Examines the debate concerning the scientific theories of Immanuel Velikovsky and analyzes the validity of Velikovsky's theories

Beyond Velikovsky: The History of a Public Controversy

Science & Math

Bauer, Henry H.

Astronomy & Space Science

University of Illinois Press

Description: Like UFO's, Big Foot, and the Bermuda Triangle, the Loch Ness monster continues to fascinate us by the persistence of its mystery. While many authors have focused upon the search for Nessie, Bauer is the first to present a detailed and balanced look at the history of the controversy surrounding this search. Bauer is much more concerned with examining the sociological, psychological, and philosophical aspects of the Loch Ness controversy than with proving or disproving Nessie's existence. He shows that the Nessie phenomenon has much to tell us about how we acquire our beliefs, about the nature of the scientific enterprise, and about the adversarial relationship between mainstream science and ""fringe"" subjects, such as Nessie. The result of more than a decade of research, Bauer's study includes both famous and little known photos and illustrations, the most complete bibliography yet compiled on the subject, and a list of close to 800 reported sightings. Whether you believe in Nessie or laugh at the mere thought of believing, you'll find The Enigma of Loch Ness both entertaining and enlightening. Endorsements: ""[E]xceptionally well written and well researched. . . . Fascinating discussion of society's attitude toward anomalous beliefs and claims, and of the nature of science."" --Good Book Guide ""We need more books of this type . . . putting the whole Nessie question (as well as other cryptozoological creatures) in perspective."" --American Rationalist ""[O]riginal . . . thought-provoking . . . [discusses] the dilemma of contemporary society when confronted with knowledge that is not science."" --Wilson Library Bulletin About the Contributor(s): Henry H. Bauer is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Science Studies and Dean Emeritus of Arts & Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). Earlier he had worked at the Universities of Sydney, Michigan, Southampton, and Kentucky. His publications include more than a hundred articles and eleven books, most recently Dogmatism in Science and Medicine: How Dominant Theories Monopolize Research and Stifle the Search for Truth (2012).

The Enigma of Loch Ness: Making Sense of a Mystery

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Challenging popular misconceptions about the nature of science and scientific activity, Bauer introduces for the intelligent lay reader the relatively new academic field of science, technology, and society studies, which describes science as first and foremost a social activity and examines the roles science and technology play in modern life. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Scientific Literacy and the Myth of the Scientific Method

Research

A lively argument for "pseudoscience" not as the opposite of science, but as something that develops parallel to it and should not be dismissed out of hand. Bauer (professor emeritus, chemistry, Virginia Tech) declares that on examination pseudoscience, or "anomalistics," turns out to be less an intellectual category than an epithet, and that "exploring mysteries in the realm of anomalistics, as in that of science, brings home the vastness of human ignorance." His thoughtful comparison of anomalistics and science works to illuminate the nature of science, of truth, and of knowledge seeking in general. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Science or Pseudoscience: Magnetic Healing, Psychic Phenomena, and Other Heterodoxies

Religion & Spirituality

New Age & Spirituality

ENIGMA OF LOCH NESS Making Sense of a Mystery0252060318HENRY H. BAUER

ENIGMA OF LOCH NESS: Making Sense of a Mystery

History & Philosophy

Scientific Literacy and the Myth of the Scientific Method (View amazon detail page) ASIN: 0252064364

Scientific Literacy and the Myth of the Scientific Method (Illini Books)

Politics & Social Sciences

Sociology

Since the appearance in 1950 of Worlds in Collision, Immanuel Velikovsky's radical theories of planetary physics have been the center of controversy. Beyond Velikovsky presents a detailed analysis of the entire Velikovsky affair, conclusively resolves the major misunderstandings and primary arguments between opposing camps, and leads us beyond to a more complete understanding of the scientific process itself.

Reference

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

Although science attempts to draw a clear line separating its endeavors from those of "pseudoscience," Henry Bauer reveals that the distinction is both equivocal and misleading. Setting aside science's snowy mantle of truth, Bauer presents pseudoscience--or anomalistics--not as the opposite of science but as something that develops parallel to it.   Science assumes anomalies--that is, phenomena that contradict the existing store of knowledge--result from error, contamination, or even deception: in short, from bad research technique, at best, and deliberate hoax, at worst. Anomalists, by contrast, accept such occurrences, often on the basis of eyewitness claims, as important in themselves and worthy of further study, even if they contradict prevailing theories and offer a minimal degree of reproducibility.  Science or Pseudoscience explores the diffuse and porous borders between mainstream and unorthodoxy. A scientist himself, Bauer points out that some phenomena that have turned out to be spurious, such as polywater and cold fusion, were for a time taken quite seriously by respected members of the scientific community. Other anomalies, such as ball lightning and meteorites, were dismissed by many scientists but turned out to be legitimate discoveries. Meanwhile, science has failed to prove that phenomena encompassed by the "big three" subjects in anomalistics--parapsychology, ufology, and cryptozoology (e.g., the Loch Ness monster)--do not exist. Rather, science theorizes that these phenomena cannot exist, since today's scientific laws seem to hold them to be impossible.   Bauer discusses anomalies such as archaeoastronomy (e.g., Stonehenge) and bioelectromagnetics and looks at how institutional, commercial, and political interests influence borderline research in mainstream laboratories. He also draws a distinction between fraud and commercial huckstering, on the one hand, and genuine knowledge-seeking about matters ignored by the established intellectual disciplines, on the other.   Bauer notes that the more closely anomalistic research approaches science, the more strenuously it is criticized by the establishment, often in terms of heresy. Reminding us that geniuses are cranks who happen to be right while cranks may be geniuses who happen to be wrong, Science or Pseudoscience offers a measured and thoughtful assessment of this volatile debate.  

Philosophy

Enigma of Loch Ness, The: Making Sense of a Mystery

JOHNSTON B

Thanks to enormous funding for educational programs, the whole world "knows" that HIV causes AIDS. But is what we know compatible with the facts? This book challenges the conventional wisdom on this issue. Collating and analyzing, for the first time, the results of more than two decades of HIV testing, it reveals that the common assumptions about HIV and AIDS are incompatible with the published data. Among the many topics explored are the failings of HIV testing, statistical evidence that HIV is neither sexually transmitted nor increasingly prevalent, and problems caused by the differing diagnostic criteria for AIDS around the world. But how could everyone have been so wrong for so long? This vital question, unaddressed in previous works questioning the HIV-AIDS connection, is central to this book. The author considers comparable missteps of modern science, and discusses how funding influences discovery in today's scientific circles.

The Origin, Persistence and Failings of HIV/AIDS Theory

McFarland

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bauer, Henry H.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Bauer, Henry H.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bauer, Henry H.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Beyond Velikovsky: The History of a Public Controversy

The Enigma of Loch Ness: Making Sense of a Mystery

Scientific Literacy and the Myth of the Scientific Method

Science or Pseudoscience: Magnetic Healing, Psychic Phenomena, and Other Heterodoxies

ENIGMA OF LOCH NESS: Making Sense of a Mystery

Scientific Literacy and the Myth of the Scientific Method (Illini Books)

Beyond Velikovsky: The History of a Public Controversy

Science or Pseudoscience: Magnetic Healing, Psychic Phenomena, and Other Heterodoxies

Enigma of Loch Ness, The: Making Sense of a Mystery

The Origin, Persistence and Failings of HIV/AIDS Theory