Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science

By Martin Gardner,

Book cover of Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science

Book description

"Although we are amused, we may also be embarrassed to find our friends or even ourselves among the gullible advocates of plausible-sounding doubletalk." — Saturday Review
"A very able and even-tempered presentation." — New Yorker
This witty and engaging book examines the various fads, fallacies, strange cults, and curious panaceas


When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is the original and still the best compendium of cranks, kooks, and charlatans ever compiled. You’ll be amazed, as I was, at the breadth of human hucksterism.

Gardner, a long-time columnist for Scientific American, does more than merely examine strange beliefs; he makes those beliefs come alive by presenting short biographies of the people behind them.

If you love Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science...

Ad

Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up


Want books like Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science.

Browse books like Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science

Book cover of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Book cover of The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Book cover of How We Know What Isn't So

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

2,008

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, you might also like...

Book cover of The Silken Thread: Five Insects and Their Impacts on Human History

The Silken Thread by Robert N. Wiedenmann,

This is not an insect book--it is a history book, but one that tells the history you didn't learn in school, or it tells the history in a way you never imagined. Five insects had a significant impact on human history. Silkworm moth, Oriental rat flea, human body louse, yellow


Book cover of Against the Seas: Saving Civilizations from Rising Waters

Against the Seas by Mary Soderstrom,

The scenario we are facing is scary: within a few decades, sea levels around the world may well rise by a metre or more as glaciers and ice caps melt due to climate change. Large parts of our coastal cities will be flooded, the basic outline of our world will


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the paranormal, pseudoscience, and vampires?

The Paranormal 263 books
Pseudoscience 21 books
Vampires 306 books