Comments on: Book review – The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: How To Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake/2019/02/05/book-review-the-skeptics-guide-to-the-universe-how-to-know-whats-really-real-in-a-world-increasingly-full-of-fake/Reviewing fascinating science books since 2017Thu, 07 Dec 2023 15:16:27 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/By: Ceci n’est pas un acteur | Status-Q/2019/02/05/book-review-the-skeptics-guide-to-the-universe-how-to-know-whats-really-real-in-a-world-increasingly-full-of-fake/comment-page-1/#comment-71629Fri, 30 Dec 2022 11:51:38 +0000http://inquisitivebiologist.wordpress.com/?p=3208#comment-71629[…] is, however, also very enlightening to read the sections of Dr Steven Novella’s book talking about the thoroughly unreliable nature of eye-witness testimony, and of memory itself. […]

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]]>By: Book review – Weird Earth: Debunking Strange Ideas about Our Planet | The Inquisitive Biologist/2019/02/05/book-review-the-skeptics-guide-to-the-universe-how-to-know-whats-really-real-in-a-world-increasingly-full-of-fake/comment-page-1/#comment-28344Tue, 21 Sep 2021 09:42:48 +0000http://inquisitivebiologist.wordpress.com/?p=3208#comment-28344[…] The full catalogue of logical fallacies is on display here: cherry-picking of data, special pleading, moving of goalposts, claims of grand conspiracies, arguments from authority, etc. Now, to be fair, Prothero does not let scientists off the hook either. The book opens with a chapter on critical thinking and the nature of science where he reminds the reader that scientists are humans too and fall prey to the same cognitive errors and mental foibles. Fortunately, experimental replication and peer review will weed out bad ideas sooner or later. This stands in sharp contrast with Prothero’s revealing and sometimes tragically comical examples of how believers respond when confronted with evidence. More importantly, despite his disillusion, Prothero wants to go beyond regurgitating facts and is keen to explain how science has come to its conclusions. Thus, most chapters include a “how do we know?” section that he sincerely hopes is the biggest takeaway from this book. Especially as he feels that this is where our education system fails. Some of these are particularly extensive, with the rebuttal of flood geology spanning 18 pages with multiple illustrations. […]

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]]>By: Book review – In Defence of Democracy | The Inquisitive Biologist/2019/02/05/book-review-the-skeptics-guide-to-the-universe-how-to-know-whats-really-real-in-a-world-increasingly-full-of-fake/comment-page-1/#comment-8936Sat, 11 Apr 2020 18:46:12 +0000http://inquisitivebiologist.wordpress.com/?p=3208#comment-8936[…] The Conspiracy Against Science, Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk, and The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: How To Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasin…, and books referenced therein). Particularly relevant is my review of Anti-Science and the Assault […]

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]]>By: Book review – The Rules of Contagion: Why Things Spread – and Why They Stop | The Inquisitive Biologist/2019/02/05/book-review-the-skeptics-guide-to-the-universe-how-to-know-whats-really-real-in-a-world-increasingly-full-of-fake/comment-page-1/#comment-8851Mon, 06 Apr 2020 13:12:37 +0000http://inquisitivebiologist.wordpress.com/?p=3208#comment-8851[…] lose its relevance (see also my reviews of The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread and The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: How To Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasin…). On the other side, online contagion can be encouraged by e.g. social media companies who apply […]

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]]>By: Book review – Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk (Second Edition) | The Inquisitive Biologist/2019/02/05/book-review-the-skeptics-guide-to-the-universe-how-to-know-whats-really-real-in-a-world-increasingly-full-of-fake/comment-page-1/#comment-4883Mon, 15 Jul 2019 09:45:02 +0000http://inquisitivebiologist.wordpress.com/?p=3208#comment-4883[…] a balanced approach, and writes in a friendly, amusing, sometimes irreverent way. While a book like The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: How To Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasin… is a great first plunge into this topic, Nonsense on Stilts is a perfect follow-up to give readers […]

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