How Superstition Won And Science Lost

Download or read book How Superstition Won and Science Lost written by John Chynoweth Burnham and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Burnham studies the history of changing patterns in the dissemination, or "popularization," of scientific findings to the general public since 1830. Focusing on three different areas of science -- health, psychology, and the natural sciences -- Burnham explores the ways in which this process of popularization has deteriorated. He draws on evidence ranging from early lyceum lecturers to the new math and argues that today popular science is the functional equivalent of superstition.

Download or read book How Superstition Won and Science Lost written by John C. Burnham and published by . This book was released on 1987-01-01 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book 2012 written by Alexandra Bruce and published by Red Wheel Weiser. This book was released on 2009-09-01 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The expanded companion book to the #1 documentary film about 2012! The 2012 meme has evolved beyond any debates about the relevance of the Maya Long Count calendar to the lives of contemporary human beings. 2012 is about us on planet Earth at this time. December 21, 2012: will the world really change forever on this date, the end of a 5,125-year calendar last used over a thousand years ago? Certainly Hollywood would like you to think so. Indeed, a not-so-small industry has arisen around the date, hawking everything from t-shirts to teleseminars. Clearing a path between fantasy and reality, Alexandra Bruce surveys the entire 2012 landscape, asking questions such as: Is the Earth losing its Mojo? How did 2012 come to mean "The End of Time"? Did psychedelics facilitate the Maya "Cosmovision"? Should we worry about Earth Crustal Displacement? What the hell is "Planet X"? Uniquely amongst a vast array of 2012 literature, this book features interviews with the leading experts—including Graham Hancock, John Major Jenkins, Daniel Pinchbeck and many others—and insightful, detailed analysis of the broad spectrum of opinion, debate, research and myth regarding the most compelling "end times" prediction of the 21st century.

Download or read book Missing on Superstition Mountain written by Elise Broach and published by Henry Holt and Company (BYR). This book was released on 2011-06-21 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's summer and the three Barker brothers—Simon, Henry, and Jack—just moved from Illinois to Arizona. Their parents have warned them repeatedly not to explore Superstition Mountain, which is near their home. But when their cat Josie goes missing, they see no other choice. There's something unusually creepy about the mountain and after the boys find three human skulls, they grow determined to uncover the mystery. Have people really gone missing over the years, and could there be someone or some thing lurking in the woods? Together with their new neighbor Delilah, the Barker boys are dead-set on cracking the case even if it means putting themselves in harm's way. Here's the first book in an action-packed mystery series by a New York Times bestselling author. Missing on Superstition Mountain is a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Fiction title for 2011.

Download or read book Superstition written by Robert L. Park and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2008-09-22 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why the battle between superstition and science is far from over From uttering a prayer before boarding a plane, to exploring past lives through hypnosis, has superstition become pervasive in contemporary culture? Robert Park, the best-selling author of Voodoo Science, argues that it has. In Superstition, Park asks why people persist in superstitious convictions long after science has shown them to be ill-founded. He takes on supernatural beliefs from religion and the afterlife to New Age spiritualism and faith-based medical claims. He examines recent controversies and concludes that science is the only way we have of understanding the world. Park sides with the forces of reason in a world of continuing and, he fears, increasing superstition. Chapter by chapter, he explains how people too easily mistake pseudoscience for science. He discusses parapsychology, homeopathy, and acupuncture; he questions the existence of souls, the foundations of intelligent design, and the power of prayer; he asks for evidence of reincarnation and astral projections; and he challenges the idea of heaven. Throughout, he demonstrates how people's blind faith, and their confidence in suspect phenomena and remedies, are manipulated for political ends. Park shows that science prevails when people stop fooling themselves. Compelling and precise, Superstition takes no hostages in its quest to provoke. In shedding light on some very sensitive--and Park would say scientifically dubious--issues, the book is sure to spark discussion and controversy.

Download or read book Superstition: A Very Short Introduction written by Stuart Vyse and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-01-23 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you touch wood for luck, or avoid hotel rooms on floor thirteen? Would you cross the path of a black cat, or step under a ladder? Is breaking a mirror just an expensive waste of glass, or something rather more sinister? Despite the dominance of science in today's world, superstitious beliefs - both traditional and new - remain surprisingly popular. A recent survey of adults in the United States found that 33 percent believed that finding a penny was good luck, and 23 percent believed that the number seven was lucky. Where did these superstitions come from, and why do they persist today? This Very Short Introduction explores the nature and surprising history of superstition from antiquity to the present. For two millennia, superstition was a label derisively applied to foreign religions and unacceptable religious practices, and its primary purpose was used to separate groups and assert religious and social authority. After the Enlightenment, the superstition label was still used to define groups, but the new dividing line was between reason and unreason. Today, despite our apparent sophistication and technological advances, superstitious belief and behaviour remain widespread, and highly educated people are not immune. Stuart Vyse takes an exciting look at the varieties of popular superstitious beliefs today and the psychological reasons behind their continued existence, as well as the likely future course of superstition in our increasingly connected world. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Download or read book Scientific Literacy and the Myth of the Scientific Method written by Henry H. Bauer and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is science? Is social science a science? Why are more and more so-called scientific discoveries being exposed as outright frauds? Henry Bauer tackles these and many more intriguing questions that are emerging from within the academic and scientific communities and attracting attention from the popular media and the general public. Whether one is a specialist or generalist, scientist or humanist, thinker or activist, it is important to understand the place of science and technology in modern life. Popular views about the nature of science and scientific activity contain serious misconceptions that were discarded decades ago by most historians and philosophers of science. The perpetuation of these misconceptions usually surface in the form of frustrating and unproductive discussions about everything from setting policy and defining technical matters to whether one individual's point of view is ''right'' because it is supported by ''scientific facts.'' According to Bauer, the most serious and widespread misconceptions are that ''science'' can be discussed as though all sciences share a great deal in common and as though ''the scientific method'' characterizes all sciences. ''Science,'' argues Bauer, ''can be understood only if one recognizes it as a quest by fallible human beings who have evolved ways of interacting that help them gain relatively objective knowledge.'' In other words, science is a social activity, not simply the result of impersonal methods. Concern has recently arisen over the quality of American education and our declining scientific and research orientation. Debates are emerging about what direction public universities should be taking as we head into the twenty-fist century. Why and to what extent should society support basic scientific research? What should everyone in a democratic society know about science? This book will help readers come to an informed understanding about the place of science and technology in today's world.''Provocative. . . . Bauer argues that science does not proceed by the scientific method. If it did, experiments would inspire hypotheses which would then be tested until they generated reliable theories. As Watson and Crick's work [on DNA] shows, an elegant idea is often a headier lure than mere facts.''--Newsweek ''Sound, sensible . . . and very easy to read. . . . I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who hasn't yet heard that the scientific method is a myth.''--Science ''This is a book that every science teacher should read and consider. It will certainly affect their views of what science really is and influence their teaching.''--The Science Teacher