Syllabus

Prof. Jay M. Pasachoff Spring 2008
Astronomy 336 Science, Pseudoscience, and the Two Cultures

Statistics and Probability (led by Prof. Richard De Veaux)
February 6, 2008
Darrell Huff, How to Lie with Statistics, 1954, HA29 .H82 1954 (2 copies on reserve)
Richard de Veaux and David J. Hand, "How to Lie with Bad Data," Statistical Science, 2005. (on ereserves)
____________________
David Murray, Joel Schwartz, And S. Robert Lichter, It Ain't Necessarily So: How Media Make And Unmake The Scientific Picture Of Reality, Sawyer PN4784.T3 M87 2001
Inge F. Goldstein, How Much Risk? A Guide to Understanding Environmental Health Hazards.
Deborah J. Bennett, Logic Made Easy, How to Know When, BC177 .B42 2004
Bülent Atalay, Math and the Mona Lisa: the art and science of Leonardo da Vinci, N6923.L33 A4 2004
also: "Numbered by the Numbers, When They Just Don't Add Up," Daniel Okrent, The New York Times, 1/23/05
Amir Aczel, Chance: a guide to gambling, love, the stock market, & just about anything else (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2004)
Spencer R. Weart, Nuclear fear: a history of images (Harvard University Press, 1988)
Unusual Activities
Samantha Ettus, The experts' guide to 100 things everyone should know how to do (Clarkson Potter, 2004)
Hip hop hares and other moments of epic silliness: more classic pohtographs from Outside magazine's 'Parting Shot' (W.W. Norton, 2004)
Robert Ehrlich, Nine crazy ideas in science: a few might even be true (Princeton University Press, 2001)
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics: A rogue economist explores the
hidden side of everything (William Morrow, 2005)
Marc Siegel, False Alarm/ The Truth About the Epidemic of Fear (Wiley, 2005).
David Ropeik and George Gray, Risk (2002).

Science and Religion
Lecture/Discussion with Dr. Br. Guy Consolmagno, Vatican Observatory
February 13, 2008,
Guy Consolmagno, God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion (Wiley: Jossey-Bass, 2008) (Water Street Books)
Guy Consolmagno, Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist (McGraw-Hill, 2000)  (on reserve)
Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (Houghton Mifflin: 2006; paperback 2008) (on reserve)
Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion, and the Appetite for Wonder (2000)
Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (Hachette, 2007) (Da Capo Press: Perseus, 2007) (on reserve)
Owen Gingerich, God's Universe (Harvard University Press, 2006) (Water Street Books)
Peter Bebergal and Scott Korb, The Faith Between Us: A Jew and a Catholic Search for the Meaning of God (Bloomsbury USA, 2007) (on reserve)
Francis Collins, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (Free Press, 2006)
Ian Barbour, Religion and Science, Historical and Contemporary Issues, BL240.2.R367 1997
Also his older book, Issues in Science and Religion, BL245.B3 1966
Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why we Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts (Harcourt, 2007)
Stanley Fish, Is Religion Man-Made (The New York Times, June 24, 2007) (ereserves)

C. P. Snow and The Two Cultures
February 20, 2008
C. P. Snow, The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 1959, 1993) (Water Street Books)
Jay A. Labinger and Harry Collins, The One Culture? A conversation about science,  Chicago University Press, 2001, Q175.55 .O54 2001
C. P. Snow, Public Affairs, Scribner's 1972.

Martin Gardner
February 27, 2008
Martin Gardner, Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, Q173 .G35 1986
see "Hermits and Cranks": Scientific American, March 2002, pp. 36-37.
See www.skeptic.com
Lawrence M. Krauss [Essay in New York Times for April 30, 2002]
Robert L. Park, Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud, Oxford U. Press, Q175.52.U5 P37 2000
Martin Gardner, The Jinn from Hyperspace (chapter in; Prometheus Books, 2007)
Martin Gardner, Did Adam & Eve have navels?: discourses on reflexology, numerology, urine therapy & other dubious subjects, W. W. Norton, 2000, Q173.G34 2000
Martin Gardner, The new age: notes of a fringe watcher, Prometheus Books, 1988, BF1042.G22 1988
Martin Gardner, Weird water & fuzzy logic: more notes of a fringe watcher, Prometheus Books, 1996, AC8.G335 1996
Michael Shermer, The Borderlands of Science (New York: Oxford University Press)
Joe Schwarcz, That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles: 62 All-New Commentaries on the Fascinating Chemistry of Everyday Life (ECW Press, 2002)
Georges Charpak and Henri Broch, Debunked!: esp, telekinesis, and other pseudoscience (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004)
Len Fisher, Weighing the Soul: Scientific Discovery from the Brilliant to the Bizarre (Arcade Publishing, 2004)

week of March 5, 2008
reading: Edward Tufte and the Visual Display of Information
Edward R. Tufte, The Visual Display of  Quantitative Information,1983: QA276.3 .T83 1983;  2nd ed. 2001)
Edward R. Tufte, Envisioning Information, Sawyer P93.5 .T84 1990, P93.5 .T84 1992
Edward R. Tufte, Visual Explanations: images and quantities; evidence and narritive, 1997, Sawyer and CES, Z246 .T84
Edward R. Tufte, Beautiful Evidence (July 2006)
and a videox from his visit to Williams College

Sokal Debate
Lecture/Discussion possibly with Prof. Norman J. Levitt, Rutgers University
March 12, 2008
readings assigned by Prof. Levitt:
Levitt, Norman, "The sources and dangers of postmodern anti-science," Free
Inquiry, vol. 21 no. 2 (Spring 2001), 44-47.
Levitt, Norman, "Why professors believe weird things," Skeptic Magazine,vol.
6 no. 3 (1998), 28-35.
Ross, Andrew, "Introduction." In "Science Wars," ed. A. Ross, 1-15. 1996
Durham, Duke University Press.
Sokal, Alan D., "What the Social Text affair does and does not prove,"
In "A House Built on Sand," ed. N. Koertge.  1998, New York, Oxford
University Press.
Sokal, Alan D., his original article in Social Test, reprinted in Fashionable Nonsense (1998, New York: Picador)
addl readings:
Paul R. Gross, Norman Levitt, Martin W. Lewis, eds., Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels With Science, Johns Hopkins Press, 1997
Paul R. Gross, Norman Levitt, and Martin W. Lewis, eds., The Flight from Science and Reason, Johns Hopkins Press, 1994 (hb), 1997 (pb)
James Robert Brown, Who Rules in Science, Harvard University Press 2001
Steven Weinberg, Science and Its Cultural Adversaries, Harvard University Press, 2001
[it includes Steven Weinberg, Sokal's Hoax, in New York Review of Books, August 8, 1996.]
John Ziman, Real Science: What it is, and what it means, Cambridge U. Press., 2000
Gregory N. Derry, What Science Is and How It Works, Princeton U. Press, 0-691-09550-7
James Robert Brown, Who rules in science?: an opinionated guide to the wars, Harvard University Press, 2001

Debunking
Penn and Teller, Bullsh*t (4 seasons, DVD's) (on reserve)

Risk Assessment
April 2, 2008
David Roepik (Director of risk communication at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis), Risk: A Practical Guide for Deciding What's Really Safe and What's Really Dangerous in the World around You (2002)
http://www.hcra.harvard.edu (Harvard Center for Risk Analysis)

Alternative Medicine
April 9, 2008
Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine
publications of National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, http://nccam.nih.gov
James C. Whorton, Nature Cures: A History of Alternative Medicine in America (Oxford University Press, 2002)
Roberta Blivins, Algternative Medicine? A History (Oxford University Press, 2007)
Morris Fishbein, Fads and quackery in healing, New York, Covici, Friede, 1932, R730.F5.
Susan E. Lederer, Medicine: Alternative Approaches to Healing, Science, 299, 10 Jan 2003, p. 205
Martin Enserink, Bioterrorism: New Look at Old Data Irks Smallpox-Eradication Experts, Science, 299, 10 Jan 2003, p. 181
Edzard Ernst, Max H. Pittlser, Barbara Wider, and Kate Broddy, 2006, The Desktop Guide to Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2nd ed. Edinburgh, Scotland. Mosby/Elsevier.
Dennis Normile, New Face of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Science, 299, 10 Jan 2003, 188-190
Martijn B. Katan and Nicole M. de Roos, Public Health: Toward Evidence-Based Health Claims for Foods, Science, 299, 10 Jan 2003, 206-207
http://www.berkeleywellness.com/html/ds/dsEchinacea.html
Pamela Paul, "When Yoga Hurts," TIME for October 11, 2007 (ereserve) or
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1668470,00.html
ssssssssssssss
GM Foods/Organic Farming
Lecture/Discussion possibly with Prof. Lois Banta, Williams College Biology Dept.
April 16
NY Times magazine story from a couple years ago called "Playing God in the Garden" by Michael Pollan. This touches on both controversies.  A second reading, from a new book called "Dinner at the New Gene Cafe" discusses the regulatory aspects
(i.e., the US government's shifting view on what constitutes organic food
and whether GM foods should be labeled as such).
see also
"Beyond Organics, " New Scientist, 32-47, 18 May 2002
Nina Federoff and Nancy Marie Brown, Mendel in the Kitchen, Joseph Henry Press, 2004.
James S. Trefil, Human nature: a blueprint for managing the earth--by people, for people (Times Books/Henry Holt, 2004)

Non-standard Medicine
R. Barker Bausell, Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine (Oxford, 2007)
April 23
Chiropractic, N-Rays
L. A. Chotkowski, Chiropractic: The Greatest Hoax of the Century, New England Novelty Books, 1998, RZ241.C46 1998
Ralph Lee Smith, At your Own Risk: The Case against Chiropractic, Trident Press (S&S), 1969; ILL.
L.A. Chotkowski (Ludmil Adam), Chiropractic: the greatest hoax of the century? (New England Novelty Books, 1998).
Osteopathy
various letters and articles + Martin Gardner chapter
Homeopathy
many references, including Martin Gardner chapter, and
Aijing Shang et al., "Comparative Study of placebo-controlled trials of homoeopathy and alloopathy," Lancet 2005; 366: 726-32 (ereserves)
Martin Gardner, The Jinn from Hyperspace (chapter in; Prometheus Books, 2007)

"Health Foods" and Supplements
www.consumerlab.com
Damaris Christensen, Dietary Dilemmas, Science News, Feb 8, 2003, pp. 88-90,
Martijn B. Katan and Nicole M. de Roos, Public Health: Toward Evidence-Based Health Claims for Foods, Science, 299, 10 Jan 2003, 206-207
Ephedra and other supplements
New York Times, February 23, 2003, "Despite the Danger Warnings, Ephedra Sells"
Acupuncture
Michael Shermer, "Full of Holes: The curious case of acupumcture," Scientific American, August 2005 (ereserves)

Salt, Fat, and Weight-Loss Schemes; Evaluating Medical Procedures
April 23, 2008
Gary Taubes on salt, Science, 281, 898-907, 1998
Gary Taubes on fat, New York Times magazine, July 7, 2002, pp. 22ff, and The New York Times, Oct 9, 2007
Gary Taubes, Do We Really Know What Makes Us Healthy, The New York Times, September 16, 2007; The New York Times Magazine, September 30, 2007
Gary Taubes, Good Calories, Bad Calories (2007)
Malcolm Kendrick, The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It
Evaluating Medicine
Mammograms (2002; New Yorker article 2004)
Hormone Treatment (2002)

Aliens and SETI
April 30
Elaine Showalter, Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media (Columbia University Press, 1999). Discusses alien abduction, Satanic ritual abuse, multiple-personality syndrome, and the recovered-memory movement.
SETI as an example of science
Crop Circles as an example of pseudoscience
www.cropcircleresearch.com/articles/arecibo.html
nytimes.com, February 18, 2003 (Reuters), L.A. Woman Chased by Fake Alien Sues Reality Show
UFO's: Larry King Live, January 18, 2007 (DVD on reserve)

Role of Superstition
May 7
Jay Pasachoff, Richard Cohen, and Nancy Pasachoff, "Belief in the Supernatural among Harvard and West African University Students," Nature 227, 971-2, 1970.
Measles vaccine: New Scientist, 16 Feb 2002, p. 12-13
Robert Ehrlich, Nine crazy ideas in science: a few might even be true, Q171.E374 2001
Charles M. Wynn and Arthur W. Wiggins, Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction: Where Real Science ends...and Pseudoscience Begins, Joseph Henry Press, 2001
Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World
Georges Charpak and Henri Broch, Debunked!: esp, telekinesis, and other pseudoscience; translated from the French, Johns Hopkins University Press; SAWYER; BF1409.5 .C4313 2004  

James Randi, An Encyclopedia Of Claims, Frauds, And Hoaxes Of The Occult And Supernatural : James Randi's Decided / exposed By James Randi, c 1995; SAWYER; BF1042 .R23 1995 
James Randi, Flim Flam! : The Truth About Unicorns, Parapsychology, And Other Delusions, c 1980; SAWYER; BF1042 .R35 1980 

Creationism, Nostradamus
Dover court decision, 2005 (ereserves)
Science, Evolution, and Creationism (National Academy of Sciences, 2008)
Robert T. Pennock, ed., Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics, MIT Press. Reviewed in The New York Times Book Review, April 14, 2002, p. 12
article "Beyond Belief," Boston Globe, September 18, 2001, pp. F1, F6.
http://www.ncseweb.org/ National Center for Science Education: Defending the Teaching of Evolution in the Public Schools
Eugenie C. Scott, Evolution vs. Creationism (2004)
Matt Young and Taner Edis, Why Intelligent Design Fails (2004)
James Randi, The Mask Of Nostradamus, c 1990; SAWYER; BF1815.N8 R35 1990
Michael Shermer, Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design (Henry Holt and Company, 2006)
Michael Ruse, A Defense of Evolutionary Theory: Darwinism and Its Discontents (Cambridge University Press, 2006)
Kenneth R. Miller, Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground between God and Evolution (HarperCollins, 1999)

Conspiracy theories about the moon landing
www.clavius.org

Science in the Theatre
May 7
Maureen Hunter, Transit of Venus
Michael Frayn, Copenhagen
Tom Stoppard, Arcadia
David Auburn, Proof
Peter Parnell, Q.E.D.
Carl Djerassi and Roald Hoffman, Oxygen (review by Hoffman and  Sylvie Coyaud, of Luca Ronconi and John Barrow's Infinities,  review in Nature, 416, 11 April 2002, p. 585) based on Alan Lightman, Einstein's Dreams. New Yorker review: In this nonlinear one-act play, based on Alan Lightman's surreal novel, a twenty-six- year-old
Einstein stumbles through his past, present, and future as characters from his life--his wife, his sons, his best friend, and a notional daughter named Lieserl--elucidate his theories of space and time, their explanations lit by naked, dangling light bulbs.  In the director's poetic, visual dreamscape, time stops, moves forward and backward, and even ceases to exist. (closed in New York, The Culture Project, on 2/1/03)
Christopher Frayling, The Scientist and the Cinema (Reaktion Books, 2005)
Sidney Perkowitz, Hollywood Science: Movies, Science, and the End of the World (Columbia University Press, 2007)
Shelagh Stephenson, An Experiment With An Air Pump. London: Methuen Drama, 1998.

Time
Michael Downing, Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time (Shoemaker & Hoard, 2004 or 2005)