Overview

Get the straight, scientific story on things like astrology, ghosts, spontaneous human combustion, psychic surgery, and ESP. You hear about these fantastic happenings every day on television and in the supermarket tabloids. Is any of this true or are they making it all up? While many people tune in just for laughs, plenty of readers believe their outrageous claims - often because they simply don't have a clear notion of what science really is. So how do you figure out what constitutes real science and what is nonsense? Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction carefully deconstructs five examples of pseudoscience - UFOs, out-of-body experiences, astrology, creationism, and ESP - and gives easy recipes to test other dubious notions so that you can tell what lies in the realm of real science and what more properly deserves the tag of pseudoscience. This second edition of Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction will include a brand new chapter on alternative medicine, up-to-date links for reliable skeptical websites, organizations and meetings, and a fully updated additional reading section.

Full Product Details

9780190620295

Table of Contents

Reviews

I believe that the inspired title illustrates [Dr. Wynnas] talent very well. Even the inspired title conveys the sense in which the subject will be handled, and encourages the reader to look not only between the covers, but between the lines as well. I cannot imagine that anyone who has picked up that volume can resist looking further into the subjects discussed. And that is the one major purpose of education, to stimulate the student into looking further than the teacher had. Just as the late Carl Sagan went beyond his special field of astronomy to educate the public, Dr. Wynn reaches out past chemistry and brings our attention to the basic problems of understanding the universe and dealing with it. * James Randi, President of the James Randi Educational Foundation * In a succinct and jargon-free style, the authors take us through the principles of accepted scientific thinking. They remind us that the processes of observation, hypothesis formation, testing, forming conclusions, and revision are inviolable. Such basics should not be new to us in medicine, but we may have become unfamiliar with this structure and discipline over the years. * Journal of the American Medical Association * Quantum Leaps is one of a far too small cluster of rational books that responds to voodoo science issues. * Leon M. Lederman, winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics * Praise for the first edition: Very few books give the lay person the ability to tell good from bad. While many books are there to inform you of this or that fact in an authoritarian manner, few prepare you to judge for yourself. This book is a stellar counter-example. * Ramamurti Shankar, Professor of Physics, Yale University * A necessary antidote to the anti-science and pseudoscience that has gained new prominence... The main features that add to the text are illustrations by the esteemed cartoonist Sidney Harris... Recommended. * CHOICE *

Very few books give the lay person the ability to tell good from bad. While many books are there to inform you of this or that fact in an authoritarian manner, few prepare you to judge for yourself. This book is a stellar counter-example. Ramamurti Shankar, Professor of Physics, Yale University Praise for the first edition: Quantum Leaps is one of a far too small cluster of rational books that responds to voodoo science issues. Leon M. Lederman, winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics In a succinct and jargon-free style, the authors take us through the principles of accepted scientific thinking. They remind us that the processes of observation, hypothesis formation, testing, forming conclusions, and revision are inviolable. Such basics should not be new to us in medicine, but we may have become unfamiliar with this structure and discipline over the years. Journal of the American Medical Association I believe that the inspired title illustrates [Dr. Wynnas] talent very well. Even the inspired title conveys the sense in which the subject will be handled, and encourages the reader to look not only between the covers, but between the lines as well. I cannot imagine that anyone who has picked up that volume can resist looking further into the subjects discussed. And that is the one major purpose of education, to stimulate the student into looking further than the teacher had. Just as the late Carl Sagan went beyond his special field of astronomy to educate the public, Dr. Wynn reaches out past chemistry and brings our attention to the basic problems of understanding the universe and dealing with it. James Randi, President of the James Randi Educational Foundation

Very few books give the lay person the ability to tell good from bad. While many books are there to inform you of this or that fact in an authoritarian manner, few prepare you to judge for yourself. This book is a stellar counter-example. -- Ramamurti Shankar, Professor of Physics, Yale University Praise from the first edition: In a succinct and jargon-free style, the authors take us through the principles of accepted scientific thinking. They remind us that the processes of observation, hypothesis formation, testing, forming conclusions, and revision are inviolable. Such basics should not be new to us in medicine, but we may have become unfamiliar with this structure and discipline over the years. -- Journal of the American Medical Association Quantum Leaps is one of a far too small cluster of rational books that responds to voodoo science issues. -- Leon M. Lederman, winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics I believe that the inspired title illustrates [Dr. Wynn's] talent very well. Even the inspired title conveys the sense in which the subject will be handled, and encourages the reader to look not only between the covers, but between the lines as well. I cannot imagine that anyone who has picked up that volume can resist looking further into the subjects discussed. And that is the one major purpose of education, to stimulate the student into looking further than the teacher had. Just as the late Carl Sagan went beyond his special field of astronomy to educate the public, Dr. Wynn reaches out past chemistry and brings our attention to the basic problems of understanding the universe and dealing with it. -- James Randi, President of the James Randi Educational Foundation

I believe that the inspired title illustrates [Dr. Wynnas] talent very well. Even the inspired title conveys the sense in which the subject will be handled, and encourages the reader to look not only between the covers, but between the lines as well. I cannot imagine that anyone who has picked up that volume can resist looking further into the subjects discussed. And that is the one major purpose of education, to stimulate the student into looking further than the teacher had. Just as the late Carl Sagan went beyond his special field of astronomy to educate the public, Dr. Wynn reaches out past chemistry and brings our attention to the basic problems of understanding the universe and dealing with it. * James Randi, President of the James Randi Educational Foundation * In a succinct and jargon-free style, the authors take us through the principles of accepted scientific thinking. They remind us that the processes of observation, hypothesis formation, testing, forming conclusions, and revision are inviolable. Such basics should not be new to us in medicine, but we may have become unfamiliar with this structure and discipline over the years. * Journal of the American Medical Association * Quantum Leaps is one of a far too small cluster of rational books that responds to voodoo science issues. * Leon M. Lederman, winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics * Praise for the first edition: Very few books give the lay person the ability to tell good from bad. While many books are there to inform you of this or that fact in an authoritarian manner, few prepare you to judge for yourself. This book is a stellar counter-example. * Ramamurti Shankar, Professor of Physics, Yale University *

Author Information

Charles M. Wynn, Sr., received his PhD in Chemistry from University of Michigan. He is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Eastern Connecticut State University. Arthur W. Wiggins graduated from the University of Notre Dame and then attended the University of Michigan, where he received an M.S. in physics. He is currently a Professor of Physics at Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills, MI. Sidney Harris is ""America's premier science cartoonist"" (Issac Asimov). He attended Brooklyn College and the Art Students League of New York. He has published more than 600 cartoons in ""American Scientist"" and his cartoons have appeared in ""The New Yorker.""

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