The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience 2 volume set

Contents......Page 8
Colorful Pebbles and Darwin’s Dictum: An Introduction......Page 12
1  Important Pseudoscientific Concepts......Page 18
Alien Abductions......Page 20
Alternative Archaeology......Page 26
Ancient Astronauts......Page 34
Animal Mutilations......Page 40
Anomalous Psychological Experiences......Page 42
Anthroposophy and Anthroposophical Medicine......Page 48
Astrology......Page 52
Attachment Therapy......Page 60
Ball Lightning......Page 65
Bermuda Triangle......Page 69
Biorhythms......Page 71
Castaneda, Carlos......Page 74
Clever Hans......Page 77
Cold Reading......Page 80
Crop Circles......Page 84
Cryptozoology......Page 88
Cults......Page 96
Dietary Supplements......Page 102
Dowsing......Page 110
Earthquake Prediction......Page 112
Electromagnetic Fields and Cell Phones......Page 115
Fairies, Elves, Pixies, and Gnomes......Page 118
Faster-Than-Light Travel......Page 121
Feng Shui......Page 125
Geller, Uri......Page 130
Handwriting Analysis and Graphology......Page 133
Hypnosis......Page 138
Idemotor Effect (the \"Ouija Board\" Effect)......Page 144
Laundry Balls......Page 147
Magnetic Therapy......Page 149
The Mars Face: Extraterrestrial Archaeology......Page 153
Meditation......Page 158
Multiple Personality Disorder......Page 163
Near-Death Experiences......Page 169
Observer Effects and Observer Bias......Page 175
Out-of-Body Experiences......Page 181
Phrenology......Page 187
Piltdown Man (Hoax): Famous Fossil Forgery......Page 190
Placebo Effect......Page 195
Planetary Alignments......Page 198
Polygraph and Lie Detection......Page 203
Prayer and Healing......Page 207
Pseudoscience and Science: A Primer in Critical Thinking......Page 212
Reincarnation......Page 221
Séance......Page 226
Shamans and Shamanism......Page 228
The Shroud of Turin......Page 230
Societies for Psychical Research......Page 234
Spiritualism......Page 237
Stock Market Pseudoscience......Page 244
Subliminal Perception and Advertising......Page 249
Sun Sign Astrology......Page 252
Synchronicity......Page 257
Therapeutic Touch......Page 260
Tunguska......Page 270
Tutankhamun\'s Curse......Page 275
UFOs......Page 277
Undeceiving Ourselves......Page 289
Witchcraft and Magic......Page 295
2  Investigations from Skeptic Magazine......Page 298
Acupuncture......Page 300
Alternative Medicine v. Scientific Medicine......Page 309
Atlantis......Page 314
Chiropractic......Page 325
Christian Science as Pseudoscience......Page 333
EMDR......Page 338
Do Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence?......Page 344
Facilitated Communication......Page 351
Homeopathy......Page 364
Immortality......Page 374
The Liquefying “Blood” of St. Januarius......Page 388
Psychoanalysis as Pseudoscience......Page 390
Psychotherapy as Pseudoscience......Page 401
Pyramids: The Mystery of Their Origins......Page 414
Satanic Ritual Abuse......Page 430
Science and God......Page 440
Science and Its Myths......Page 447
Science and Religion......Page 460
Skepticism and Credulity: Finding the Balance between Type I and Type II Errors......Page 472
Thought Field Therapy......Page 480
Velikovsky: Cultures in Collision on the Fringes of Science......Page 490
Witchcraft and the Origins of Science......Page 506
Witches and Witchcraft......Page 516
3  Case Studies in Pseudoscience from Skeptic Magazine......Page 528
The Alien Archetype: The Origin of the “Grays”......Page 530
Anastasia: A Case Study in the Myth of the Miraculous Survival......Page 537
Ancient Astronauts: Zecharia Sitchin as a Case Study......Page 547
Holistic Medicine: The Case of Caroline Myss......Page 554
Police Psychics: Noreen Renier as a Case Study......Page 564
Pseudoarchaeology: Native American Myths as a Test Case......Page 573
Pseudoarchaeology: Precolumbian Discoverers of America as a Test Case......Page 584
Pseudoscience and the Paranormal......Page 597
Psi and Psi-Missing......Page 609
Recovered Memory Therapy and False Memory Syndrome: A Father’s Perspective as a Test Case......Page 614
Recovered Memory Therapy and False Memory Syndrome: A Patient’s Perspective as a Test Case......Page 623
Recovered Memory Therapy and False Memory Syndrome: A Psychiatrist’s Perspective as a Test Case......Page 632
4  Science and Pseudoscience-for and Against......Page 638
Evolutionary Psychology as Good Science......Page 640
Evolutionary Psychology as Pseudoscience......Page 653
Memes as Good Science......Page 669
Memes as Pseudoscience......Page 681
Race and I.Q. as Good Science......Page 695
Race and I.Q. as Pseudoscience......Page 711
Race and Sports as Good Science......Page 722
Race and Sports as Pseudoscience......Page 731
Science Is at an End......Page 741
Science Is Just Beginning......Page 756
The Science Wars: Deconstructing Science Is Good Science......Page 760
The Science Wars: Deconstructing Science Is Pseudoscience......Page 767
5  Historical Documents......Page 778
Creationism: “Mr. Bryan’s Address to the Jury in the Scopes’ Case. The Speech Which Was Never Delivered.”......Page 780
David Hume’s “Of Miracles”: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1758......Page 802
Mesmerism: “Report of the Commissioners Charged by the King to Examine Animal Magnetism, Printed on the King’s Order Number 4 in Paris from the Royal Printing House”......Page 814
What Ever Happened to N-Rays?: Robert Wood’s 1904 N-Ray Letter......Page 839
Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects......Page 843
Epilogue: Let Us Reflect......Page 878
Contributors......Page 884
Index......Page 896
About the Editors......Page 920