Category: Review
UFO Believers: A Sympathetic Look at Tangled Connections
Science journalist Sarah Scoles’s book can be divided into three sections. The first covers the background of the story that military pilots had taken videos of flying saucers in 2004, videos that became known as the Tic Toc videos. Then there is a short section on the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), which blends nicely into …
A Skeptical Take on ‘Havana Syndrome’
Reports coming out of Cuba in 2016 were bizarre, mysterious, and alarming: American diplomats in Havana were under attack by a terrifying and powerful—yet invisible—enemy. Victims complained of headaches, dizziness, nausea, and fatigue; some suffered debilitating memory and concentration problems, while others reported hearing loss and tinnitus. The only clue about its origin was that …
What’s Going On with the Country?
Last summer, the PBS Frontline documentary United States of Conspiracy aired. This excellent program described important changes in our nation that led to the unpredicted, poll-defying election of a media personality with no political or public service experience, a long string of allegations of fraud, at best lackluster business accomplishments, and little respect or interest …
Critical Thinking about Sports
I found the title of The Skeptic’s Guide to Sports Science: Confronting Myths of the Health and Fitness Industry a bit misleading. I was expecting to find a list of sports myths debunked by scientific evidence, but what I found was much better. It does debunk several sports-related myths, but the majority of the book …
Luck, Life, and Poker
Okay, the first question the reader should be asking is “Why is a book on poker being reviewed in Skeptical Inquirer?” Followed by “Why is it being reviewed by a psychologist?” And then “What does he know about poker?” Let me answer in reverse order. I’ve been a poker player all my life. I’ve cashed …
Fresh Thinking or Exploitation?
Deej. 2017. 72 min. Directed by Robert Rooy. Executive Producers: Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan. High school and college classrooms around the United States were offered a free virtual screening of the movie Deej for Disability Awareness Month in October 2020. The film was marketed as a Peabody Award–winning, Emmy-nominated film on autism, adoption, …
This article is available for free to all.Examining a 3,000-Year-Old Pseudoscience
Feng Shui: Teaching about Science and Pseudoscience. By Michael R. Matthews. Berlin, Germany: Springer. 2019. ISBN 978-3-030-18821-4. 340 pp. Hardcover, $119.99. If you think of feng shui (which translates literally as “wind water”) as nothing more than a silly furniture-arranging gimmick gussied up with bogus Eastern trappings, you’ll be surprised, as I was, that …
This article is available for free to all.Love Is Blind Is Blinding Us with ‘Science’
Love Is Blind (television series). Netflix. Chris Coelen, creator and executive producer. First airdate February 13, 2020. Love Is Blind is the latest hit in reality television. The show is wildly entertaining, but this new twist on reality-show dating markets itself as a science experiment. This could kill people. Love Is Blind takes good-looking …
Turning Magical Thinking into the Magic of Critical Thinking
Strange but True: 10 of the World’s Greatest Mysteries Explained. By Kathryn Hulick. Illustrated by Gordy Wright. Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, Quarto Publishing, Minneapolis, MN, 2019. ISBN 978-1-78603-784-8. 127 pp. Hardcover, $22.99. Kathryn Hulick’s Strange but True: 10 of the World’s Greatest Mysteries Explained is a refreshing addition to the strange-mysteries genre—all the more …
This article is available for free to all.How Does It Feel?
The First Minds: Caterpillars, ‘Karyotes & Consciousness. By Arthur S. Reber. Oxford University Press, 2018, ISBN-13: 978-0-190-85415-7, 296 pp. Hardcover, $35. Imagine we’re robot scientists who have been observing the universe since its origin with the big bang. After eight or nine billion years or so, a remarkable new phenomenon arose: life. We’d have …
Who’s Afraid of Conspiracy Theory Theory?
Taking Conspiracy Theories Seriously. Matthew R.X. Dentith, Rowman & Littlefield International, 2018. ISBN: 9781786608284. 251 pp. Softcover, $34.95. On June 6, 2016, the newspaper Le Monde published a collective opinion piece criticizing the French government for not being effective in combating “conspiracy theories.” The piece conveyed the impression that any narrative touching upon a …
The Shroud of Turin in History and Myth
The Shroud of Turin: The History and Legends of the World’s Most Famous Relic. By Andrea Nicolotti. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2020. 523 pp. Hardcover, $59.95. The remarkable thing about the Shroud of Turin is that it started out as merely a painting but ended up being treated as a relic—namely a piece …
This article is available for free to all.Flat-Earthery Will Get You Nowhere
Falling Flat: A Refutation of Flat-Earth Claims. Danny R. Faulkner. Master Books, Green Forest, Arkansas, 2019. ISBN 978-1-68344-206-6. 385 pp. Softcover, $16.99. A fifth of the way into the twenty-first century, it is hard to believe that flat-earthers are still around. Faced with assertions of flat-earth belief by figures from the athletic and entertainment worlds, …
This article is available for free to all.Alternative Medicine: Placebos for Pets
Placebos for Pets? The Truth about Alternative Medicine in Animals. By Brennen McKenzie, VMD, MSc. Ockham Publishing, 2019, ISBN: 978-1-9212701-36-0. 481 pp., Softcover, $17.99. Alternative medicine is accepted by many humans, but we may forget that it is also imposed on their pets. Veterinarian Brennen McKenzie has done cats and dogs everywhere a great …
National Geographic’s Name Used to Sell the Supernatural
Science of the Supernatural: Dare to Discover the Truth. Daniel S. Levy. National Geographic Partners. 2019. ISBN 978-5478-4942-0. 97 pp. Book-azine, $14.99. The good name of the National Geographic Society (NGS) is unfortunately being misused, as Skeptical Inquirer has reluctantly noted on recent occasions. As discussed in our special issue “Health Wars” (September/October 2019), NGS …
This article is available for free to all.Never Mind
The Feeling of Life Itself: Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can’t Be Computed. By Christof Koch. MIT Press, 2019, ISBN: 978-0-262-04281-9. 257 pp. Hardcover, $27.95 In 2003, billionaire Paul Allen—best known for not being Bill Gates—founded the Allen Institute for Brain Science, which has done, and continues to do, important work. In 2011, Christof Koch, …
Evolution’s Flaws Are in Us
Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes. By Nathan H. Lents. Boston, MA: Mariner Books, 2019. ISBN 9781328589262. 233 pp. Softcover, $15.99. In Human Errors, Nathan H. Lents, a professor of biology at John Jay College, CUNY (and a speaker at CSICon 2019), has demonstrated that the human body …
This article is available for free to all.The Hidden Biases Men Just Don’t See
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. By Caroline Criado Perez. New York: Abrams Press. 411 pp. Hardcover, $27.00 Unlike many popular books on gender differences and conflicts, Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men refreshingly ignores brains, personalities, and stereotypes. Instead, Caroline Criado Perez shows why sexism …
No War between Science and Religion? Many Scientists Disagree
The Warfare between Science and Religion: The Idea That Wouldn’t Die. Jeff Hardin, Ronald L. Numbers, and Ronald A. Binzley, editors. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018. ISBN 9781421426181. 368 pp. Softcover, $39.95. In the introduction to The Warfare between Science and Religion, its thesis is clearly laid out: “There has never been a systemic …
Truth Matters, and the Scientific Attitude Helps Find It
The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience. By Lee McIntyre. MIT Press, 2019. ISBN 9780266039833. 296 pp., $27.95. Science is under attack. The evidence for global warming is overwhelming, but many reject the evidence in favor of ideology and just believe what they want to believe. Vaccine-preventable diseases are rebounding due to rejection …
Scamming the Public by Direct Mail
A Deal with the Devil. By Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken. Atria Books, 2018. ISBN 9-781501-163845-53600. 290 pp. Hardcover, $26. Most people, when they think of psychic scams, think of the street-corner psychic who takes the casual passerby for a few hundred dollars and who may occasionally score big and take a repeat “customer” for …
This article is available for free to all.What Does It Feel Like to Die?
What Does It Feel Like to Die? Inspiring New Insights from the Experience of Dying. Jennie Dear. Citadel Press/Kensington Publishing. 2019. ISBN 978-0-8065-3986-7. 206 pp. Softcover, $14.99. We’re all going to die. What does dying feel like? We can’t really know, because no one has come back after death to tell us. For those …
The Advocates of Pseudoscience Are Not Monsters—but Pseudoscience Is
Pseudoscience: The Conspiracy against Science. Allison B. Kaufman and James C. Kaufman (eds.), MIT Press, 2018. ISBN: 9780262037426. 536 pp. Paperback, $34.95. The new book Pseudoscience: The Conspiracy against Science includes twenty-two essays organized in six sections touching upon, respectively, the basics of pseudoscience, the costs of pseudoscience for society, scientific soundness, pseudoscience in the …
An Owner’s Manual for the Vagina
The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina—Separating the Myth from the Medicine. Jen Gunter, MD. New York: Citadel/Kensington Books, 2019. ISBN: 978-080653931. 432 pp. Paperback, $18.95. Considering that half the population has one, the vagina has been plagued by an inordinate amount of myth and misinformation. There are many reasons. Prudery inhibits public discussion of …
This article is available for free to all.Finding Science and Wonder, Making Meaning
For Small Creatures Such as We: Finding Wonder and Meaning in Our Unlikely World. By Sasha Sagan. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2019. ISBN 978-0-735-21877-2. 274 pp., $26.00. Sasha Sagan has written a book for turbulent times. It’s for believers, those of us who are nonbelievers, and for those in-between. Its evocative title, For Small Creatures Such …
El libro de National Geographic es un desastre “Natural”
Esta es la versión completa de una reseña de la Dra. Harriet Hall que aparece en forma abreviada en el número del Skeptical Inquirer de Septiembre/Octubre, junto a un artículo más amplio, “Los remedios naturales del National Geographic”, por el Dr. Victor Benson. Nature’s Best Remedies: Top Medicinal Herbs, Spices, and Foods for Health and …
National Geographic Book is a ‘Natural’ Disaster
Nature’s Best Remedies: Top Medicinal Herbs, Spices, and Foods for Health and Well Being, by Nancy J. Hajeski. National Geographic. 318 pp. $35.00. The National Geographic store proclaims, “This authoritative guide to the foods, herbs, spices, essential oils, and other natural substances that alleviate common ailments will enhance your life—from treating illness to sharpening the …
This article is available for free to all.Countering the Pseudoscience in Psychotherapy for the Young
Pseudoscience in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy: A Skeptical Field Guide. Edited by Stephen Hupp with a foreword by Scott O. Lilienfeld. Cambridge University Press, 2019. ISBN 978-1-107-17531. 314 pp. Paperback, $26.44. Pseudoscience in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy: A Skeptical Field Guide is a new book with multiple authors edited by Stephen Hupp. They point out …
Chernobyl and the Future of Nuclear Energy
Chernobyl. Created and written by Craig Manzin. Directed by Johan Renck. HBO and Sky Atlantic. 2019. 5 hours, 30 minutes in five parts. The 1986 explosion of the Number 4 unit of the nuclear power station at Chernobyl, Ukraine, was the worst nuclear accident in history. The accident and the costs of responding to …
This article is available for free to all.When Athletes Fall for Bogus Gimmicks
Good to Go. By Christie Aschwanden. New York: W.W. Norton. 2019. ISBN 978-0-393-25433-4. 302 pp. Hardcover, $27.95. The more desperate people are to achieve some goal, the more likely they are to fall prey to quack and pseudoscientific treatments or aids. Thus, the seriously ill are often easy targets …
A Friendly Guide Showing How Ghost Hunters Go Wrong
Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits. By Benjamin Radford. Corrales, New Mexico: Rhombus Books. 2018. ISBN: 9780936455167. 320 pp. Paperback, $19.99; ebook, $16.99. Did you feel that? A cold breeze just brushed the back of your neck, but it’s not a ghost. That sensation is actually the cold, …
Unintelligent Design
The Not-So-Intelligent Designer: Why Evolution Explains the Human Body and Intelligent Design Does Not. By Abby Hafer. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books. 2015. ISBN: 9781620329412. 244 pp. Paperback, $31.00. Intelligent design (ID) maintains that some features of the natural world are best explained by an intelligent cause (presumably God?) rather than by the natural process of …
The Sunday Sessions and the Heartbreak of Gay Conversion Therapy
The Sunday Sessions. Produced and directed by Richard Yeagley. Dickie Bruce Productions, 2018. At the 2017 CSICon conference in Las Vegas, a well known skeptic psychologist asked me what my presentation would be about that weekend. I explained that I was scheduled to talk about the horrors of gay conversion therapy (GCT), and that I …
This article is available for free to all.Scrutinizing the ‘Bad Clown’ Idea
Bad Clowns. By Benjamin Radford. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. 2016. ISBN 978-0-8263-4666-6. 188 pp. Paperback, $24.95 Who knew naughty clowns could be so interesting? From mischievous and bizarre to disturbing and dangerous, the wayward jester, it turns out, makes for a fascinating topic of study. With his wildly fun and surprising book …
First Book by the Rogues of the Skeptics’ Guide a Terrific Read
The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: How to Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake. By Steven Novella with Bob Novella, Jay Novella, Cara Santa Maria, and Evan Bernstein. Grand Central Publishing. 2018. ISBN-13: 978-1538760536. 512 pp. Hardcover, $19.49. “Science is formalized reality testing.” — The …
What We Know: A Lay Public Primer
At Least Know This: Essential Science to Enhance Your Life. By Guy P. Harrison. Prometheus Books: Amherst, New York. 2018. ISBN-13: 978-1633884052. 320 pp. Paperback, $19; ebook, $11.99 Sometimes to understand the universe, you need to understand a man. Journalist Guy P. Harrison has been adjacent to the skeptical community for a while now, writing …
A Look into the Transcendental Deception
Transcendental Deception: Behind the TM Curtain—Bogus Science, Hidden Agendas, and David Lynch’s Campaign to Push a Million Public School Kids into Transcendental Meditation While Falsely Claiming It Is Not a Religion. By Aryeh Siegel. Los Angeles, CA: Janreg Press. 2018.ISBN 978-0-9996615-0-5. 222 pp. Paperback, $17.99. The subtitle indicates the content of this well-researched yet straightforward …
A Skeptical Guide through the Conspiracy Rabbit Hole
Celestia Ward reviews Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect. By Mick West.
This article is available for free to all.What Are Contact ‘Experiencers’ Really Experiencing?
Beyond UFOs: The Science of Consciousness and Contact with Non-Human Intelligence, Volume I. Edited by Rey Hernandez, Jon Kilmo, and Rudy Schild. The Dr. Edgar Mitchell Foundation for Research into Extraterrestrial and Extraordinary Experiences. 2018. ISBN: 978-1721088652. 802 pp. Softcover, $29.95; Kindle, $19.95. This book is touted as the first comprehensive worldwide scientific investigation of …
Say It Isn’t So
Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions. By Richard Harris. New York: Basic Books. 2017. ISBN: 0465097901. 288 pp. Hardcover, $28. Richard Harris, a distinguished science journalist with National Public Radio, presents a deeply skeptical view of science in this journalistic but accurate depiction of the “other side” of …