Michael D. Gordin is professor of history at Princeton University and the author of a number of books, including Red Cloud at Dawn: Truman, Stalin, and the End of the Atomic Monopoly. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.
"Gordin . . . is remarkably evenhanded. . . . This won't put an end
to the debates that rage between legitimate scientific research and
other fringe doctrines, but it does lay the Velikovsky affair to
rest with fairness and clarity and will help to put into
perspective many of the controversies swirling around today's
scientific landscape. A good read for those interested in the
history of science or pseudoscientific theories."-- "Library
Journal"
"What is the difference between science and pseudoscience? As the
publisher of Skeptic magazine and the 'Skeptic columnist for
Scientific American I am frequently asked this question. Believe it
or not, it'a a hard question to answer. Michael Gordin's The
Pseudoscience Wars is the best single volume I have come across in
my vast reading on the topic. He clearly and succinctly captures
all sides on the debate, is rigorous in his research and fair to
both believers and skeptics, and his narrative reconstruction of
the Velikovsky affair makes for gripping reading. The Pseudoscience
Wars is destined to become a classic in science
literature."--Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine,
monthly columnist for Scientific American, author of The Believing
Brain
"A slyly funny writer. . . . Make no mistake: Gordin's sympathies
are not with the occult. His fascination with pseudoscience is more
like a negative method: the experts define the boundaries of their
domain by fending off the quacks. For Gordin, pseudoscience is an
instrument by which he takes the temperature of the past. . . . .
The Pseudoscience Wars is a relatively slim volume, but Gordin
siphons into it an overwhelming amount of information."-- "New
Republic"
"Those who are interested in how bad ideas start, how they diffuse,
how they covet and resist confrontation, and how they wax and wane
in popularity over time will find much food for thought in this
gripping book."-- "Science"
"Few issues loom more important today than the boundaries and
authority of scientific expertise. How do the boundaries get
created and reinforced, and what work do terms like 'pseudoscience'
do in the debates? By delving deep into one of the earliest border
skirmishes of the modern age--the fascinating, beguiling case of
Immanuel Velikovsky, his heterodox theories of human history and
cosmic evolution, and the firestorm of protest they elicited from
the scientific community--Michael Gordin offers us a roadmap of the
modern fringe. Scouring extraordinary sources with his keen
analytic eye, Gordin reveals the roots of today's pseudoscience
wars. Engrossing and illuminating."--David Kaiser, author of How
the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum
Revival
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