Shadows of Science
eBook - ePub

Shadows of Science

How to Uphold Science, Detect Pseudoscience, and Expose Antiscience in the Age of Disinformation

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Shadows of Science

How to Uphold Science, Detect Pseudoscience, and Expose Antiscience in the Age of Disinformation

About this book

In this enlightening and entertaining book, author and Skeptical Inquirer editor Kendrick Frazier takes readers on a journey to the contentious boundary zone between science and its antagonists: pseudoscience (pretend science) and anti-science (open hostility to science). Pseudoscience romps in the shadows of science but takes on the guise of science to excite, sell, mislead, and deceive the public. Anti-science denigrates, even denies, findings of science for ideological ends.

In this dangerous age of misinformation (and dis-information), we need science’s remarkable truth-seeking tools more than ever to help counter society’s crazier impulses in which opinion, beliefs, and lies trump facts, evidence, and truth.

In one sense, Shadows of Science is Frazier’s love letter to science, one of humanity’s greatest inventions, one we should exalt for its unique ability to find provisional truths about nature. In congenial prose he reports on recent discoveries and describes how science works and how its error-correcting mechanisms lead eventually to new knowledge. He tells the stories of some of our champions of science and reason. He describes the little-appreciated values of science, how it embraces uncertainty and humility, and its emphasis on fact-based observation and experiment. Pseudoscience adopts some of science’s language and has a beguiling appeal, but there the similarities end.

Frazier has professionally reported on frontier scientific discoveries and observed and exposed the pretensions and dangers of pseudoscience and anti-science his entire career. Here he shares his experiences, his knowledge and insights, and his love and passion for our ability to learn what’s real about the natural world—and to identify and expose fake science, pretend science, and anti-science in all their multifarious forms.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Shadows of Science by Kendrick Frazier in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Philosophy & Logic in Philosophy. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Foreword
  2. Introduction: Escaping the Maelstrom
  3. CHAPTER ONE Science and the Frontiers of Discovery
  4. CHAPTER TWO Pseudoscience and Unfounded Ideas
  5. CHAPTER THREE What the Heck Is Pseudoscience?
  6. CHAPTER FOUR What’s the Harm? Why Does It Matter?
  7. CHAPTER FIVE The Subjects of Pseudoscience
  8. CHAPTER SIX Pseudoscience in Medicine, or SCAM
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN The Values of Science
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT The Demarcation Problem: Philosophers and Pseudoscience
  11. CHAPTER NINE Climate Antiscience and Denial
  12. CHAPTER TEN The Rise of Organized Skepticism
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN Skepticism Goes Global
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE Final Thoughts, Future Hopes
  15. Notes
  16. Bibliography