Bad Science
Ratings50
Average rating4.2
Full of spleen, this will be a hilarious, invigorating and informative journey through the world of Bad Science.When Dr Ben Goldacre saw someone on daytime TV dipping her feet in an 'Aqua Detox' footbath, releasing her toxins into the water, turning it brown, he thought he'd try the same at home. 'Like some kind of Johnny Ball cum Witchfinder General', using his girlfriend's Barbie doll, he gently passed an electrical current through the warm salt water. It turned brown. In his words: 'before my very eyes, the world's first Detox Barbie was sat, with her feet in a pool of brown sludge, purged of a weekend's immorality.'Dr Ben Goldacre is the author of the Bad Science column in the Guardian. This book will be about all the 'bad science' we are constantly bombarded with in the media and in advertising. At a time when science is used to prove everything and nothing, everyone has their own 'bad science' moments - from the useless pie-chart on the back of cereal packets to the use of the word 'visibly' in cosmetics ads. This book will help people to quantify their instincts - that a lot of the so-called 'science' which appears in the media and in advertising is just wrong or misleading. It will be satirical and amusing - exposing the ridiculous - but it will also provide the reader with the facts they need.Full of spleen, this will be a hilarious, invigorating and informative journey through the world of Bad Science.
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This was a very interesting look a massaging data in medical and nutritional studies. In addition to that, shoddy journalism reporting on those studies is covered. I enjoyed it but it was dense at times.
An interesting book on the common scientific fads and misconceptions but in some chapters he babbles on some things that don't really contribute to the main factor. I also hated the fact that he sometimes focused too much on bashing on singular personality/method for an extended period of time.
Otherwise, it is quite readable and informative (You won't really find much to learn here if you already have read a few books but for a layman it is fine )
3.5 stars/5
While it preaches to the choir to a certain extent, many incisive and eye-opening facts are presented in a very engaging manner.
The core message of the book is that the vast majority of what is written and read today about “health” and “diets” and other similar subjects concerning our well-being are in actual fact supported by claims that have utterly vacuous science behind them — if any at all. If you're into homeopathy or any New Age-y methodologies for improving your quality of life, you're in for some rude awakenings.
One subject that is thankfully covered in detail is the complexity of the placebo effect. Because many of the readers of Goldacre's critique will quickly fire back the expected “but they DO work for me!” arguments, he has taken the time to explain what the placebo effect actually is — why it “working” may not mean quite what you expect — and how truly fascinating the science behind it is.
He is also quick to point out that the placebo effect, carefully dressed, is also what has allowed the book's villainous charlatans to mislead and exploit the gullible, the tired, the sick, and the stupid for so long.
As far as a pop-lit critique of modern scientific marketing goes, I consider it required reading. As a scholarly effort, it's not without its problems, but those neither diminish its value nor cloud the integrity of its point.
The world would be a better place if all highschool students had “Bad Science” on their mandatory reading lists.
