Science and Unreason

By Daisie Radner and Michael Radner

A fresh, lively approach to the subject of pseudoscience and how it differs from genuine science. The books teaches critical reasoning skills as it probes the directions of scientific reasoning... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0534011535
• ISBN13: 9780534011536
• Release Date: March 1982
• Publisher: Wadsworth Pub Co
• Length: 110 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.5" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Book Report

There is a fine line between science and pseudoscience. What sets them apart is the general understanding of what science and pseudoscience have to offer, but through careful observations. Michael and Daisie Radner distinguish the two terms in numerous ways in their book Science and Unreason. The book builds the reader to understand terms by using them in relatable examples followed by the main point of the subject. The different aspects of how to reason with science are what helps the reader to avoid the belief in "science" when it's really pseudoscience behind it all. The book begins with the opening chapter where it discusses the fringe of science. The chapter is divided into 7 subjects: Flat Earth, Ancient Astronauts, Biorhythm, Creationism, Immanuel Velikovsky, The Bicameral Mind, and Parapsychology. Most of the subjects contain references from other scientific books and the views of writers. In one of the subjects, Radner briefly explains the beliefs and history of a flat-earther and even previews an instruction on how to get a subscription of Flat Earth News and a membership card containing the inscription of proof that the world is flat. In the section of Creationism, it explains the theory of evolution and creation and discusses both sides to avoid a biased view. The chapter itself defines uncommon words in order for the reader to proceed with comprehension of the subject, and uses quotes from other books to get a point across. The section of The Bicameral Mind was relatively easy to understand and interesting. It starts off by explaining how a specific procedure of severing the corpus callosum, the connection between the two hemispheres of the brain, work independently. Radner introduces Julian Jaynes, who proposes that humans were not conscious at one point before evolution took place. Before evolution supposedly changed this, Jaynes claimed that people heard the voices of the gods up until the point humans became conscious. In the section of Parapsychology, Radner mentions Uri Geller and other anecdotes, mediums in how they got their stardom and how they got debunked, the history of Society for Physical Research, and the tests of different ESPs. Radner dedicates the focus primarily on the difference between a crank and a revolution. The introduction of Galileo, inventor of the telescope, and Louis Pasteur, who came up with the theory of germs and diseases, sets the book with enough history and comprehension of the differentiation between a crank and revolution. Galileo and Pasteur were both ridiculed for what they believed to be true, and are now considered pioneers of science. This section spends more time in explaining what the perspectives of a crank are and how they go about with their beliefs. Chapter three reveals a list of marks of pseudoscience. Before the list, Radner explains the terms necessary and sufficient condition and uses them in examples in order for the reader to have a better grasp on

David Garrison, SMU Review

While studying pseudo-sciences, I have found many of the same points being brought up again and again. This is obvious because the most popular pseudo-sciences are under the most scrutiny and analysis. Each of my readings has added more and more concepts that are overlooked by most people. In the book Science and Unreason, the authors Daisie and Michael Radner do just that but with more analogies which make these points about the claims of pseudo-sciences easier to understand. Credulous people have absolutely no reason to doubt the claims given to them. Pseudo-science is part of pop culture and ingrained into the minds of our society, but also these myths give people something new to hope and long for. All of the popular myths of Earth's history are represented throughout this book. Everything from Creationism to Parapsychology is talked about in detail to give the reader a strong background in the history and workings of these claims. What sets this book apart from others I have read is the fact that these two authors offer different viewpoints and methods of debunking each claim that is being investigated. The basis of their thought process is that each claim that is represented as science can be exposed through numerous methods. In addition to this they rarely give their own opinions on the subject matter; they let the reader interpret the argument and make their own decisions about the content before they are given the proper tools and techniques later on in the book. This book was hard to put down because of the way it was organized. Throughout the first half of the book, the goal seemed to be to educate the reader in a way that they could understand the material being presented. Little time was spent on the arguments for or against these claims. It almost seemed like the only conclusions they come to, dealt solely with the people making these assertions as a way to discredit them. This was done so that the reader would not develop a biased viewpoint and could later use the arguments given to form their own opinion. Distinguishing between science and pseudo-science seems to be the primary goal of this book. The "how to think" approach is used by many authors so that people may understand how to differentiate real science from fake science. Starting off with the flat-earth theory, the authors bring up each argument that is given to support the theory that the Earth is flat. They mention great minds such as Copernicus and Kepler and reminded the reader that these men were pioneers in their time. References like these would be brought up throughout the book. These arguments would be explained carefully and then subtly dismissed. This process was repeated with the Ancient Astronauts theory, Human Biorhythm, Creationism and many more thereafter. There were also almost sarcastic remarks made when explaining each of these pseudo-sciences. The satirical approach gave humor to these references, making the book that much more enjoyable to read.

From a prof

And I'm one who forces students to read this book -- it is interesting and very readable.

an excellant defense against irrationalism and pseudo-scienc

Forced to read this book in university, I found that it opened a new world of critical thought: rebutting pseudo-science, its claims and methods. A must-have for managing dinner-table conversations about alien abduction, telepathy, and so on.