Bad science
Goldacre, Ben2009
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When Dr Ben Goldacre saw someone on daytime TV dipping her feet in an Àqua Detox' footbath, releasing her toxins into the water and turning it brown, he thought he'd try the same at home. L̀ike 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: b̀efore 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 and his book is about all the b̀ad 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 b̀ad science' moments from the useless pie-chart on the back of cereal packets to the use of the word v̀isibly' in cosmetics ads. This book will help people to quantify their instincts that a lot of the so-called s̀cience' which appears in the media and in advertising is just wrong or misleading. Satirical and amusing and unafraid to expose the ridiculous it provides the reader with the facts they need to differentiate the good from the bad.
Main title:
Bad science / Ben Goldacre.
Author:
Imprint:
London : Harper Perennial, 2009, c2008.
Collation:
xiii, 370 pages : illustrations, ; 20 cm.
Notes:
First published: London : Fourth Estate, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (pages 343-357) and index.
Contents:
Incomplete contents: Introduction -- 1. Matter -- 2. Brain gym -- 3. The progenium XY complex -- 4. Homeopathy -- 5. The Placebo effect -- 6. The nonsense du Jour -- 7. Dr Gillian McKeith, PhD -- 8. 'Pill solves complex social problem' -- 9. Professor Patrick Holdford -- 10. Is mainstream medicine evil? -- 11. How the media promote the public misunderstanding of science -- 12. Why clever people believe stupid things -- 13. Bad stats -- 14. Health scares -- 15. The media's MMR hoax -- And another thing -- Further reading and acknowledgements -- Notes.
ISBN:
9780007284870
Dewey class:
500
Language:
English
BRN:
233339
More Information:
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton Library | Adult Non Fiction - Science and Technology | 500 GOL | Available |