Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience book cover

The Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience (2000), edited by Dr William F. Williams, "identifies, defines and explains all the terms and concepts related to the murky world of "almost science".^[1] It includes over 2000 entries, covering phenomena, people, events, topics places and associations.

Criteria for inclusion

Williams describes the criteria for inclusion:

"I have to start somewhere, I am going to use this definition of science: 'The practice of generalizing from observations to form a rational explanation -- a theory -- of a particular part of our world and then testing that theory by experiment, rejecting it if it does not match up, accepting it provisionally if it does'. [..]"

"This then, will be my criterion for deciding what to categorize as science and what is pseudoscience, fraud, or something other than true science. [..] there are many distinct categories (1) claims for scientific status that do not satisfy the definition by any stretch of the imagination (2) frauds and hoaxes (3) mistaken theories that are sooner or later disproved (4) ideological presumptions (5) superstition.

"The foregoing might be summarized by saying that we have included in this volume, thereby implying that they may be pseudoscientific , matters that are not generally accepted as legitimate science but that are or have been claimed to be so. For good measure we have included topics at the forefront of research that are still controversial."^[2]

Entries in the Encyclopedia do not necessarily note to which criteria an entry belongs. Science in the broadest sense refers to any system of knowledge attained by verifiable means. ... The word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. ... Phrenology is regarded today as a classic example of pseudoscience. ... A hoax is an attempt to trick an audience into believing that something false is real. ... It has been suggested that Magical thinking be merged into this article or section. ...

Examples

The book includes a wide range of entries, including Astrology, Flat Earth Society, Phrenology and UFOlogy, and also Antimatter, Big Bang, Black Hole, Carl Sagan and Chastity belts. Hand-coloured version of the anonymous Flammarion woodcut. ... The Flat Earth Society is an organization first based in England and later in Lancaster, California that advocates the belief that the Earth is not a sphere but is flat (see flat Earth). ... A 19th century Phrenology chart Phrenology (from Greek: φρήν, phrēn, mind; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is a theory which claims to be able to determine character, personality traits, and criminality on the basis of the shape of the head (reading bumps). Developed by German physician Franz Joseph Gall around 1800, and... Ufology is the study of unidentified flying object (UFO) reports, sightings, alleged physical evidence, and other related phenomena. ... In particle physics, antimatter extends the concept of the antiparticle to matter, wherein if a particle and its antiparticle come into contact with each other, the two annihilate —that is, they may both be converted into other particles with equal energy in accordance with Einsteins equation E = mc2. ... According to the Big Bang theory, the universe emerged from an extremely dense and hot state (bottom). ... A black hole is an object predicted by general relativity with a gravitational field so strong that nothing can escape it — not even light. ... Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, astrobiologist, and highly successful science popularizer. ... Venetian chastity belt on display in the Doges palace. ...

Contributors

Advisors and Consultants Jerome Clark, Board of Directors, J.Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, Chicago; Dr J. Gordon Melton, Research Specialist, Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara; Dr Carl Mitcham, Professor of Philosophy and of Science, Technology abd Society, Pennsylvania State University; Dr Marcello Truzzi, Director Center for Scientific Anomalies Research and Professor of Sociology, Easter Michigan University.

Contributors Dr Daniel W. Conway, Dr Lisle W. Dalton, Dr R.G. Alex Dolby, Dr R. Shannon Duval, Honor C. Farrell, Jeff Frazier, Dr John E. McMillan, Dr J Gordon Melton, Terry O'Neill, Kenneth R. Shepherd, Steven Utley, Joyce Williams, Dr William F. Williams. ^[3]

About the editor

William F. Williams was formerly visiting Professor at the Department of Science, Technology, and Society at Pennsylvania State University, and was the William Weiss Fellow in Engineering from 1992 to 1993. He is also a Life Fellow at the University of Leeds, England. His publications include Are Science and Technology Neutral? (Butterworth), and he has served as editor in chief of the Science in a Social Context series (also for Butterworth). Williams resides in England.^[4]

Reviews

The Skeptical Inquirer's review of the book notes that, ".. errors, major and minor, can be found throughout.", "It reads more like a collection of opinions", "[needs to] contain material that is both correct and objective. Unfortunately, this tome fails on both counts."^[5] The Skeptical Inquirer is a magazine of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) dedicated to debunking pseudoscience. ...

Notes