Lifting the lid on bad science in the media

Advantages: Fascinating insight into media manipulation and disinformation
Disadvantages: Hard to read at times

...INTRODUCTION Ms Larsbaby pointed me in the direction of this book which a friend of hers had read. The point of the book seemed to be to debunk myths around science and in particular the "pseudo-science" peddled by groups as diverse as nutritionists and journalists. Famous health stories would be examined in detail and taken apart where appropriate. My interest piqued, I had a look to see what all the fuss was about. BRAIN GYMS, HOMEOPATHY AND NUTRITION The author's targets in the book for peddlers of bad science are many and varied. He highlights some well known cases to highlight his point, though is at pains to point out that many other people are just as bad. The book examines the Brain Gym initiative, promoted in schools as a way to improve children's results, but what is it actually based on? The findings...

larsbaby 03.12.2009 · Read review
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Review of Bad Science - Ben Goldacre

Not Weird Science - Bad Science

Advantages: debunking some of medicine's myths & misinformations, funny read
Disadvantages: man on a mission and with an agenda but who can blame him

...Ben Goldacre is the very outspoken mouthpiece against really rubbish claims made by modern medicine or television charlatans. He is a medical doctor and journalist with a column in the Guardian newspaper with an uncanny bullsh*t detector second to none. I can?t remember when I first came across his ways of thinking but it must have been when I was looking for an answer to Gillian McKeith, a woman that makes my neck hair stand on end, someone I find appalling to the n-th degree. Lately I have seen him voice his opinion on London?s 6 o?clock news regarding LBC?s Jenni Barnett and her rather stupid musings on the MMR back in January and the other week on Watchdog when he was asked what he thought about some modern detox products. I bought the ?Bad Science? paperback when I was ordering a number of books from Amazon quite a few months back...

Tempus_Fugit 13.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of Bad Science - Ben Goldacre

A Sunday full of Science

Advantages: Never hearing yourself say "Don't touch that to the kids"
Disadvantages: An expensive day out and not fully functioning

...When I first moved to Glasgow just over 6 years ago and while working as a temp, I found myself working for the Director of Buildings on what was effectively the building site of the planned Glasgow Science Centre. Added to the fact that the centre was based on the science centre in Canada and designed by many of the same Canadian designers who had been responsible for the Toronto centre, I have always felt a strange sense of loyalty to what is now the Glasgow Science Centre. However, this does not mean I am blind to the defects of the project. I have decided to review the Glasgow Science Centre following several visits with my boys as a mum and a visitor and with an unbiased approach. ***First Impression*** The Glasgow Science Centre can be seen for some distance from almost any angle as you approach. The entire centre is made up...

ally2kc 23.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Glasgow Science Centre

The London Science Museum

Advantages: Its free entry and your chilren learn as they play
Disadvantages: A nightmare to get to, very busy at peak times

...Science Museum During the Easter holidays, hubby and I decided to take our children to The London Science Museum. Though it was a very long and tiring day, it was agreed we had an enjoyable time. The museum was started in the nineteenth-century. Its aim was to improve science and technical education. Prince Albert was the key figure in this development and he was responsible for the "Great Exhibition" of 1851. The buildings exterior looks aged and dated; if you walk around the rear of the museum there are various large craters in the concrete walls. These were caused by bombing in the last war and were never repaired as a show of just how much damage was done but the building still did not disintegrate. A plaque on the wall commemorates the strength of the building and its part in sustaining the war...

mrsmopples 21.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of Science Museum (London)

Blinded with Science

Advantages: Super attractions that change regularly, ideal for kids, IMAX Cinema
Disadvantages: None

...I spend a lot of time in the London Science Museum, partly because it is now free to enter, and partly because I have a great love of all the sciences. Few places excite me as much as the thrill of a trip to the Science Museum. The museum is also open seven days a week between 10am and 6pm, which means it is possible to fit in visits around worktime. Ths Science Museum is located in Exhibition Road in South Kensington and is accessible by many forms of public transport. I will give a more detailed list of directions at the end of the review. Although the admission is free, you will still have to pay certain fees for different exhibitions and simulators. The Simex Simulator ride, IMAX 3D Cinema both carry an extra fee, along with quite a few other exhibitions so make sure you do take some money with you when you visit. The museum...

TheHairyGodmother 11.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Science Museum (London)

Science can be fun!

Advantages: Free, lots to see and do
Disadvantages: Can get busy

...Most people will have fond memories of the Science Museum from their school days - driving from a far-flung school on a coach for an hour or two, with the requisite packed lunch and spending money. Some may have just stumbled across it on a visit to the capital; others may have made it a well-planned family excursion. Moreover, if you have never heard of the museum, then you are probably in a select minority. A timeless classic, this is a must-see whether you are 7 or 77.   The museum is located in the heart of London's South Kensington, in the area affectionately known as 'Albertopolis'. Following the Great Exhibition, the area was developed with the intention of raising awareness and promoting the arts and sciences. Prince Albert (hence the name), consort to Queen Victoria, partook in organizing the exhibition, the profits of which...

ts902 31.12.2007 · Read review
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Review of Science Museum (London)

Chatty Science (The Canon: The Beautiful Basics of Science)

Advantages: real basics, mostly well explained & kept interesting
Disadvantages: all those quips & witticisms become a strain, VERY full of US references

...In the introduction to "The Canon" Natalie Angier laments modern science illiteracy, and even more so, she regrets the way science lost the cool factor it might have had in the time of Apollos & Sputniks. It is, apparently, now considered a thing for kids and a tiny proportion of grown-up (but possibly maladjusted) eggheads. She then proceeds to remedy this sorry state of affairs and presents what she distilled from numerous interviews with scientists and mountains of research: the canonical basics of science for modern times. "The Canon" starts with the most important - and often overlooked in formal education - idea that science is a way of thinking, a live process and not only the body of facts and theories that are result of this process. A very decent introduction to numeracy and statistics comes next, followed by succinct...

magdadh 18.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Canon: The Beautiful Basics of Science - Natalie Angier

Studying Science With The O.U. - an overview

Advantages: Lots of flexibility in how and where you study / excellent quality
Disadvantages: You must be self motivated - not always easy after a hard days work

...When I was at school I used to get really appalling grades for science. The teachers were dull and uninspiring and I found it hard to pay attention, even thought I tried really hard to concentrate. A few years later I had developed an interest in health and wellbeing and decided I'd like to learn more about human biology. The Open Univesity seemed to be the best choice as they let you study with them despite your background and, for the aforementioned reasons, my qualifications were mainly arts based (or at the least the good ones were!). I signed up for a human biology course (SK220) and a general biology course (S203) and got to work. I was a little foolhardy, in that I didn't start with the Science Foundation course, but this was because at that point I had very specific areas of interest and hadn't realized just how far I was...

tigswade 29.08.2006 · Read review
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Review of Science

The Science of Doom and Gloom...

Advantages: great songs
Disadvantages: none

...This is the third studio album from one of the UK’s biggest rock groups, probably bigger in America than here in the UK but this album proves how good Bush are. “The Science of Things” is significantly different to Bush’s previous albums “Sixteen Stone” and “Razorblade Suitcase”, but this doesn’t make it any worse, it’s just different and the album deserves more credit than it received. To find out more information about Bush visit their website, www.bushnet.com. The album inlay is very strange; it has the lyrics to all of the songs. For each song there is two pages and there is some very strange art work, which relates to each of the songs, along with the lyrics. This is a very good album, please read on to find out more about the album. The following tracks appear...

ia_young 19.03.2001 · Read review
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Review of Science Of Things, The - Bush

Weird science

Advantages: some good humour and entertainment
Disadvantages: lame in parts

......

blissman70 04.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Weird Science (DVD)