Corrupted Science: Fraud, Ideology and Politics in Science [Hardcover]

John Grant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

In Discarded Science, John Grant took a fascinating look at all the things science got wrong through the centuries. But at least those were honest mistakes. Grant’s equally absorbing follow-up examines something more sinister: deliberate hoaxes and frauds. He takes us through a rogue’s gallery that features faked creatures, palaeontological trickery, false psychics, and miracle cures that aren’t so miraculous. See how ideology, religion, and politics have imposed themselves on science throughout history, from the Catholic Church’s influence on cosmology to Nazi racist pseudoscience to the Bush Administration’s attempt to deny climate change. The themes, while entertaining as ever, are serious and timely.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Facts, Figures & Fun (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904332730
• ISBN-13: 978-1904332732
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #365,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Grant is the author of more than seventy books, including the critically acclaimed Discarded Science, Corrupted Science, and Bogus Science. In addition to his popular science writing, Grant is a prolific science fiction and fantasy writer. He has won two Hugo Awards, the World Fantasy Award, the Locus Award, and a number of other international literary awards. He coedited with John Clute The Encyclopedia of Fantasy and wrote all three editions of The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters; both encyclopedias are standard reference works in their field. Under his real name, Paul Barnett, he has written several books and run the world-famous fantasy-art-book imprint Paper Tiger, for this latter work winning a Chesley Award and a nomination for the World Fantasy Award. For more on this prolific author, see www.johngrantpaulbarnett.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uncorrupted Excellence, November 14, 2007

By 

Timothy R. Sullivan "Julian Carax" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Corrupted Science: Fraud, Ideology and Politics in Science (Hardcover)

John Grant's CORRUPTED SCIENCE is very enlightening. Most of us are familiar with scientific frauds that have been exposed over the years, such as the Piltdown Man and Cold Fusion, but did you know that test results were faked by such scientific giants as Sir Isaac Newton, Galileo, and Ptolemy? I certainly didn't.

This is a companion volume to Grant's DISCARDED SCIENCE, and if anything it's even more fascinating than the earlier volume. Grant's prodigious research is evident throughout, but it never gets in the way of his highly readable prose.

CORRUPTED SCIENCE is divided into six major chapters: "Fraudulent Scientists," touched on above, concerning scientific hoaxes; "Seeing What They Wanted to See," about innocent mistakes that cloud the scientific debate, sometimes for generations; "Military Madness," detailing the Pentagon's waste of almost unimaginable sums on cockamamie ideas; "The One True Book," exposing the activities of religious groups who deceitfully claim their ideas are valid scientific theories, e.g. Creationism's latest incarnation, Intelligent Design; "Ideology Trumps Science," examines racism and prejudice in the name of science; and finally "The Political Corruption of Science."

This last chapter highlights three major examples: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, and Bush's America. If you don't believe the latter belongs in the same category as the former two, the evidence cited in this book may make you change your mind.

CORRUPTED SCIENCE is indispensable for anyone interested in the history of science and what's happening in our society today. It will take quite some time to repair the damage caused by the ideologist extremists and political hacks of the Bush Administration, Grant argues, and he presents his argument most convincingly.

The book is a bargain at Amazon's price. It's a hardcover complete with dustjacket. Though small in size, it's packed with information presented in a very readable format.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad book, but a little over the top in places, August 3, 2008

By 

Charles P. Hobbs (Los Angeles, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Corrupted Science: Fraud, Ideology and Politics in Science (Hardcover)

Grant's _Corrupted Science_ gives several examples of how the scientific process, and scientific research, has been interfered with.

Sometimes researchers fake results for various reasons ranging from flat out dishonesty, to pressure from co-workers or superiors. Scientists have also been so convinced that they are observing one thing, that they are resistant, even when proven wrong, to more accurate observations.

In other cases, however, researchers are not permitted to present their results, or even continue to work on various projects because of outside pressures. These influences can come from societal factions, government, business, religious groups or even the scientific peer-review process itself (p. 219). Their influence can be as subtle as a mass media interpretation of a research project, or as direct as denial of funding, or as bad as direct threats to scientists' careers (or lives!)

_Corrupted Science_ gives lots of examples. The usual classics are here (Cold Fusion, Intelligent Design, Piltdown Man, etc.) along with some that I had not heard of (N-rays anybody? How about Menstrual Rays?) But although some of the examples presented are downright comical, others are serious business (medical quackery, tobacco companies covering up the fact that smoking causes cancer, etc.)

Of course the worst thing that can happen is outside forces (usually a government) becoming so powerful in general, and having such an undue influence over science, that only certain ideas are allowed to be promulgated; anything out of line with the government-sanctioned ideology is ruthlessly stamped out. The obvious examples given in the book are Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia. The author puts George W. Bush's anti-science activities (such as suppressing global warming research and promoting "creation science") in this category. Personally, I think that's a bit much; as bad as Mr. Bush's actions in this area are, they are more in line with those examples found in the "Ideology Trumps Science" chapter. (No one gets sent to Guantanamo Bay for opposing Bush's stand on global warming...at least yet....). Grant's politics peep out in various other places, particularly in the "Military Madness" and "Ideology Trumps Science" chapters.

In general, there is a lot of material in this book's 336 pages. It may have flowed better in places if some of the examples were recategorized. (For example, was Pons and Fleischmann's "discovery" of cold fusion a matter of fraud, or was it more like the two scientists "seeing what they wanted to see"?)

Anyone interested in the history of science, and its battles with other societal forces, should take a look at this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read, but the author's personal views got in the way, April 30, 2010

By 

S. Sinai (Pacifica, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Corrupted Science: Fraud, Ideology and Politics in Science (Hardcover)

I loved reading this little book, and it's a great value for the money. Each scientific scam has its own little section, so it's easy to read in 5 or 10 page chunks if that's your style of reading. The one problem I had was that the author kept inserting his own politically-inspired, holier-than-thou diatribes into the text. I'm no fan of George W. Bush, but as others have mentioned, equating the Bush administration's misuse of science to Hitler's and Stalin's is a bit over-the-top. There were also too many instances where the author accused scientists involved in "scams" of being corrupt, when it easily could have been the case that they honestly believed the science they were espousing, but were simply wrong.

Even with my little complaints about the author's injection of his own person viewpoints into the book, I'm looking forward to reading his previous book on Discarded Science.