The Undergrowth of Science: Delusion, Self-Deception and Human Frailty

Gratzer, Walter

ISBN 10: 0198507070 / ISBN 13: 9780198507079

Published by Oxford University Press, New York, 2000

About this Item

Hardcover in dust jacket. First printing of first edition (2000) . Book is As New, crisp and clean. Binding is tight and corners are sharp. Unpriced dust jacket is fresh and bright, with a touch of wear at one corner tip. Illustrated. 8vo. 328 pp. Including index. In protective Mylar.

Seller Inventory # 87284

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Undergrowth of Science: Delusion, Self-Deception and Human Frailty
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, New York
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198507070
• ISBN 13: 9780198507079
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

The theme of this work is scientific foible. Gratzer describes for a general readership a number of episodes in science and medicine where an erroneous research finding was adhered to and given credence by its originators and others far beyond the point where it had been effectively discredited. Each of these episodes is dealt with in detail, with special attention given to the individuals involved, their careers and personalities, their relations with others, and so on. The accounts include the affair of the N-rays, Lysenko and the tragedy of Soviet genetics, science in the Third Reich, the tale of polywater, and the cold-fusion aberration of the 1980s.

About the Author

Walter Gratzer is a biophysicist at the Randall Institute, King's College London. He is known to a wide readership through his book reviews, which appear regularly in Nature. His books include the Longman Literary Companion to Science and The Bedside Nature.