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Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud Paperback – 15 Nov. 2001

English edition by Robert L. Park (Autor)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 161 ratings
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The author, a noted physicist, takes a wide swipe at fraudulent claims and fringe science, taking on Deepak Chopra, the international space station, and other icons of "voodoo science." Reprint.
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  1. Print length
    242 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    OXFORD UNIV PR
  4. Publication date
    15 Nov. 2001
  5. Dimensions
    21.6 x 14 x 1.4 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0195147103
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0195147100
  8. Lexile measure
    1190L
  9. See all details
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  • Elvis
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting read.
    Reviewed in Germany on 23 November 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This is a collection of real stories that are very interesting to read. Author insight provides you with enough information to see specific things that made people believe complete fluff. The stories and authors remarks are well applicable today.
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  • Donald Mitchell
    5.0 out of 5 stars Blasting Balderdash, Baloney, and Bunkum!
    Reviewed in Germany on 1 August 2007
    The book clearly deserves more than five stars for its effective, level-headed exposure of unscientific ideas that don't hold water (like cold fusion, the Roswell incident as a UFO invasion, homeopathy, and perpetual motion machines).

    Science is now evolving more rapidly than ever before. Some estimate that the total level of scientific knowledge doubles every few years. If you are like me, you cannot hope to keep up. And politicians, television, friends, and news stories are always touting new and intriguing ideas. What really is going on? What should we pay attention to?

    Professor Park has a distinguished background in physics. He directs the Washington office of the American Physical Society, and is a former chairman of the Physics department at the University of Maryland. In his work with the society, he is often called upon by the press to comment about claims made by others. This experience allowed him to develop the information in this book.

    If you are like me, you also have heard of or read about many of the claims discussed in the book. But, like me, you probably never heard how it all ended up. Whatever happened to cold fusion, for example?

    The book looks at all kinds of badly done science, beginning with amateurs who don't know enough to understand what they are doing. Such amateurs often run the risk of becoming fraudulent if they fail to respond candidly to questions from scientists about their work.

    The good news is that society seems to be getting better at challenging the ideas that are wrong. For example, the Supreme Court decided a case, Daubert, that now requires federal judges to get independent scientists to look at claims before allowing a jury to consider a point of view espoused by some "paid" experts. Congress seems to be getting better about asking relevant questions, rather than just supporting any crackpot who shows up with a wild story about perpetual motion machines.

    In other cases of voodoo science, the people doing the work just haven't been cautious enough. For example, much of the ESP research done was flawed by a design that permitted those doing the research to throw out the results of any people they suspected of deliberately guessing wrong. As you can imagine, these probably included people who got mostly wrong answers! That certainly skewed the results.

    The worst offenders in perpetuating incorrect beliefs about science seem to be television (especially CBS and ABC) and top secret status for information about the government. Apparently, some people in the networks believe that crackpot ideas should be covered as "entertainment" rather than as "knowledge" or "science." So even if they know the story is probably wrong, the reporter often leaves the impression that there may be something to the claim. Shame on them!

    Government keeps things as top secret that would become top embarrassments if known. As a result, our confidence in the government is eroded.

    Some of the other areas uncovered in the book include Joe Newman's Energy Machine, Star Wars (SDI) technology advanced by Edward Teller, the International Space Station, a manned mission to Mars, silicon gel breast implants, vitamin O, meditation as a solution for violent crime, Dr. Deepak Chopra's invocation of quantum effects from the mind on matter, power lines as a source of disease, healing auras, and James Patterson's metal beads to generate energy.

    While I agreed with all of the comments the book made, there are places where other perspectives could change your mind on the issue. For example, manned space exploration is very expensive and dangerous. Essentially, everything can be done by robots faster, safer, and cheaper. Dr. Park concludes that it makes no sense to do such exploration. I disagree. I do agree that the objectives of the manned programs need to be much more intelligently formulated. I suspect that the main advantages from manned space flight will turn out to be in developing improved leadership, innovation, and management practices. If those rewards are great enough, and I think they could be, the expense may well be worth it. But our decision should be more informed and purposeful than it has been in the past about these areas.

    I hope that this wonderful book will also become available as an on-going television program, newsletter, or Web site. We need more information like this in order to be thoughtful citizens, consumers, and family members.

    After you have read this book, I suggest you think about some likely off-the-wall scientific claim you have heard. Then do some research to see whether that claim is likely to be valid or not, by reading what others already know about the subject. See if you can overcome some of these misconceptions on your own. I suspect that a good place to start would be with ideas for how to add to the energy supply of the United States.

    Have fun eliminating false beliefs, wherever you find them!
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  • eric krieg
    4.0 out of 5 stars Introducing "Voodoo Science"
    Reviewed in Germany on 22 June 2000
    by Tom Napier
    About a year ago Eric Krieg and I had toyed with writing the definitive book on free energy. Well, Robert Park, physics professor and past president of the American Physical Society, has done a good part of our work for us by writing "Voodoo Science." This must rate as this year's most eagerly awaited skeptical book. Although the free energy hucksters are mercilessly skewered in this book, Park goes beyond them to explore what happens to innovators, be they back-yard inventors or credentialled scientists, when they discover that their pet concept is just not working out. Many admit failure, often being applauded by their peers for their integrity. However, Park has written his book about those who take the wrong turn and "descend from foolishness into fraud." Voodoo science is Park's term which encompasses the range from honestly believed but dubious science, through outright pseudoscience to deliberate fraud. He uses cold fusion as a case study of an idea which its originators continued to promote long after it had been scientifically discredited. Pons and Fleischmann had the opportunity to retract their claims and to move on with their professional careers scarred but intact. They muffed it. Homeopathy and the promotion of quack medicines get their own chapter. The promoters of "Vitamin O" allege that you can increase your oxygen intake if you consume their expensive salt water. Park's comment, "An attempt to extract the oxygen you need from water is called 'drowning.'" He also reveals that therapeutic magnets are so constructed that their magnetic field doesn't even penetrate the material they are wrapped in much less have any effect on your body. Park devotes a chapter to the idea that microwaves and the fields from power lines cause cancer and concludes that it is totally fallacious. A 25 year, 25 billion dollar, scare turned out to have been based on bad statistics and the determination of a few individuals to keep themselves in lucrative positions and in the public eye. More trustworthy research has demonstrated the falsity of the scare-mongers' position. A subsidiary theme of "Voodoo Science" is the extent to which the media spread misinformation. They broadcast what they think is human-interest entertainment but it appears to the viewers as solid information. Much of Joe Newman's early fame arose from a 1984 CBS program in which he played the home-spun hero who had confounded the scientific experts. A follow-up program in 1987 repeated the same story without a hint that Newman's claims had meantime been shown to be nonsense. One point in the saga of Joe Newman's Energy Machine which had always puzzled me was how in 1984 a special master appointed by the patent office had found in favor of an excess energy output. Park reveals that at the Congressional hearing into Newman's claims in 1989 it emerged that the special master had formerly been one of Newman's patent attorneys. As Park says, Congress may not know much about the conservation of energy but they can recognize a conflict of interest from miles away. I particularly liked the tale of the Fisher engine which failed, allegedly, because the room temperature rose above the critical point of the liquid carbon dioxide driving it. Fisher claimed that if the engine had been started earlier it would have kept the room cool. Well that would be a Second Law violation and as Park points out, echoing Eric Krieg, Lee has broken a lot of laws but he hasn't broken the laws of thermodynamics. Another of Park's minor themes is Pascal's wager, the argument that, if the potential gain is great enough, then any investment is justified. Power companies are sinking research money into Randall Mills' company, BlackLight Power, anticipating that a new power industry just might grow from his theory that hydrogen atoms can be induced to fall into a state below the ground state. There is no physical evidence for this oxymoronic concept. Missing from Pascal's wager is any distinction between the long-shot which might just pay off and an outcome whose probability is zero. As popularizers of science generally must, Park oversimplifies. He misquotes the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics, at least as they were first formulated. The First Law is not a general statement that energy is conserved, it relates only to the conversion of mechanical energy into heat energy. The Second Law does not say that "friction is inevitable." It states that no machine can generate mechanical energy from heat energy simply by making something colder. If anything it is the First Law which implies that friction, the conversion of useful mechanical energy into less useful heat energy, is inevitable. And if I see that folksy parody of the two laws, "You can't win and you can't even break even," in print once more I think I'll scream. In his chapter on space exploration, Park comes down solidly on the side of those who believe that space should be explored by robot probes while we sit comfortably at home. He claims that the space station is scientifically worthless. This is a view with which I would concur, with one proviso, it can serve as a dress rehearsal for a manned mission to Mars. This is a mission which Park discounts as too dangerous for the possible scientific return, citing the radiation danger posed by solar storms. Exploration has always been a dangerous pursuit and yet it has always paid off in the long run. How many mariners died in Atlantic storms before America was a going concern? A largely self-sustaining colony on Mars could be established in much less time than the three centuries it took the US to reach the same point. Another sample of Park's own voodoo science is to cite the cost of putting mass into Earth orbit to demonstrate that even if there were gold in orbit it wouldn't pay to fetch it. This argument has two flaws. It assumes that access to orbit will continue to require Shuttle launches. Interstate commerce wouldn't be practical either if everything had to be trucked in the trunk of a Ferrari. Too, the energy required to de-orbit a payload is a fraction of that required to boost it into orbit in the first place. A ton of gold could be returned to Earth with the same small retro-rockets as brought back the Mercury capsules. Far from seeking gold, future prospectors may be making their fortunes by supplying Earth's steel mills with nickel-iron asteroids. Men in space have already showed their value as fixers of damaged spacecraft and as makers of immediate decisions on the Moon. The last thing the human race must do is to sit on the Earth until we rot, or are killed off. However these are minor flaws in a tremendously worth-while book. If you haven't already, I recommend that you invest in Park's incisive analysis of life on the fringes of science.
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  • Michael
    5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, Informative, Who Did He Anger
    Reviewed in Germany on 22 June 2000
    This is without a doubt a very fine book that should be read by every citizen (as with other books such as Innumeracy, and some basic economics). The why is easy. It is impossible to raise the level of debate in our society unless we all know how to think critically about important issues confronting us.
    In this vein, anytime you can learn alot, without being made to feel stupid, and enjoy the process you have a winner. Voodoo Science fulfills its promise on that score.
    What I suspect will be most interesting is who Mr. Parks will get angry at him (as can be seen in some of the other reviews). That is, it is easy to read when he is explaining the scientific folly of UFOs, or ESP. But, when he attacks more important issues, such as Strategic Defense, I suspect many will be unable to resist the temptation to close their minds to the scientfic arguements due to their political leanings. Oh well, that's why I thought he wrote the book.
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  • kevin widdess
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book Teaches You How To Think
    Reviewed in Canada on 3 February 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Loved the book, was finished too soon. Super insightful on several people. Loved the space program insights he personally was involved in. Helps teach one how to spot a scam easily, must read. Was recommended by Patrick Boyle on YouTube
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  • Christopher K. scherer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Will our civilization EVER be able to expand beyond the Earth ?
    Reviewed in the United States on 9 August 2017
    Verified Purchase
    VOODO SCIENCE - What a good 'catchey' title ! (It caught my attention right away.) Mr. Park's style is one of liveliness, action; presenting complex topics in an interesting way. As a former NASA employee and continued 'space buff', I especially appreciate the author's honesty in pointing out our space program's failure to even 'follow up' our Apollo to the Moon successes during the '60's / early '70's. The cosmic radiation hazard alone sounds almost like a 'show-stopper' in preventing any realistic hope of a beyond-Earth future for our civilization. (In addition to radiation, the lack of gravity during long-term space travel could be nearly incapacitating to future explorers upon their arrival at their destination.)

    A personal apology : I did not read deeply enough through Mr. Park's other topics to (at this time) be able to provide an honest review of them. But I want to close with the observation that the author's space presentation(even by itself) would make his book 'well worth the read'.
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  • Flavio M.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ottima lettura
    Reviewed in Italy on 5 March 2016
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    Ben scritto in maniera discorsiva e a tratti umoristica, mette in evidenza molte di quelle assurdità delle quali il "pubblico" cade vittima quando persone disoneste o anche in buona fede ma poco attente alla solidità delle prove che portano, finiscono - aiutate dalla generale incompetenza tecnica e scientifica dei mezzi di informazione - per rendere verità ovvie e indubitabili delle panzane più o meno colossali.

    Esempi storici e di grande notorietà come l'omeopatia o la fusione fredda e altri meno noti illustrano come da titolo il percorso dalla stupidità alla truffa. Peccato che sia oramai un po' datato (è del 2001) ma il ragionamento fila perfettamente anche con successivi esempi, come il nostro famigerato "Metodo Stamina".

    Non è disponibile in italiano, e francamente la cosa non mi meraviglia.
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  • Martineau Philippe
    4.0 out of 5 stars VOODOO SCIENCE
    Reviewed in France on 16 October 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Très très intéressant pour les gens qui travaillent avec les inventeurs dont le caractère peut être capricieux et le caractériel est parfois difficile à maitriser.
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  • Non-Materialist
    3.0 out of 5 stars 著者は本当にこんな批判を書くほどの考察をしたのでしょうか？
    Reviewed in Japan on 10 April 2011
    Verified Purchase
    Amazon.co.jpからのメールに応えて、皆さんのレビュー(posted until as of 11 Apr. 2011)を拝見した上で、私のレビューを一言。
    私はこの本(2001年出版)を、同著者の「Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science (2008)」を読んだ後で読みました。著者Robert L. Park氏 (米メリーランド大物理学教師、米物理学会のしかるべきポストにも職を持つ人物) は、典型的な唯物論科学者と見なせますが、その割には一般の読者に「Voodoo Science(えせ科学)」 や「Superstition(迷信)」を説明するさいの論拠が、私の観点からは「いい加減」としかみえません。その根拠を、著者のもう一つの本「Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science (2008)」の私のレビューに記しました。
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