Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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345 of 365 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thoroughly excellent, 7 Oct 2008
A thoroughly excellent book from a practising doctor and medical researcher, who is also one of the few science journalists to actually understand scientific method. He is nearly a lone voice in the media, exposing the astonishing journey of 'health news' from the pages of academic journals to the tabloids and broadsheets, without passing through a critical brain in between. Thus, on a daily basis, the papers produce "X CAUSES/CURES CANCER" stories, based on very shaky understanding of experiments done in a petri dish. Whilst these stories may give false hope or fear to thousands of people, which is bad enough, in the case of MMR, they actually caused harm. He also explains how and why science fails to explain itself clearly and loudly in the face of emotionally charged 'my son has autism due to MMR' stories.
Goldacre also lays bare the facts about such 'complementary' therapies such as Homeopathy and Nutritionism, which when stripped of the accolades given them in the media, are revealed to be little more than eccentric ideas which somehow have gained unquestioning credence in the popular mind, and even, perversely, created a deep-rooted suspicion of maninstream medicine which is now taken at face value.
I thoroughly recommend this book, especially for journalists, but it is also essential reading for scientists, doctors and anyone who finds their mouth flapping when trying to put their friends / family straight on why spending 100 quid on dipping their feet in water and watching it go brown is a spectacular waste of money.
Final thoughts - if this book demonstrates how bad science reporting is, what else is being reported badly that we should know about? Finance? Politics? Help!! Also, why is there no organisation with teeth that can bring people to account for irresponsible reporting? A free press is central to our world of course, but not a wild press, trampling all over everyone and everything without so much as a backward glance.
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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a funny book with two important messages, 2 Aug 2009
Ben Goldacre is a rare animal. He is a journalist who writes a column in the guardian but is also a full time GP working for the NHS. Apart from that he is young, smug, arrogant, has an ego the size of a planet and a writing style that is often condescending and patronising. Yet he is also witty, insightful and smart and has a turn of phrase that separates him as a great writer. Some of his more memorable quotes will stay with you and make you smile for a long time. Looking at the balance of positive and negative reviews here, there is about a 98% chance (118 five star reviews against 3 one star reviews) that like me you will find this book impossible to put down. On one occasion I read long into the night, forced myself about 3am to go to sleep and then when the alarm went off picked up the book and started where I had left off.
Despite its title however this is actually not a book about bad science. There is no botched physics, chemistry or biology in here. There are two main themes that run through the book. The first is an expose of pseudoscience - detox, vitamin supplements, homeopathy and the like. This includes some very cutting examinations of various charlatans who advocate these approaches. These things are very easy targets, but as they are not generally regarded as science in the first place, calling them `bad science' gives them an air of authority they don't deserve. The only science in the book in this context is the good evidence based medicine used very frequently by Goldacre to debunk the pseudoscientific rubbish. This is great stuff presented with true style. Of course you may be thinking that really these things don't matter. If somebody wants to spend £50 on a pointless course of vitamin C pills every year then it is up to them, and we can have a good laugh at their expense and everyone goes home happy. What Goldacre nicely reveals is that there is a much wider dimension to the problem. When people in the vitamin industry (who have grown rich on the `harmless' whims of westerners buying their daily doses of antioxidants) persuade governments in the developing world that the cure for AIDS is not anti-virals but vitamin supplements then thousands of people die as a result. Suddenly it isn't amusing or harmless any more.
If this first theme wasn't important enough, the second theme of the book is even more significant and that is the appalling standard of science reporting in the media. Goldacre blames this on the very poor level of science training among generalist reporters and editors. He suggests that because of this science stories in the mainstream media are always portrayed as breakthroughs, miracle cures or scare stories, instead of a detailed examination of their true complexity and importance. Science stories are often misrepresented, dumbed down and pitched at people with the intelligence of six year olds. This contrasts bleakly with coverage of say the financial news or literary examinations. Goldacre's coverage here is also not about bad science. It is how good science becomes badly mangled by the media machine. Even worse is when the media try to do their own science. His points are well made and arguments compelling. The concluding chapters on the MMR vaccine and MRSA superbug scares are well laid out examinations of the key issues.
Overall this is not just a great read but an important book. I'm glad it has made the Amazon top ten and the Sunday times bestsellers lists because lots of people need to be exposed to the messages it contains. My only concern is that most of the people buying it will be those already in the know - people like (in his words) doctors who have bought the book for a good laugh at homeopathy. If you are in this group then you should definitely buy it. If you are not, then buying it is even more important.
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149 of 164 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Invaluable, 15 Sep 2008
Like the very best popular science, this book is patient but fascinating in building up your knowledge of the subject area - in this case medical (and 'alternative' medical) research. However, it goes beyond this in building up to a damning indictment of the media's handling of the MRSA and MMR scares, as part of their wider crimes against the public understanding of science.
In the hands of a polemecist such as Micheal Moore, these frauds perpetrated against the public would be described at a pitch of white hot rage (lkely with almost EVERY WORD IN CAPS). However Dr Goldacre describes the frankly horrifying details of these scares in patient and methodical detail, and is all the more compelling for it.
This book is compulsory reading. It should be forcefully inserted onto every reading list prepared by anyone, for anything.
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