Placebo cures. Global warming. Extraterrestrial life. Psychokinesis. In
a time when scientific claims can sound as strange as science
fiction--and can have a profound effect on individual life or public
policy--assessing the merits of a far-out, supposedly scientific idea
can be as difficult as it is urgent. Into the breach between helpless
gullibility and unyielding skepticism steps physicist Robert Ehrlich,
with an indispensable guide to making sense of "scientific" claims. A
series of case studies of some of the most controversial (and for the
judging public, deeply vexing) topics in the natural and social
sciences, Ehrlich's book serves as a primer for evaluating the evidence
for the sort of strange-sounding ideas that can shape our lives.
A much-anticipated follow-up to his popular Nine Crazy Ideas in
Science, this book takes up issues close to readers' everyday
reality--issues such as global warming, the dangers of cholesterol, and
the effectiveness of placebos--as well as questions that resonate
through (and beyond) civic life: Is intelligent design a scientific
alternative to evolution? Is homosexuality primarily innate? Are people
getting smarter or dumber? In each case, Ehrlich shows readers how to
use the tools of science to judge the accuracy of strange ideas and the
trustworthiness of ubiquitous "experts." As entertaining as it is
instructive, his book will make the work of living wisely a bit easier
and more reliable for scientists and nonscientists alike.
