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I read Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science by Martin Gardner back in my teens. It gave me a basis to judge some new claim or study in science. It is THE classic on scientific skepticism.
I say again READ THIS BEFORE YOU ACCEPT ANYTHING FROM SOME EXPERT...
Mr. Gardner's list five common characteristics of pseudo-scientists.
1. The pseudo-scientist considers himself a genius.
2. He regards other researchers as stupid, dishonest or both. By choice or necessity he operates outside the peer review system (hence the title of the original Antioch Review article, "The Hermit Scientist").
3. He believes there is a campaign against his ideas, a campaign compared with the persecution of Galileo or Pasteur.
4. Instead of side-stepping the mainstream, the pseudo-scientist attacks it head-on: The most revered scientist is Einstein so Gardner writes that Einstein is the most likely establishment figure to be attacked.
5. He coins neologisms.
MARTIN GARDNER... 1914 - 2010 A REAL POLYMATH RIP
My thoughts are with you and yours.
Thank you... I found Mr Gardner's Scientific American column back in high school. It was tough waiting for the next month, so I was going back in old issues and getting his books on so many topics... from magic... to Lewis Carroll & Alice in wonderland plus advanced math topics
I thank you for feeding my multiple interests... I strive to be a fraction of the renaissance man that you are
I found about his formal education much later. "His mathematical writings intrigued a generation of mathematicians, but he never took a college math course. " My respect increased even more.
I recently found out he edited Humpty Dumpty pushing his influence far further back than I ever realized.
RESOURCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Gardner
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/us/24gardner.html
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Overview
This fair and witty appraisal examines some of the crazes and quackeries that have masqueraded as science. Discussions include hollow earth theories; Charles Fort and the Fortean Society; Wilhelm Reich and orgone sex energy; dianetics; flying saucers; food and medical fads; much more. "A very able and even-tempered presentation." — The New Yorker.