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Why people believe weird things : pseudoscience, superstition, and other confusions of our time / Michael Shermer ; foreword by Stephen Jay Gould.

By: Language: English Publication details: New York : A.W.H. Freeman/Owl Book, 2002.Edition: Rev. and expandedDescription: xxvi, 349 p. : ill. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 9780805070897 (pbk.)
Subject(s): LOC classification:
  • Q 172.5 .P77 S48 2002
Partial contents:
Foreword. Introduction. Prologue. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Stephen Jay Gould -- The positive power of skepticism / Magical mystery tour: The whys and wherefores of weird things -- Next on Oprah -- Science and skepticism ; I am therefore I think: a skeptic's manifesto ; The most precious thing we have: the difference between science and pseudoscience ; How thinking goes wrong: twenty-five fallacies that lead us to believe weird things -- Pseudoscience and superstition ; Deviations: the normal, the paranormal, and Edgar Cayce ; Through the invisible: near-death experiences and the quest for immortality ; Abducted: encounters with aliens ; Epidemics of accusations: medieval and modern witch crazes ; The unlikeliest cult: Ayn Rand, objectivism, and the cult of personality -- Evolution and creationism ; In the beginning: an evening with Duane T. Gish ; Confronting creationists: twenty-five creationist arguments, twenty-five evolutionist answers ; Science defended, science defined: evolution and creationism at the Supreme Court -- History and Pseudohistory ; Doing Donahue: history, censorships, and free speech ; Who says the Holocaust never happened, and why do they say it?: an overview of a movement ; How we know the Holocaust happened: debunking the deniers ; Pigeonholes and continuums: an African-Greek-German-American looks at race -- Hope springs eternal ; Dr. Tipler meets Dr. Pangloss: can science find the best of all possible worlds? ; Why do people believe weird things? ; Why smart people believe weird things.
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"First Owl Books edition"--T.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 315-332) and index.

Foreword. Introduction. Prologue. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Stephen Jay Gould -- The positive power of skepticism / Magical mystery tour: The whys and wherefores of weird things -- Next on Oprah -- Science and skepticism ; I am therefore I think: a skeptic's manifesto ; The most precious thing we have: the difference between science and pseudoscience ; How thinking goes wrong: twenty-five fallacies that lead us to believe weird things -- Pseudoscience and superstition ; Deviations: the normal, the paranormal, and Edgar Cayce ; Through the invisible: near-death experiences and the quest for immortality ; Abducted: encounters with aliens ; Epidemics of accusations: medieval and modern witch crazes ; The unlikeliest cult: Ayn Rand, objectivism, and the cult of personality -- Evolution and creationism ; In the beginning: an evening with Duane T. Gish ; Confronting creationists: twenty-five creationist arguments, twenty-five evolutionist answers ; Science defended, science defined: evolution and creationism at the Supreme Court -- History and Pseudohistory ; Doing Donahue: history, censorships, and free speech ; Who says the Holocaust never happened, and why do they say it?: an overview of a movement ; How we know the Holocaust happened: debunking the deniers ; Pigeonholes and continuums: an African-Greek-German-American looks at race -- Hope springs eternal ; Dr. Tipler meets Dr. Pangloss: can science find the best of all possible worlds? ; Why do people believe weird things? ; Why smart people believe weird things.

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