Science Without Sense [Paperback]

Steven J. Milloy (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 68 pages
• Publisher: Cato Inst (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1882577345
• ISBN-13: 978-1882577347
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,890,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars important, July 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Science Without Sense (Paperback)

I hold an MPH and have worked in public health for 15 years. Unfortunately, i witness examples of the type of "science" discussed in this book too often. I also witness consumers of such information misguided by it. Simply laid out, this is a good book for an introduction to the topic of, as colleagues have coined, the 'religion of public health' and 'rituals of funding.'

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Statistics for non-scientists, September 12, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Hagerstown, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Science Without Sense (Paperback)

Milloy's book is an excellent expose of the proliferating pseudo-scientists that are trying to obtain their 15 minutes of fame. As a retired biomedical scientist of some 40 years standing, I am aware that a statistical correlation is simply a mathematical relationship between two sets of numbers. As such it doesn't prove anything, it simply suggests a cause and effect.

For a real scientist, this correlation would be the beginning and would require proofs obtained by different independent methods. For the pseudo-scientist, however, this is the end point. As the author points out, it's much easier that way and who's going to know the difference. The American public receives a poor education in math and none in statistics.

I think this is a result of the 'publish or perish' syndrome; an awful lot of garbage is being produced. I think the author did a very good job of pointing out the weaknesses in much of the current 'epidemiology', and I think every lay person should read his book.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superb and entertaining!, June 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Science Without Sense (Paperback)

Milloy successfully debunks some of the public health scares of our age and shows how the methods and jargon of the public health profession can be misused to provoke fear. This book is your response to the scaremongers. If you've ever wondered how such nonsense as the theory that power lines and cell phones cause cancer can become national headlines, this book will explain it.