This might be Skepticism |
But we're not sure |
Who's asking? |
Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science,[1] Martin Gardner's second book, is an early classic and foundational text of the movement for scientific skepticism. It contains a fairly comprehensive survey of crank beliefs as they existed in the 1950s. The book was first published in 1952 as In the Name of Science: An Entertaining Survey of the High Priests and Cultists of Science, Past and Present.
In the preface to the second edition, published in 1957, Gardner wrote:
“”The first edition of this book prompted many curious letters from irate readers. The most violent letters came from Reichians, furious because the book considered Orgonomy alongside such (to them) outlandish cults as dianetics. Dianeticians, of course, felt the same about orgonomy. I heard from homeopaths who were insulted to find themselves in company with such frauds as osteopathy and chiropractic, and one chiropractor in Kentucky "pitied" me because I had turned my spine on God's greatest gift to suffering humanity. Several admirers of Dr. Bates favored me with letters so badly typed that I suspect the writers were in urgent need of strong spectacles. Oddly enough, most of these correspondents objected to one chapter only, thinking all the others excellent.
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This must have been before the rise of crank magnetism.
As per the subtitle of the book, "The curious theories of modern pseudoscientist and the strange, amusing and alarming cults that surround them" are discussed in the chapters as listed.