endorphins…� Homeopathic remedies are placebos, he further explains, because their dilution removes the possibility of the “active� ingredient actually being found in the mixture.
Many science fiction readers may wish to part ways with Park in Chapter 4: The Virtual Astronaut. Park admits his desire to believe in the possibility of human space travel nearly became his own bout with voodoo science. Reluctantly, he argues that man cannot possibly expect to travel in the flesh to distant star systems, citing logistical and philosophical limits that make it far more economical to send robots and electronic sensors. He concludes with John Glenn’s historic second trip into space in 1998:
The costs of supporting voodoo science stretch far and wide, and never more than when Congress gets involved in legislating science, by awarding grants and funds from tax dollars. There Ought to Be a Law looks at this process, with examples from cold fusion to Joe Newman’s perpetual motion machine. We see this going on today, with Federal and state legislators firmly behind “green energy� solutions. Lawyers and other politicians are simply not equipped to judge the feasibility of such technologies, but they often dismiss opinions from those who are so equipped as “controversial� or “biased.�
Park’s point: When scientific reality clashes with political goals, politicians are easily drawn into support for voodoo science.
The desire to get something for nothing seems deeply rooted in the human psyche, and Perpetuuam Mobile explores several schemes that are essentially perpetual motion voodoo, “in which people dream of infinite free energy.� Dan Rather, former anchor of CBS news, makes a prominent appearance in this chapter, by the way, for giving a somewhat-awed boost to Joe Newman and his Energy Machine. (Newman’s appearance before Congress was featured in a previous chapter.)
Not to be outdone, ABC News touts the Patterson cell, a cold-fusion process that generated for Patterson’s CET Inc. more money than it did energy. There are multitudes of such devices, which every conspiracy theorist "knows" the energy companies have suppressed.
Perhaps the problem is that power lines cause cancer. Currents of Fear examines this scare, and the panicked shutdowns, relocations and loss of property value that resulted from it. (This cost was estimated in 1999 by the Clinton White House Science Office to be in excess of $25 billion.)
From this example, Parks launches into Judgement Day, an examination of junk science in the courts. Fears about power-line-caused leukemia, allegations of birth defects triggered by pharmaceuticals, and silicon implants and immuno-suppression claims have all placed severe strains on the judicial system.
With Only Mushrooms Grow in the Dark, Park extends this argument about the cost of junk science to areas “protected by official secrecy.� Two words are all one needs to encapsulate this chapter: Area 51. In fact, many UFO theories can cite real U.S. government projects as “proof� that the truth is out there. The Reagan Era SDI's “mythical X-ray laser� in the U.S. is matched with the “mineral sniffer� plane that France tried out. Both projects were scams that ate billions in government funds before they were finally debunked.
Park closes by taking on Deepak Chopra and other “new age� mysticisms in How Strange is the Universe? New age philosophies, “in which ancient superstitions reappear as pseudoscience,� take religious or quasi-religious concepts and recast them as quantum physics or chaos theory. This process, Park admits, is aided by physicists working on the frontiers of science, who cannot “resist pandering to the public’s appetite for the ‘spooky� part of science.�
Lest you be ready to charge in, guns blazing, to defend any of the voodoo science Park cites, it would be better to read the simple description of a scientific inquiry into healing by touch. The test, which cost all of $10 to set up, showed that the touch healers tested could not even match results that could be had by guessing at random. The experimenter was nine-year-old Emily Rosa.
These are not exhaustive essays; they do not cover every known instance of junk, pseudo or fraudulent science known. Instead, Park uses his examples judiciously, to illustrate the ways in which we come to be duped by the mere flavor of science. Even where the substance is obviously flimsy, we want to believe, and that desire feeds our credulous acceptance of claims that are purely voodoo.
It’s Not News, It’s Entertainment opens the book. This is a crucial point; if the largely entertainment-focused media did not supportively cover these topics as it does, most junk science claims would not get very far. Their willingness to support junk science is motivated by ratings and readership. (No less true in the "blogosphere" than in traditional media, I think.)
Science fascinates us by its power to surprise. Unexpected results that appear to violate accepted laws of nature can portend revolutionary advances in human knowledge� Alas, many “revolutionary� discoveries turn out to be wrong. Error is a normal part of science� Scientists, no less than others, are inclined to see what they expect to see, and an erroneous conclusion by a respected colleague often carries other scientists along the road to ignominy� If scientists can fool themselves, how much easier is it to craft soft arguments deliberately intended to befuddle jurists or lawmakers with little or no scientific background?
Park next takes on The Belief Gene, the concept that we are all equipped to give credence to an idea that has once captured our attention. Using the Natural Law Party’s peace experiment of 1993, and fears about global warming, he looks at how this system of building beliefs proceeds apart from data collection, and often, in opposition to the data gathered. This is the “don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up� mindset.
Placebos Have Side Effects builds on the first two essays to examine the voodoo medicine field, specifically, homeopathy and magnet therapy. Park discusses the placebo effect, and concedes that placebos do have a medical effect: “The placebo� works by fooling the brain into thinking the problem is being taken care of. Once the brain is persuaded that things are under control, it may turn the [pain] signal down by releasing endorphins…� Homeopathic remedies are placebos, he further explains, because their dilution removes the possibility of the “active� ingredient actually being found in the mixture.
Avogadro’s Number is memorized in freshman chemistry. Homeopathists have calculated the dilution limit, and they agree that not a single molecule of the herbal extract or mineral could remain in their medications. But they insist it doesn’t matter�
Many science fiction readers may wish to part ways with Park in Chapter 4: The Virtual Astronaut. Park admits his desire to believe in the possibility of human space travel nearly became his own bout with voodoo science. Reluctantly, he argues that man cannot possibly expect to travel in the flesh to distant star systems, citing logistical and philosophical limits that make it far more economical to send robots and electronic sensors. He concludes with John Glenn’s historic second trip into space in 1998:
…the real symbolism of the mission was that after thirty-five years, John Glenn had traveled only eighty miles further from Earth than he did the first time.
The costs of supporting voodoo science stretch far and wide, and never more than when Congress gets involved in legislating science, by awarding grants and funds from tax dollars. There Ought to Be a Law looks at this process, with examples from cold fusion to Joe Newman’s perpetual motion machine. We see this going on today, with Federal and state legislators firmly behind “green energy� solutions. Lawyers and other politicians are simply not equipped to judge the feasibility of such technologies, but they often dismiss opinions from those who are so equipped as “controversial� or “biased.�
Park’s point: When scientific reality clashes with political goals, politicians are easily drawn into support for voodoo science.
The desire to get something for nothing seems deeply rooted in the human psyche, and Perpetuuam Mobile explores several schemes that are essentially perpetual motion voodoo, “in which people dream of infinite free energy.� Dan Rather, former anchor of CBS news, makes a prominent appearance in this chapter, by the way, for giving a somewhat-awed boost to Joe Newman and his Energy Machine. (Newman’s appearance before Congress was featured in a previous chapter.)
Not to be outdone, ABC News touts the Patterson cell, a cold-fusion process that generated for Patterson’s CET Inc. more money than it did energy. There are multitudes of such devices, which every conspiracy theorist "knows" the energy companies have suppressed.
Perhaps the problem is that power lines cause cancer. Currents of Fear examines this scare, and the panicked shutdowns, relocations and loss of property value that resulted from it. (This cost was estimated in 1999 by the Clinton White House Science Office to be in excess of $25 billion.)
From this example, Parks launches into Judgement Day, an examination of junk science in the courts. Fears about power-line-caused leukemia, allegations of birth defects triggered by pharmaceuticals, and silicon implants and immuno-suppression claims have all placed severe strains on the judicial system.
With Only Mushrooms Grow in the Dark, Park extends this argument about the cost of junk science to areas “protected by official secrecy.� Two words are all one needs to encapsulate this chapter: Area 51. In fact, many UFO theories can cite real U.S. government projects as “proof� that the truth is out there. The Reagan Era SDI's “mythical X-ray laser� in the U.S. is matched with the “mineral sniffer� plane that France tried out. Both projects were scams that ate billions in government funds before they were finally debunked.
Park closes by taking on Deepak Chopra and other “new age� mysticisms in How Strange is the Universe? New age philosophies, “in which ancient superstitions reappear as pseudoscience,� take religious or quasi-religious concepts and recast them as quantum physics or chaos theory. This process, Park admits, is aided by physicists working on the frontiers of science, who cannot “resist pandering to the public’s appetite for the ‘spooky� part of science.�
Lest you be ready to charge in, guns blazing, to defend any of the voodoo science Park cites, it would be better to read the simple description of a scientific inquiry into healing by touch. The test, which cost all of $10 to set up, showed that the touch healers tested could not even match results that could be had by guessing at random. The experimenter was nine-year-old Emily Rosa.
In 280 trials, the therapists scored 44 percent. The therapists were stunned. They were honestly convinced of their ability� Emily Rosa, the scientist, is doing what scientists are supposed to do—taking the strangeness out of the universe.
These are not exhaustive essays; they do not cover every known instance of junk, pseudo or fraudulent science known. Instead, Park uses his examples judiciously, to illustrate the ways in which we come to be duped by the mere flavor of science. Even where the substance is obviously flimsy, we want to believe, and that desire feeds our credulous acceptance of claims that are purely voodoo.
December 13, 2024
“Many people choose scientific beliefs the same way they choose to be Christians, or Democrats, or Chicago Cubs fans. They judge science by how well it agrees with the way they want the world to be.�
“Two hundred years ago, educated people imagined that the greatest contribution of science would be to free the world from superstition and humbug. It has not happened. Ancient beliefs in demons and magic still sweep across the modern landscape, but they are now dressed in the language and symbols of science. And what may begin as honest error, however, had a way of evolving through almost imperceptible steps from self-delusion to fraud. The line between foolishness and fraud is thin. I use the term voodoo science to cover them all: pathological science, junk science, pseudoscience, and fraudulent science.�
“The most common of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably untrue.�
“The meaning of religious freedom, I fear, is sometimes greatly misapprehended. It is taken to be a sort of immunity, not merely from governmental control but also from public opinion� Any fool, once he is admitted to holy orders, becomes infallible. Any half-wit, but the simple device of ascribing his delusions to revelation, takes on an authority that is denied to all the rest of us.�
“Yet why, faced with the same set of facts, some believe and others doubt?�
“Two hundred years ago, educated people imagined that the greatest contribution of science would be to free the world from superstition and humbug. It has not happened. Ancient beliefs in demons and magic still sweep across the modern landscape, but they are now dressed in the language and symbols of science. And what may begin as honest error, however, had a way of evolving through almost imperceptible steps from self-delusion to fraud. The line between foolishness and fraud is thin. I use the term voodoo science to cover them all: pathological science, junk science, pseudoscience, and fraudulent science.�
“The most common of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably untrue.�
“The meaning of religious freedom, I fear, is sometimes greatly misapprehended. It is taken to be a sort of immunity, not merely from governmental control but also from public opinion� Any fool, once he is admitted to holy orders, becomes infallible. Any half-wit, but the simple device of ascribing his delusions to revelation, takes on an authority that is denied to all the rest of us.�
“Yet why, faced with the same set of facts, some believe and others doubt?�
November 8, 2020
Perpetual motion machines...cold fusion...cancer caused by electric power lines...homeopathic remedies...
They, and their smoke-and-mirrors brethren, have vexed humanity for centuries; not content to use rigorous scientific methods to undergird or disprove their theories, quacks instead turn to an unsuspecting public to buy their crackpot theories (and accompanying products). As soon as one of these hoaxes is disproven by valid science, another three new (or recycled) hoaxes spring up in its place like a Hoax Hydra and ply their wares to an uncritical audience.
However, these violations of natural law (usually the second law of thermodynamics) are not all created equally; while a significant percentage of them are of the huckster variety who are eager to sell another batch of snake oil, others are sincere believers who fall prey to over-abundant optimism, confirmation bias, and overlooked scientific concepts. As a result, the healthy skeptic should treat each one accordingly as they break themselves against provable science.
'Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud' helps readers understand the science and history behind some of the more-common varieties of junk science so that we can be better prepared to deal with them.
They, and their smoke-and-mirrors brethren, have vexed humanity for centuries; not content to use rigorous scientific methods to undergird or disprove their theories, quacks instead turn to an unsuspecting public to buy their crackpot theories (and accompanying products). As soon as one of these hoaxes is disproven by valid science, another three new (or recycled) hoaxes spring up in its place like a Hoax Hydra and ply their wares to an uncritical audience.
However, these violations of natural law (usually the second law of thermodynamics) are not all created equally; while a significant percentage of them are of the huckster variety who are eager to sell another batch of snake oil, others are sincere believers who fall prey to over-abundant optimism, confirmation bias, and overlooked scientific concepts. As a result, the healthy skeptic should treat each one accordingly as they break themselves against provable science.
'Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud' helps readers understand the science and history behind some of the more-common varieties of junk science so that we can be better prepared to deal with them.
September 12, 2022
I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't.
The content is a muddled mess, skipping around between space missions, perpetual motion machines, politics, legal actions, UFOs, and back again. What's odd is that anecdotes about specific people or events are used to generalize - how unscientific!
The author considers scientists as some super-human beings and pure science as humankind's singular consequential objective as a species. But, scientists are human and science is a very human activity, filled with as much errors and ineptitude and fraud and fame as another human endeavor.
Ultimately, the author wanted this book to be for the non-expert, the non-scientist. It is here where he fails the most. There is no way to distinguish what's good science versus bad "voodoo" science for non-expert, except that good scientists are good and righteous and self-correcting and bad scientists aren't. People should look to the good ones. Ummm ... okay.
But, let's look at the real world. Opioids: created by scientists and doctors, good? Fossil fuel industries: created by a century of scientists and engineers, good? The internet and social media: spun out of science labs and universities, good?
We live in an age of fraud. Trusting scientists to save us is naïve.
The content is a muddled mess, skipping around between space missions, perpetual motion machines, politics, legal actions, UFOs, and back again. What's odd is that anecdotes about specific people or events are used to generalize - how unscientific!
The author considers scientists as some super-human beings and pure science as humankind's singular consequential objective as a species. But, scientists are human and science is a very human activity, filled with as much errors and ineptitude and fraud and fame as another human endeavor.
Ultimately, the author wanted this book to be for the non-expert, the non-scientist. It is here where he fails the most. There is no way to distinguish what's good science versus bad "voodoo" science for non-expert, except that good scientists are good and righteous and self-correcting and bad scientists aren't. People should look to the good ones. Ummm ... okay.
But, let's look at the real world. Opioids: created by scientists and doctors, good? Fossil fuel industries: created by a century of scientists and engineers, good? The internet and social media: spun out of science labs and universities, good?
We live in an age of fraud. Trusting scientists to save us is naïve.
June 18, 2024
This is a very worthy book but also disappointing in places. The aim is to debunk various forms of non science and, along the way, explain how science does things and why. While it contains much interesting material (for example about the final disastrous days of Edward Teller as a force in weapons policy) there isn't a sense that the examples where chosen in service of a particular narrative or form a coherent whole. The book keeps spiralling back to perpetual motion machines of various kinds without really explaining why. One could just have easily heard a lot more about junk medicine. There are also arguments that seem not just simplified but wrong. For example, the problem with the nature of the global warming debates is not "the science" but the fact that this is a problem of what will be (rather than what is.) Well worth a read in the sense that, if you are interested in this area, you are almost bound to discover something new but _not_ in the sense that you will be left with clear sense of the scope of voodoo science, what might be done about it and so on. Personally I think the "reference free for simplicity" decision was a mistake. An important part of science is to check, follow up and go deeper and this book doesn't really lead on to others.
October 20, 2020
Both interesting and disappointing. The author addresses a much broader array of issues than I expected, and it makes the book stronger for that. Rarely do I see skeptics point out that the International Space Station serves no real purpose but the inherent coolness of having people in space, but the author addresses it with the same impatience for foolishness that characterizes his approach to Deepak Chopra, Roswell, and various perpetual motion machines. It’s a genuinely interesting book in the subject matter, but I felt like the author’s tone dragged it down. For me, realizing how much fraud ultimately arises from people being unwilling to admit they were wrong has always made me more sympathetic to the fraudsters who got in over their head and couldn’t admit they were wrong. For the author, I’m pretty sure it’s the reverse: seeing how easily foolishness leads into fraud has made him less sympathetic to people being foolish. Neither of us are wrong, I don’t think, and it’s more a difference of degree than kind, but I think you need to share his impatience with foolishness more than I do in order to fully enjoy the book.
January 27, 2021
Es sobre ejercitar el pensamiento crítico y el escepticismo, y enseña dos o tres cosillas sobre ciencia. Habla de cómo los medios de comunicación, con el afán de vender, ignoran los temas científicos, pero le dan una amplia cobertura a la pseudociencia, en especial a asuntos de inventos milagrosos y demás.
Explica cómo la ignorancia científica de los gobiernos cuesta mucho a la ciudadanía, pues se invierte dinero en proyectos fraudulentos que podrían haber sido rechazados si los políticos consultaran a científicos de verdad. Argumenta que el secretismo de los gobiernos sólo contribuye a fomentar la suspicacia y las teorías de la conspiración absurdas. Es decir, claro que los gobiernos ocultan cosas, pero como no sabemos qué cosas ocultan, a cualquiera puede ocurrírsele cualquier tontería y decir que hay una conspiración del gobierno para encubrirla. ¿Captan?
El capítulo final reflexiona sobre las verdaderas maravillas que encierra el universo y cómo en su comprensión hay más belleza que en todas las supercherías. También menciona cómo las antiguas supersticiones regresan constantemente en forma de pseudociencias. Así que ya lo saben, gente. ¡A pensar y aprender, pero en serio!
Explica cómo la ignorancia científica de los gobiernos cuesta mucho a la ciudadanía, pues se invierte dinero en proyectos fraudulentos que podrían haber sido rechazados si los políticos consultaran a científicos de verdad. Argumenta que el secretismo de los gobiernos sólo contribuye a fomentar la suspicacia y las teorías de la conspiración absurdas. Es decir, claro que los gobiernos ocultan cosas, pero como no sabemos qué cosas ocultan, a cualquiera puede ocurrírsele cualquier tontería y decir que hay una conspiración del gobierno para encubrirla. ¿Captan?
El capítulo final reflexiona sobre las verdaderas maravillas que encierra el universo y cómo en su comprensión hay más belleza que en todas las supercherías. También menciona cómo las antiguas supersticiones regresan constantemente en forma de pseudociencias. Así que ya lo saben, gente. ¡A pensar y aprender, pero en serio!
January 22, 2020
I learned some interesting things from this book. It brought to reality for me how easily I was led to believe things because, like the common folk the author talks about in his book (myself included), I didn’t know the science behind what I was being told and didn’t think to doubt it. It brought to light how people may work experiments to their advantage and leave out the bits that didn’t arrive at their personal hypothesis. The author also touched on why certain people continue to believe things, even when the research doesn’t justify it. There was a LOT of science throughout the book though and it read more like a school text book. Because of that I could only give it three stars.
February 7, 2020
Very grateful for this book
Highly recommend this book for everyone. You need to understand when you are being sold nonsense as science, or you can be defrauded.
After reading this book, it is not that I think I can never be fooled again, but I know what to ask for in terms of evidence. And not to accept excuses and complex explanations as to why a demonstration does not prove the allegations
This should be required reading in high school science and again in college. It should also be required reading for senators, representatives and other parties involved in funding or investing in scientific research.
Highly recommend this book for everyone. You need to understand when you are being sold nonsense as science, or you can be defrauded.
After reading this book, it is not that I think I can never be fooled again, but I know what to ask for in terms of evidence. And not to accept excuses and complex explanations as to why a demonstration does not prove the allegations
This should be required reading in high school science and again in college. It should also be required reading for senators, representatives and other parties involved in funding or investing in scientific research.
June 2, 2023
3.5 stars. Park makes some very valid points. Many people are eager to back up the next exciting scientific claim because they are rooting for the underdog and fighting against the evil establishment. But good scientists and the body of science as a whole are trying to reach truth, as messy and imperfect as that may be. The things that don’t fit are eventually knocked out of the arena (e.g, cold fusion, perpetual motion machines). We need to be wary and aware and check our own biases and ideology that may keep us from seeing the truth.
Read for a class (Advanced Human Development). I was actually amazed that I understood most of this! (Thank you Physical Science 100😄).
Read for a class (Advanced Human Development). I was actually amazed that I understood most of this! (Thank you Physical Science 100😄).
May 3, 2024
A must read as ammunition for the fight against pseudo-science.
I don't agree with all of Park's opinions (especially regarding the futility of the International Space Station) but it's definitely enlightening.
Learned so much in the history of pseudoscience, although I wish it delved deeper debunking the most popular pseudoscience of all - astrology.
I don't agree with all of Park's opinions (especially regarding the futility of the International Space Station) but it's definitely enlightening.
Learned so much in the history of pseudoscience, although I wish it delved deeper debunking the most popular pseudoscience of all - astrology.
November 14, 2023
This is a collection of real stories that are very interesting to read. Author insight provides you with enough information to see specific things that made people believe complete fluff. The stories and authors remarks are well applicable today.
August 6, 2018
I love this book. I've read it many times. It feels more relevant than ever these days.
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