
Science Fictions
How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth
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Narrated by:
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Stuart Ritchie
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By:
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Stuart Ritchie
An insider’s view of science reveals why many scientific results cannot be relied upon—and how the system can be reformed.
Science is how we understand the world. Yet failures in peer review and mistakes in statistics have rendered a shocking number of scientific studies useless—or, worse, badly misleading. Such errors have distorted our knowledge in fields as wide-ranging as medicine, physics, nutrition, education, genetics, economics, and the search for extraterrestrial life. As Science Fictions makes clear, the current system of research funding and publication not only fails to safeguard us from blunders but actively encourages bad science—with sometimes deadly consequences.
Stuart Ritchie’s own work challenging an infamous psychology experiment helped spark what is now widely known as the “replication crisis,” the realization that supposed scientific truths are often just plain wrong. Now, he reveals the very human biases, misunderstandings, and deceptions that undermine the scientific endeavor: from contamination in science labs to the secret vaults of failed studies that nobody gets to see; from outright cheating with fake data to the more common, but still ruinous, temptation to exaggerate mediocre results for a shot at scientific fame.
Yet Science Fictions is far from a counsel of despair. Rather, it’s a defense of the scientific method against the pressures and perverse incentives that lead scientists to bend the rules. By illustrating the many ways that scientists go wrong, Ritchie gives us the knowledge we need to spot dubious research and points the way to reforms that could make science trustworthy once again.
A Macmillan Audio production from Metropolitan Books
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Critic reviews
“A highly readable and competent description of the problems facing researchers in the 21st century... An excellent primer for anyone who wants to understand why and how science is failing to live up to its ideals.” —Wired
“An impressive achievement... A handy guide to what can go wrong in science, nicely blending eye-popping anecdotes with comprehensive studies.” —National Review
“Liberally documented with amazing stories... An uncompromising examination of the collision between the ideals of science and the realities of scientific publishing. Highly recommended for popular science readers curious about what lurks behind science headlines.” —Library Journal (starred review)
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Fascinating book!
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Eye opening
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thoughtful survey on currebt problems with science
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Excellent Overview of the Issues of Modern Science
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Engaging and relevant throughout
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Sobering analysis of science by scientist.
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Needed Now More Than Ever
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horrifying... and fascinating
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valuable lessons abt performance of modern science
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Very Well Done But not sure of the Audience
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