I had not realized that Believing Bulshit is already out in the US. The amazon.com page is here.
Someone left a flattering review with a "but" which is possibly fair enough.
Here's the blurb:
Wacky belief systems abound. Members of the Heavens Gate suicide cult believed they were taking a ride to heaven on board a UFO. Muslim suicide bombers expect to be greeted after death by 72 virgins. And many fundamentalist Christians insist the entire universe is just 6,000 years old. Of course its not only cults and religions that promote bizarre beliefs significant numbers of people believe that aliens built the pyramids. How do such preposterous views succeed in entrenching themselves in the minds of sane, intelligent, educated people and turn them into the willing slaves of claptrap? Believing Bullshit is a witty and insightful critique that will help immunize readers against the wiles of cultists, religious and political zealots, conspiracy theorists, and various other nutcases by clearly setting out the tricks of the trade by which such insidious belief systems are created and sustained.
Comments
Thanks!
Ken Schei
Founder: Atheists for Jesus
ken@atheists-for-jesus.com
Water does not always boil at 100 degrees centigrade. The boiling point of water depends on atmospheric pressure. The lower the atmospheric pressure, the lower the boiling point of water. This is the reason that it is impossible to get a decent cup of tea up a mountain - the water won't be hot enough
Dismissing theories however apparently unlikely, such as the boiling point of water, on the basis of flawed evidence, undermines scientific progress including that described by Boyles Law.
If you are going to be dogmatic about science, would it be better to learn some first?
In fact I did think, when I used the water example, "Hmm, is it worth adding "at 1 atmosphere" because some pompous pedant will inevitably miss that I'm deliberately simplifying a bit, missing out a detail we are all aware of, for the purposes of economy and style, and announce that I am scientifically illiterate." Then I thought, "No, surely, no one with the modicum of education required to know that water only boils at 100C at 1 atmosphere, would be that silly."
I just finished reading the statement by Dr. Polkinghorne and thought it was obviously logically flawed. Unless I am completely wrong minerals don't escape the gravity well of our planet so such resources don't need tectonic activity to circulate. Earth is pretty much a closed system when it comes to matter (minor additions by comets not withstanding) and without tectonic activity the planet might be one shallow sea filled with minerals and life would look very different but to state that it wouldn't exist is very simplistic. Therefore, I think Dr. Polkinghorne is rationalizing to support his beliefs.