Science Fictions
- Author Stuart Ritchie
- Narrator Stuart Ritchie
- Publisher Random House
- Run Time 8 hours and 35 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Ethical issues: scientific, technological and medical developments, Impact of science and technology on society, Popular science.
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What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
So much relies on science. But what if science itself can’t be relied on?
Medicine, education, psychology, health, parenting – wherever it really matters, we look to science for advice. Science Fictions reveals the disturbing flaws that undermine our understanding of all of these fields and more.
While the scientific method will always be our best and only way of knowing about the world, in reality the current system of funding and publishing science not only fails to safeguard against scientists’ inescapable biases and foibles, it actively encourages them. From widely accepted theories about ‘priming’ and ‘growth mindset’ to claims about genetics, sleep, microbiotics, as well as a host of drugs, allergies and therapies, we can trace the effects of unreliable, overhyped and even fraudulent papers in austerity economics, the anti-vaccination movement and dozens of bestselling books – and occasionally count the cost in human lives.
Stuart Ritchie has been at the vanguard of a new reform movement within science aimed at exposing and fixing these problems. In this vital investigation, he gathers together the evidence of their full and shocking extent and proposes a host of remedies to save and protect this most valuable of human endeavours from itself.
©Stuart Ritchie 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
Critics Review
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Thrilling … Ritchie reminds us that another world is possible
The Times -
Fascinating and often shocking
Sunday Times, Best Paperbacks of 2021 -
The most important science story of our times … evocative and engaging … sometimes funny, sometimes shocking
Unherd -
Excellent … we need better science. That’s why books like this are so important
Evening Standard -
Entertaining … revelatory … brilliantly highlights the problems in current practices and sets out a path towards new ones
Daily Mail
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