Customer Reviews

Science Made Stupid

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was the funniest book I had ever read until I picked up "Dave Barry Slept Here." I still have a copy and re-read it every couple of years. Anyone who took high school science and anthropology classes, let alone college science majors, will be rendered helpless with laughter by this book, again and again and again. The human evolution section should be required material in every anthro class taught at every level.

How Houghton-Mifflin let this book go out of print is beyond me. It should've been packaged with a pair of Depends & instructions to put them on before opening--it's that big a threat to sphincter control in the scienceminded. I think the copyright information is straight, but flatly doubt there is another serious word (or picture) in the damn thing. The Geologic Ages table is worth the price--as is the table of "currently understood properties of the quack"--as is the periodic table---as is The Electromagnetic Spectrum--as is... Hell, the cover drawing of T. Rex getting beaned by an asteroid is worth the price!

It is a tragedy that this is out of print. It's one of the funniest books I've ever read. Anyone with any knowledge of science whatsoever finds it hilarious, and I show it to anyone and everyone who I think can appreciate it. No-one's ever been disappointed. Three thumbs up!

I suspect that if you could somehow assemble all the photocopies ever made from individual pages in this book by businesses, labs and research houses around the country, you could reassemble the entire book. Every page is a gem. Weller's sense of the style and form of a traditional high or junior high science book is impeccable, and his sense of humor is inspired. "Science Made Stupid" is hysterical and a classic!

All other reviewers are correct. This book is a classic and while I'm glad I didn't have to pay current used prices for it, it's worth doing so if you don't have it. Just be forewarned, it's not terribly long, so you won't be getting a giant tome.

One thing that no-one's pointed out - while its style is very similar to science books etc, the humor of this book was really driven home when a friend was doing a paper on Creationism. He found a book that this one clearly EXACTLY lampoons, from size and layout to ink color to picture style - everything. This makes the blast of Creationism all the better. I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it, but the "Evolutionist vs Creationist" bit (p. 65) is completely hilarious, especially as the "Evo" side of the argument is actually one part of the book other than the copyright that is played straight.

Every year I try to read through this book just to see what new stuff I find. Every science class I've ever taken opens up new jokes for me. As a geology major the evoltution/creationism and the new theories on dinosaurs are hilarious!

At first glance, this is a typical high-school or early college general science textbook. The drawings, the text, the layout, the style is one we've all seen for years. You start reading, and realize you have in your hands one of the most brilliant parodies I've ever seen. I received my copy as a gift, and I've since purchased multiple copies for friends. It's priceless

In this book, Tom Weller presents a marvelous parody of introductory-level science books. It's full of marvelous, but horribly wrong, illustrations, such as showing how an eclipse happens when the Sun comes between the Moon and the Earth. His attempt to resolve the Evolution-Creationism debate is guaranteed to satisfy neither side. No major field of science is left unscathed, unfortunately.

This book would be most appreciated by people with a scientific background, although it would make an excellent gift to a child of someone you really wanted to confuse.

In SCIENCE MADE STUPID: HOW TO DISCOMPREHEND THE WORLD AROUND US Weller pokes fun at time-honored scientific standards including names of geologic ages, the periodic table, the scientific method, continental drift, and evolution.

It's doubly fun if you happen to be a scientist yourself!

Give it a look!

The more you know about science, the more you can "get" from this book. From a periodic chart where the most basic elements turn out to be "lint" and "scum" to a brilliant "resolution" of the creationism/evolution dispute, Tom Weller sends up practically every branch of science and saves a little for the science academic hierarchy as well. Great for 12 year olds of all ages.

- Glenn Koenig