Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from BunkRecent polls suggest that fewer than 40 percent of Americans believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution, despite it being one of science’s best-established findings. More and more parents are refusing to vaccinate their children for fear it causes autism, though this link can been consistently disproved. And about 40 percent of Americans believe that the threat of global warming is exaggerated, despite near consensus in the scientific community that manmade climate change is real. |
Contents
Introduction Science versus Pseudoscience and the Demarcation Problem | 1 |
Hard Science Soft Science | 6 |
Almost Science | 24 |
Pseudoscience | 56 |
Blame the Media? | 84 |
Debates on Science The Rise of Think Tanks and the Decline of Public Intellectuals | 104 |
Science and Politics The Case of Global Warming | 134 |
Science in the Courtroom The Case against Intelligent Design | 160 |
From Superstition to Natural Philosophy | 187 |