Eight Preposterous Propositions: From the Genetics of Homosexuality to the Benefits of Global Warming [Paperback]

Robert Ehrlich (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691124043 | ISBN-13: 978-0691124049 | Publication Date: July 25, 2005

Placebo cures. Global warming. Extraterrestrial life. Psychokinesis. In a time when scientific claims can sound as strange as science fiction--and can have a profound effect on individual life or public policy--assessing the merits of a far-out, supposedly scientific idea can be as difficult as it is urgent. Into the breach between helpless gullibility and unyielding skepticism steps physicist Robert Ehrlich, with an indispensable guide to making sense of "scientific" claims. A series of case studies of some of the most controversial (and for the judging public, deeply vexing) topics in the natural and social sciences, Ehrlich's book serves as a primer for evaluating the evidence for the sort of strange-sounding ideas that can shape our lives.

A much-anticipated follow-up to his popular Nine Crazy Ideas in Science, this book takes up issues close to readers' everyday reality--issues such as global warming, the dangers of cholesterol, and the effectiveness of placebos--as well as questions that resonate through (and beyond) civic life: Is intelligent design a scientific alternative to evolution? Is homosexuality primarily innate? Are people getting smarter or dumber? In each case, Ehrlich shows readers how to use the tools of science to judge the accuracy of strange ideas and the trustworthiness of ubiquitous "experts." As entertaining as it is instructive, his book will make the work of living wisely a bit easier and more reliable for scientists and nonscientists alike.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Ehrlich insists that, with little homework, anyone can tool up enough mentally to discriminate between the wholly plausible and the downright dodgy. -- Anjana Ahuja, The Times



Ehrlich has set himself the heroic task, concealed beneath his flippant title, of confronting the tide of irrationality in what is in effect a manual of scientific reasoning. . . . He has dug consistently deep and marshaled the evidence in masterly style. -- Walter Gratzer, Nature



A thoroughly responsible, persuasive collection of science demystification. -- Michael Pakenham, Baltimore Sun



Ehrlich impressively covers a wide range of topics, and we are once again reminded of the tentative nature of many assertions made about the world. . . . I believe the vast majority of the readers of this book will learn a good deal, even if they disagree with some of Ehrlich's conclusions. -- Peter Lamal, Skeptical Inquirer



U.S. physicist Ehrlich, author of more than 20 books, here calmly and intelligently confronts what has been called a 'tide of irrationality' in modern thinking, including not just the two subjects in the subtitle, but one of great current interest: Is Intelligent Design a Scientific Alternative to Evolution? (The short answer: No.) -- H.J. Kirchhoff, Toronto Globe and Mail



Some of Ehrlich's discussions surprised and enlightened me. Nearly all of them left me smiling in satisfaction that here was both a congenial author and an elegant, critical scientific thinker. -- Dr. Richard Isaacman, Bridges

Review

Robert Ehrlich's Eight Preposterous Propositions, the sequel to his cleverly conceived and brilliantly executed Nine Crazy Ideas in Science, is sure to both infuriate and delight readers at the same time! If there isn't something in this book that you already agree and disagree with then you will by the time you finish it because these are among the most politically and culturally controversial ideas in all of science. I am simply staggered at both the depth and scope of Ehrlich's research, yet at the same time I am struck by how fair he is to all sides in these contentious issues. If you want to get your mind around a complex issue in a modest amount of time then Eight Preposterous Propositions is for you. Every college course in critical thinking should assign this book as a model of balanced treatment and fair mindedness.
(Michael Shermer, Publisher of Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist for Scientific American, author of "Why People Believe Weird Things" ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (July 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691124043
• ISBN-13: 978-0691124049
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,946,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Analyzing some timely issues, January 13, 2005

By 

E. David Swan (South Euclid, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Eight Preposterous Propositions: From the Genetics of Homosexuality to the Benefits of Global Warming (Hardcover)

Robert Ehrlich tackles eight interesting and often timely topics including the possibility of homosexuality being genetic and the possible "benefits" of global warming. The book does an excellent job of giving each proposition the benefit of the doubt and carefully examines the evidence for and against.

In the chapter "Can Sugar Pills Cure You?" Ehrlich not only addresses the proposition that placebo's actually work in helping with pain (not a surprise) but also discusses how easy it is for a drug that is essentially a placebo to get FDA approval. The FDA doesn't require double blind tests to use "active" placebo's i.e. placebo's that mimic a drugs side effect. This can easily cause the test to become unblinded. Since a drug only needs to be a small fraction more effective than the placebo, unblinding can easily give a false positive. This is only one way in which FDA approval is flawed. A drug like Prozac shows little effectiveness beyond the placebo effect yet has a 225,000 percent markup over manufacturers cost.

The chapter on Global Warming presented a lot of information for and against the dangers of Global Warming. The end result seemed to be that Global Warming is more than likely occuring but he gave one flake for the proposition that we shouldn't worry about it. Based on the information in the chapter the flakiness of not worrying about Global Warming would seem to be specific to the individual. A teenager should probably be more worried than a seventy year old. Someone living on the coast should be more worried than someone living inland and someone living in a third world country should be more worried than someone living in the United States. It seems odd that Ehrlich gave a universal one flake.

The final subject on high cholesterol being perfectly safe played off like a tennis match. Does high cholesterol increase the risk of congenital heart failure or not? The evidence seemed to go back and forth but in the end Ehrlich sided with the evidence that lowering your cholesterol is healthy for your heart. However he does once again take a deserved swipe at the FDA with respect to some cholesterol reducing drugs such as gemfrobrizil, lovastatin and clofibrate. Many healthy people are being encouraged to take these statins and Ehrlich has concerns that the people taking these drugs are essentially guinea pigs similar to the women who had hormone replacement therapy and discovered that the cure was worse than the disease. These drugs may be carcinogenic and raise the risk of cancer.

Although the book is about specific topics it's a great guide for learning scientific analysis in general. Understanding terms like "regression to the mean" can actually be applied to real world problems. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to increase their analysis and decision making abilities.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag., July 1, 2004

By 

Peter McCluskey (San Bruno, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Eight Preposterous Propositions: From the Genetics of Homosexuality to the Benefits of Global Warming (Hardcover)

This book does a fairly lucid and impartial job of examining eight potentially controversial claims.
The best chapter is the one on placebos, which convinced me that my previous reasons for believing in a placebo effect were wrong, and then showed that it was still quite possible that placebo effects are real.
But much of the book is a good deal more forgettable. His discussion of homosexuality might strike a few rabid Lysenkoists as preposterous, but most educated people should find his answers unsurprising. And his approach isn't nearly as valuable when dealing with hotly debated topics such as global warming as it is when he is bringing overlooked controversies to our attention.

5.0 out of 5 stars Scientific Thinking Can Be Fun, June 22, 2005

By 

Bruce Crocker "agnostictrickster" (Whittier, California United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Eight Preposterous Propositions: From the Genetics of Homosexuality to the Benefits of Global Warming (Hardcover)

8 Preposterous Propositions by Robert Ehrlich, the sequel to Nine Crazy Ideas In Science, takes on eight newsworthy issues in science and evaluates them for their flakiness factor. As with the original book, Ehrlich lays out the evidence evenhandedly for each issue and then at the end of each chapter assigns each issue 0 to 5 flakes. Like the first book, 8 Preposterous Propositions is an excellent exercise in scientific thinking and would be a good way to lure a nonscientist towards the joys of scientific thinking. I look forward to 7 Scintillating Suggestions or 10 Titillating and Tenuous Thoughts or whatever the next book will be called.