Kicking the Sacred Cow
Galileo may have been forced to deny that the Earth moves around the Sun; but in the end, science triumphed. Nowadays science fearlessly pursues truth, shining the pure light of reason on the mysteries of the universe. Or does it? As bestselling author James P. Hogan demonstrates in this fact-filled and thoroughly documented study, science has its own roster of hidebound pronouncements which are Not to be Questioned. And those who question them may face a modern-day Inquisition. As the author puts it, "This book is not concerned with cranks or simple die-hards, who are entitled to their foibles and come as part of life's pattern. Rather, it looks at instances of present-day orthodoxies tenaciously defending beliefs in the face of what would appear to be verified fact and plain logic, or doggedly closing eyes and minds to ideas whose time has surely come. In short, where scientific authority seems to be functioning more in the role of religion protecting doctrine and putting down heresy than championing the spirit of the free inquiry that science should be." Among the dogma-laden topics he examines are Darwinism, global warming, the big bang, problems with relativity, radon and radiation, holes in the ozone layer, the cause of AIDS, and the controversy over Velikovsky. Hogan explains the basics of each controversy with his clear, informative style, in a book that will be fascinating for anyone with an interest in the frontiers of modern science. Book jacket.
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I think this book is actually worse than bad: it's dangerously irresponsible. It's serious tinfoil hat territory, and rather mean-spirited besides. Like all conspiracy theories, it conveniently places itself beyond rational discourse by preemptively calling into question the trustworthiness of any other sources of information.
However, I do enjoy a good conspiracy theory, and the chapter on Velikovsky / catastrophism is especially fascinating.
The rest of the book delves into such enlightening topics as “what if global warming is a scam?”, “what if radiation, DDT and asbestos are actually good for you?”, “what if HIV isn't a real thing?” and “Einstein and Darwin were both wrong, probably.”
It would be amusing if it wasn't so depressing... I mean, here's someone who is clearly intelligent and capable of some critical thinking, ultimately going down this weird path of “intelligent design” and anti-intellectualism. I mean, there's a healthy amount of skepticism and then there's... whatever this is, which is overcompensating in the other direction so far that you're basically Timecube. And yeah, I love Timecube, but I would really be afraid that someone would pick this book up and take it seriously, because it's so much nicer and cleaner and easier to believe in this narrative where you don't have to worry about global warming or pesticides or things like that.
I actually put this book in the recycling bin instead of taking it to the Little Free Library, is how strongly I feel that no one else should ever read it, probably.
