Customer Reviews

Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments (Harvest Original)

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Historian Alex Boese was enamored with bizarre experiments in college. During his graduate studies, Boese spent his free time tracking down the more obscure mad scientist experiments that were mentioned in his texts. He amassed a library of notes on bizarre experiments, went on to found the Museum of Hoaxes and publish two books on hoaxes, and now returns with a title about all those bizarre experiments which once intrigued and delighted him. Boese includes only research which was undertaken with genuine scientific curiosity and methodology--that which was published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Elephants on Acid contains overview and author commentary on experiments from the 1800's through the 2000's, in ten different categories - surgery, senses, memory, sleep, animal behavior, mating behavior, babies, bathroom research, human nature, and death. For each experiment, the author sets up the broader social and scientific context, describes the experimental design and results, and includes any follow-on work. Bibliographic details for each scientific publication are included. (But good luck tracking down European journals circa 1803!)

The opening chapter on Dr. Frankenstein-like research is a bit unsettling (Can a head live without its body? Can asphyxiated dogs be brought back to life?). Not surprisingly, few of the Frankenstein experiments took place in modern times. The remaining chapters are enchanting glimpses at scientific fact and fiction over the ages. Boese demonstrates that waitresses who touch customers statistically receive higher tips ("Touching Strangers"), repeats the real Pepsi Challenge ("Coke vs. Pepsi"), exposes the myth of the `Mozart effect' on IQ ("Mozart Effect"), and provides scientific proof of the synchronous menstrual cycles of cohabitating women ("Scent of a Woman"). Studies of human behavior discuss the power of suggestion in creating false childhood memories ("Lost in the Mall"), the effect of a crowd of roaches on an athlete roach navigating a course ("Racing Roaches"), and the role of fear in sexual arousal in humans ("Arousal on a Creaky Bridge").

Two of the most famous studies of good vs. evil are presented in this text. In the infamous 1970's Stanford Prison Experiment, college students playing the role of guards became drunk on their power and humiliated and dehumanized their mock prisoners. In another experiment, researcher Stanley Milgram proved that otherwise "good" individuals could be coerced into delivering painful or deadly electric shocks to other volunteers under pressure from a scientific researcher.

Ranging from the trivial to the socially far-reaching, Boese's compendium has something for everyone.

This book is fantastic. You can get a good sense of whether or not you will enjoy this book by taking a look at the top 20 most bizarre experiments page on the museum of hoaxes website.[...]

The book is a strangely compelling compendium of the unusual things that scientists have dedicated their life to exploring. The author really brings the strange cast of characters to life and helps you understand not only the facts of these strange cases, but also the context of what the scientists were hoping to accomplish by determining if they could create human/ape hybrids, or keep a dog head alive by attaching it to a living dog's circulatory system.

A word of warning: some of the experiments are not for the faint of heart.

This book is a little unusual, because most book that deal with the bizarre in science are either about pseudo science or about factoids. This book is about interesting findings from interesting experiments.

Despite the title, the book doesn't actually deal in a great deal of bizarre experiments once you think about it. How else would you test some of the things they were looking for, with the least number of variables that can derail you. Sure there are other solutions, but these are quite good and logical choices, but they retain their bizarreness because, most of us wouldn't know how they found some of these things out.

The structure of the book divides science into pursuits of ten areas, life, death, senses etc. The areas overlap but the structure is done for effect and it works. That said though, here is the first major flaw of the book, it starts out quite disgusting and macabre. Though once you've gotten through that it doesn't degrade from the general thing, though cruelty to animals and humans occasionally does pop up, however it isn't the dominant theme.

The second flaw, is with the author: the early macabre experiments are a requisite for this type of book, but the jokes ... some of them are just terribly bad, and trivialize the subject matter and reduces his standing as being qualified to write about the area of science. For example: terminally ill and thus dying patients are given LSD (LSD/Acid isn't actual that common a subject in the book, but nevermind) and overall they feel more positive about their life and dying; they become more interactive and less depressed. Also, calming (harp) music is played and it has positive effects. Great experiment, great result, great avenue to do more research even without LSD. How does Boese conclude the story? He says the harp music has to go as the Grateful Dead might be more appropriate.

That said though, if you can look past this (maybe skip the last paragraph of every story?), the book is mostly a treat and very well written. Some of the experiments are macabre and thus not suitable for very young readers, but early teens and onwards should understand most of the subtleties and more important experiments about human behavior, or at least lead to interesting discussions.

One reviewer was complaining about gore. He is somewhat right. Although author clearly states that his intentions are not to include all the most goriest experiments ever, first chapter is just about them. I wanted to quit reading this book while still on the first chapter. Luckily I continued and this book can be read in one breath. I would suggest to any reader to skip first chapter. Sometimes less is more. There are some more unpleasant-to-read experiments in the rest of the book, but not as much as in the first chapter.

cool book. Lots of short stories, great for when you dont have time to sit for a whole chapter..

I think this book would be a great addition to the library of any science teacher or professor. Reading a story from the book could spark some lively discussion about the scientific method, scientific ethics, and the pursuit of knowledge. I think the reviewer who complained that this book promotes animal cruelty misses the point. The author isn't advocating the type of bizarre experiments he chronicles, he's merely reporting them. There are some experiments in here that are classics like Pavlov's experiment on conditioned response or the Milgram experiment on the psychology of obedience.
There's also a part of the book about flatulence that I'm sure adolescent males will love.

I am not really much of a reader, but couldn't put this one down. Each experiment differed from the last and kept your attention the whole time. Recommend this to anyone interested in the weird and extreme, or just with a geek side in them.

What the author has accomplished here is a very readable and fascinating book about scientists and the bizarre experiments they envisioned. It is not a scientific publishing, mired with technical details, but a great read about how calculating minds attempt to understand and influence the world around us, and how wrong those minds can be occasionally. Caveat: there are some very graphic images of animals being harmed for the sake of science. Despite how you feel about this, it is important to remember that the author did not conduct these experiments, he is merely reporting on them. This book is still packed full of information and humor (I utterly howled about the scientist who was recording facial expressions of people who were forced to decapitate a live rat- and then failed to see the more important issue of people killing on command!). Highly recommended and doctors in particular seem to be really taken with this book.

so of the stories were interesting but most were anecdotes I've heard before. Some tales you can share with friends others are easily forgotten.

This is a peculiar book. You will learn little else than trivia, but it is an easy read with some interesting stories. It has ups and downs, but very enjoyable. For people curious about the "scientific mind", this one provides interesting tidbits.