Scientific Dumbology Gaffes Foulups Blunders Author:Robert Youngson Embarrassments come in various sizes, but few can rival in sheer, mind-blowing magnitude, some of the mistakes that have been perpetrated in the name of scientific advance. In the past, scientific dumbology was caused largely by ignorance and superstition. Today's scientists are more sophisticated in their errors, yet the end result is the s... more »ame - the brightest (and often the most big-headed) members of society can sometimes be astonishingly wrong.
Examples investigated here include:
-early scientific blunders - the flat earth theory, the earth-centered universe blunder, and the scientific rejection of the Copernican theory
-the scientist and the bishop - the great evolution debate
-the Piltdown Man hoax
-the Tay Bridge collapse
-Chernobyl
-the Hubble telescope blunder
-the Challenger space shuttle disaster
-the cold fusion affair
Scientific Dumbology is an investigative and humorous account of the errors into which seemingly infallible humans have fallen, giving a valuable perspective on the risks and benefits of scientific advance.« less