Pseudoscience: A Very Short Introduction

by Michael D. Gordin Narrated by Kyle Snyder

Overview

Everyone has heard of the term "pseudoscience," typically used to describe something that looks like science, but is somehow false, misleading, or unproven. Given the virulence of contemporary disputes over the denial of climate change and anti-vaccination movements-both of which display allegations of "pseudoscience" on all sides-there is a clear need to better understand issues of scientific demarcation.



Pseudoscience: A Very Short Introduction explores the philosophical and historical attempts to address this problem of demarcation. This book argues that by understanding doctrines that are often seen as antithetical to science, we can learn a great deal about how science operated in the past and does today. This exploration raises several questions: How is the status of science shaped by political or cultural contexts? How does pseudoscience differ from scientific fraud?



Michael D. Gordin both answers these questions and guides listeners along a bewildering array of marginalized doctrines, looking at parapsychology (ESP), Lysenkoism, scientific racism, and alchemy, among others, to better understand the struggle to define what science is and is not. Pseudoscience: A Very Short Introduction provides a historical tour through many of these fringe fields in order to provide tools to think deeply about scientific controversies.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"The book excels as an introduction to the topic....It has the potential to appeal to a wider audience... and help readers within and beyond academia to conceptualize and engage with pseudoscience in its full complexity-to think about it beyond the abstract, the moralistic, and the anecdotal. That indeed would be an exceptional achievement." — Vedran Duančić, Isis

"In his very short introduction, Michael D. Gordin (Professor of History at Princeton University) provides a clear and reasonably detailed overview of the issues surrounding the concept of pseudoscience...the book does serve its purpose in introducing students and the general public to canonical examples and references." — Stéphanie Debray, Metascience

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178402788
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	05/09/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos