A Brief History of Misguided Ideas:
Creationism, Flat-Earthism, Energy Scams and the Velikovsky Affair

The best way of understanding science is to understand pseudoscience, a valuable lesson in this time of "Intelligent Design" swindles. Once you realize that "Scientific Creationism" works exactly like Velikovskyism and Flat Earth "Science," the jig is up. Schadewald's good-natured but unsparing scrutiny is both hilarious and infuriating.
Robert M. Price, Journal of Higher Criticism

Hear a podcast interview of editor Lois Schadewald on Air America's Atheists Talk program.

Talk to the editor at The Amaz!ng Meeting 8 in Las Vegas, July 8-11, 2010.

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Have you talked to people who really believe the Earth is flat? The late Bob Schadewald did, because he wanted to know what made them tick. He also researched, interviewed, and wrote about creationists, perpetual motionists, and other people who live in strange, pseudoscientific worlds of their own.

Take a look inside the book.

Author Robert J. Schadewald examines four types of pseudoscientific beliefs:

• The alternate cosmology of Immanuel Velikovsky (One Mans Collision with Science)
• Scams based on a false promise of renewable energy (The Perpetual Delusion)
• Belief that the earth is flat (Its a Small Flat World)
• So-called scientific creationism (Lying for God)

Bob Schadewald's passion was the study of alternative sciences and alternative thinkers. His writings reflect his insights of the topic and the personalities promoting these beliefs, which he gained through almost 30 years of research and study. He provides a historical background for each, as well as some personal stories that provide a perceptive view into the psychology and character of the proponents of these beliefs.

For Bob Schadewald, pseudoscientists were objects of intense study and fascination. His sister Lois Schadewald went through his files and previous published articles and created a collection that is highly entertaining and, at times, a little scary.

Buy the book

• This book belongs on the desk of every serious scientist and science educator who appreciates having a wealth of well-written reference material close at hand.
• It is a great resource for skeptics and non-believers who want to gain an understanding of how pseudoscientists think.
• It is worthwhile not only for the factual accuracy of Bobs accounts and for the entertaining histories he presents, but also for the penetrating analysis that he brought to everything he did.

Read the review Misguided Ideas of Fringe Thinkers by Donald Simanek.

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