Scientific error, says Robert Park, "has a way of evolving ... from self-delusion to fraud. I use the term voodoo science to cover them all: pathological science, junk science, pseudoscience, and fraudulent science." In pathological science, scientists fool themselves. Junk science refers to scientists who use their expertise to befuddle and mislead others (usually juries or lawmakers). Pseudoscience has the trappings of science without any evidence. Fraudulent science is, well, fraud--old-fashioned lying.

Park is well-acquainted with voodoo science in all its forms. Since 1982, he has headed the Washington, D.C., office of the American Physical Society, and he has carried the flag for scientific rationality through cold fusion, homeopathy, "Star Wars," quantum healing, and sundry attempts to repeal the laws of thermodynamics. Park shows why a "disproportionate share of the science seen by the public is flawed" (because shaky science is more likely to skip past peer review and head straight for the media), and he gives a good tour of recent highlights in Voodoo. He has a rare ability to poke holes compassionately, without excoriating those taken in by their fondest wishes. Park is less forgiving of scientists (especially Edward Teller) when he thinks they've fallen down on the job, a job that should include helping the public separate the scientific wheat from the voodoo chaff. --Mary Ellen Curtin


The New York Times Book Review, Ed Regis
Whatever else you may think about pseudoscience, at least it's entertaining. For much more of this high comedy, see the frequently droll and invariably enlightening pages of Robert Park's Voodoo Science.


Book Info
Demonstrates how even science itself sometimes gets put in the service of delusion and self-delusion. DLC: Fraud in science--U.S.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In a time of dazzling scientific progress, how are we to separate genuine breakthroughs from the noisy gaggle of false claims? Touching on everything from Deepak Chopra's "quantum alternative to growing old" and "free energy" machines to unwarranted hype surrounding the International Space Station. Robert L. Park leads us through the dim back alleys of fringe science, down the gleaming corridors of Washington power, and even into our evolutionary past to search out the origins of voodoo science. Along the way, Park offers some simple and engaging science lessons, showing us that you don't have to be a scientist to spot the foolish and fraudulent science that swirls around us.

While incorporating elements of high humor, from Joe Newman and his Energy Machine to the French "sniffer plane," this hard-hitting account also tallies the cost: the billions spent by the public on worthless therapies, the tax dollars squandered on huge government projects that are doomed to fail, the investors bilked by schemes that violate the most fundamental laws of nature. But the greater cost is human: fear of imaginary dangers, reliance on magical cures, and, above all, a sort of upside-down view of how the world works.

To expose the forces that sustain voodoo science, Park closely examines the role of the media, the courts, bureaucrats, and politicians, as well as the scientific community. Scientists, he observes, insist that the cure for voodoo science is to raise the general scientific literacy. But what is it that a scientifically literate society should know? It is not specific knowledge of science the public needs, Park argues, so much as a scientific world view -- an understanding that we live in an orderly universe governed by natural laws that cannot be circumvented by magic or miracles.

FROM THE CRITICS

Natural History

Physicist Park debunks some foolish and fraudulent scientific claims, such as magnetic defiency syndrome, cold fusion, and free energy.

KLIATT

We are bombarded daily in the media by "voodoo science," from fatuous pseudoscience to willful misrepresentation. Unfortunately, the general level of science literacy in this country is pitifully low and many of us lack the understanding of basic scientific principles necessary to evaluate such junk science critically. Fortunately, Park—a physics professor (Univ. of Maryland) and science feature writer (New York Times and Washington Post)— has written a book that will go a long way toward filling in the gaps. Voodoo Science is a highly readable expose of headline-catching claims ranging from cancer-causing properties of power lines to homeopathic remedies to cold fusion. This is a must-read for anyone considering a career in popular science writing (and a should-read for all present and future voters—there are several lucid sections on Congress's actions on ineffective products and on pseudoscience lawsuits). Voodoo Science could easily be read cover to cover (or sampled, using tantalizing entries from the index, from "astrology," "bee pollen," and "butterflies," to "Jonestown," "Jurassic Park," and "smart rocks.") Thank goodness Park has joined the ranks of debunkers (whose notables include Benjamin Franklin, Carl Sagan, and Stephen Hawking) in reminding us that while we may long for magic, there is nothing to indicate that things are anything other that what they are. Still, THAT cosmos is a pretty remarkable one. Category: Science. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2000, Oxford Univ. Press, 230p. index., $14.95. Ages 16 to adult. Reviewer: Gloria Levine; EducationalWriter/M.S. Teacher, Potomac, MD SOURCE: KLIATT, March 2002 (Vol. 36, No. 2)

Ed Regis - The New York Times Book Review

Chock-full of the latest pseudoscientific hoaxes, scams and cases of sheer foolishness. . . . Park communicates a considerable amount of genuine science in the process . . . Frequently droll and invariably enlightening.

Paul Chance, PhD - Psychology Today

...if you are considering the purchase of an infinite energy machine, you should read Voodoo Science. Park gets to the essence of true scientific thinking without the mathematical formulas, then uses real-life examples to show how people (including scientists) are led astray by pseudoscience.

Leon Jaroff - Time Magazine