Overview
AIDS is not caused by HIV. Coal and oil are not fossil fuels. Distributing more guns reduces crime. These ideas make headlines, but most educated people scoff at them. Yet some of science's most important concepts - from gravity to evolution - have surfaced from the pool of crazy ideas. Here, a physicist with an affinity for odd ideas applied his open mind to nine controversial propositions on topical subjects. Some, it turns out, are considerably lower on the cuckoo scale than others. Anyone interested in unorthodox ideas should enjoy this book. And, as a fun way of learning how to think like a scientist, it also has educational value.
Full Product Details
Author: Robert Ehrlich
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Edition: New edition
Dimensions:
Width: 14.00cm
, Height: 1.30cm
, Length: 21.60cm
Weight: 0.028kg
ISBN: 9780691094953
ISBN 10: 0691094950
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 23 September 2002
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
General
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Language: English
Reviews
Modern science, especially physics, is replete with outlandish ideas that defy common sense and intuition. It is almost impossible for the non-scientist to discriminate between the legitimately weird and the outright crackpot... Robert Ehrlich has assembled a fascinating collection of apparently crazy ideas, and subjected them to careful analysis... Ehrlich points out how statistics can be misleadingly presented ... and how the distinction between effects that are causally related and those that are merely correlated often gets blurred. -- Paul Davies, Nature Clear and lively... Ehrlich ... is entertaining, but the genuine value of his book lies in the analyses... An important addition to an underpopulated genre of science books: It critically examines both sides of interesting, important, and unsettled arguments. -- William H. Ingham, Physics Today
Modern science, especially physics, is replete with outlandish ideas that defy common sense and intuition. It is almost impossible for the non-scientist to discriminate between the legitimately weird and the outright crackpot... Robert Ehrlich has assembled a fascinating collection of apparently crazy ideas, and subjected them to careful analysis... Ehrlich points out how statistics can be misleadingly presented ... and how the distinction between effects that are causally related and those that are merely correlated often gets blurred. -- Paul Davies Nature Clear and lively... Ehrlich ... is entertaining, but the genuine value of his book lies in the analyses... An important addition to an underpopulated genre of science books: It critically examines both sides of interesting, important, and unsettled arguments. -- William H. Ingham Physics Today
Author Information
Robert Ehrlich is Professor of Physics at George Mason University. His books include Why Toast Lands Jelly-Side Down and Turning the World Inside Out and 174 Other Simple Physics Demonstrations (both Princeton).
