Over at Uncommon Descent, Denyse O'Leary, the world's worst journalist™, gives us a list of her favorite science books --- in her usual barely literate style. (Note to Denyse: the plural of "coo" is not "coo's".)
No surprise, three of them aren't written by scientists: Darwin on Trial, Signature in the Cell, and Alfred Russel Wallace's Theory of Intelligent Evolution. Of the other two, one was written by a very mediocre scientist who made basic mistakes in previous books, and the other by a man whose bogus claims were repudiated by his own department. In Denyse's topsy-turvy world, actual scientists can be dismissed as "mooches and tax burdens", or "British aristocrats".
The late Martin Gardner studied this kind of crankery and knew how to recognize it. A scientific crank, Gardner said, "has strong compulsions to focus his attacks on the greatest scientists and the best-established theories." It is not possible to reason with this kind of idiocy -- ridicule is the best response.
Actually, Denyse's list would be a good start on a list of the Worst Science Books. Do you have any more nominations? I'll start with Judith Hooper's Of Moths and Men, Arthur Koestler's The Case of the Midwife Toad, and anything by Jeremy Rifkin.
Showing posts with label crappy writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crappy writing. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Innumeracy in a Ken Goddard mystery
From Ken Goddard, First Evidence, Bantam Books, 1999:
[the scientists sequence some alien DNA and find two new bases, M and J, in addition to the usual 4]
"The average DNA molecule is made up of approximately three billion base pairs ... code units, whatever," Jody said, as much to herself as the other two. "Which gives us six possible codes instead of four at the first base-pair position; a total of thirty-six possibilities instead of sixteen in the first two positions; one hundred and ninety-eight possibilities instead of sixty-four in the first three..."
Yup, Jody actually claimed that 63 = 198.
And, one page later, we find one of the most unintentionally funny lines I've ever seen in a mystery novel:
[they're discussing what creatures with this unsual DNA might look like]
"But what would you do with a DNA molecule like this?" Melissa asked, her dark eyes gleaming with excitement. "What could you do?"
"If this were human DNA, I'll bet you could change your shape at will," Jody Catlin ventured.
Yup, that's exactly what I would first guess.
[the scientists sequence some alien DNA and find two new bases, M and J, in addition to the usual 4]
"The average DNA molecule is made up of approximately three billion base pairs ... code units, whatever," Jody said, as much to herself as the other two. "Which gives us six possible codes instead of four at the first base-pair position; a total of thirty-six possibilities instead of sixteen in the first two positions; one hundred and ninety-eight possibilities instead of sixty-four in the first three..."
Yup, Jody actually claimed that 63 = 198.
And, one page later, we find one of the most unintentionally funny lines I've ever seen in a mystery novel:
[they're discussing what creatures with this unsual DNA might look like]
"But what would you do with a DNA molecule like this?" Melissa asked, her dark eyes gleaming with excitement. "What could you do?"
"If this were human DNA, I'll bet you could change your shape at will," Jody Catlin ventured.
Yup, that's exactly what I would first guess.
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