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Science Fictions

Exposing Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype in Science

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Science Fictions

By: Stuart Ritchie
Narrated by: Stuart Ritchie
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

So much relies on science. But what if science itself can’t be relied on?

Medicine, education, psychology, health, parenting - wherever it really matters, we look to science for advice. Science Fictions reveals the disturbing flaws that undermine our understanding of all of these fields and more.

While the scientific method will always be our best and only way of knowing about the world, in reality, the current system of funding and publishing science not only fails to safeguard against scientists’ inescapable biases and foibles, it actively encourages them. From widely accepted theories about ‘priming’ and ‘growth mindset’ to claims about genetics, sleep, microbiotics, as well as a host of drugs, allergies and therapies, we can trace the effects of unreliable, overhyped and even fraudulent papers in austerity economics, the anti-vaccination movement and dozens of best-selling books - and occasionally count the cost in human lives.

Stuart Ritchie has been at the vanguard of a new reform movement within science aimed at exposing and fixing these problems. In this vital investigation, he gathers together the evidence of their full and shocking extent and proposes a host of remedies to save and protect this most valuable of human endeavours from itself.

©2020 Stuart Ritchie (P)2020 Penguin Audio
Biological Sciences Philosophy Genetics

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Brilliant and Informative

Loved it! So much useful information and told in a very compelling and engrossing narrative. This should be required reading for every undergraduate student!

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Vexed problem clearly explained

This book covered a critical issue that colleagues and I have discussed aspects of for a long time, but it is really nice to see it all laid out so clearly and with some constructive solutions at the end. I really enjoyed this book and even though some of the explanations of statistics went over familiar ground, the examples and overall narative were clear and well explained.

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Fantastic

A quality book that clearly breaks down the issues in science and provides practical solutions.

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Incredible read!

For anyone interested in science and the politics around publishing research, this is a phenomenal, in-depth exploration peppered with funny quips.

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Eye Opening!

Sad, but probably true!! Even my favourite scientist, Mathew Walker manipulated his study!! Need to consider each scientific finding with a bit of salt!

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