Scientific gadfly Martin Gardner asks the questions that make believers of all types cringe. Did Adam and Eve Have Navels? is one such example and is the title and lead essay from this collection of his columns from Skeptical Inquirer. While many scientifically minded people find the fundamentalist skepticism of Gardner, the Amazing Randi, and their ilk to be a bit straining, the skeptics' voices are relatively quiet compared with the hordes of pseudo- and anti-scientific hucksters scoring political points and big bucks by exploiting ignorance and credulity.
Gardner's charm and dry wit aid his cause significantly. His essay on urine therapy is so amusing that only upon reflection does the reader realize that his evidence against it seems not much stronger than the evidence in favor of it; perhaps he felt it too silly to pursue with his usual vigor. This is not the case for his other topics, including "intelligent design" creationism, dream theory, numerology, and reflexology, which he debunks clearly and carefully, while retaining his good-natured humor. Readers new to Gardner's work will find it engaging; old friends will delight that the grand old man of popular science is still at it. Whatever your beliefs, though, try not to think about the title question too hard. --Rob Lightner
From Publishers Weekly
Former Scientific American columnist Gardner (The Annotated Alice, etc.) has also long been a columnist for another journalASkeptical InquirerAand some 28 of his far-ranging pieces are loosely tied together in this new collection. Individually, these essays amuse and provoke, but because the subject material is broad, Gardner doesn't delve deeply into any one topic. Rather, he jumps from fringe science to cannibalism, psychology and the histories of various religious sects. Along the way, he challenges his opponentsAespousers of bogus scienceAto explain their beliefs and denounces some books (by Deepak Chopra, for instance) as preposterous while praising others that are skeptical in tone. Reflexology, the practice of treating ailments by rubbing specific parts of the feet, is dismissed as "profitology." Some essays address current topics, including the Heaven's Gate cult, while others are old news (finding Freud's dream theory flawed). Still, there is much of interest here. One of the most fascinating chapters describes "urine therapy"Awhich involves swallowing, injecting or rubbing urine on the skin or eyes, which is advocated by various practitioners of ayurvedic and other alternative forms of medicine. Another essay effectively challenges the idea that cannibalism has ever been a widespread practice anywhere in the world, since nearly all of the evidence for it appears in secondhand reports. Updating addenda have been tacked on after most essays, but the lack of editing of the essays themselves results in overlapping discussions of some topics, with little transitional material. The essays, though united only by their underlying skepticism, present a witty and erudite rejection of pseudoscience. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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