Science Fictions: Exposing Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype in Science

(Paperback)

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A major expose that reveals the absurd and shocking problems that pervade and undermine contemporary science 'Required reading for everyone' Adam Rutherford Shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2021 Medicine, education, psychology, economics - wherever it really matters, we look to science for guidance. But what if science itself can't always be relied on In this vital investigation, Stuart Ritchie reveals the disturbing flaws in today's science that undermine our understanding of the world and threaten human lives. With bias, careless mistakes and even outright forgery influencing everything from austerity economics to the anti-vaccination movement, he proposes vital remedies to save and protect science - this most valuable of human endeavours - from itself. * With a new afterword by the author * 'Thrilling... Reminds us that another world is possible' The Times, Books of the Year 'Excellent... We need better science. That's why books like this are so important' Evening Standard

Reviews

Thrilling ... Ritchie reminds us that another world is possible * The Times *
Fascinating and often shocking * Sunday Times, Best Paperbacks of 2021 *
The most important science story of our times ... evocative and engaging ... sometimes funny, sometimes shocking * Unherd *
Excellent ... we need better science. That's why books like this are so important * Evening Standard *
Entertaining ... revelatory ... brilliantly highlights the problems in current practices and sets out a path towards new ones * Daily Mail *
A desperately important book, Science Fictions brilliantly exposes the fragility of the science on which lives, livelihoods and our whole society depend ... Required reading for everyone -- ADAM RUTHERFORD, author of How to Argue With a Racist
Ritchie's engaging tour of the dark side of research [...] has rumbled science's guilty secret ... the tragedy is that the current system does not just overlook our foibles, it amplifies them ... he's entertaining company ... an illuminating and thoughtful guide. Ultimately, he comes to praise science, not to bury it -- ROGER HIGHFIELD * Literary Review *
An engagingly accessible set of cautionary tales to show how science and scientists can be led astray, in some instances with fatal consequences ... clear-eyed and chillingly accurate ... should be compulsory reading for anyone involved in the communication of science to policy makers and to the public -- GINA RIPPON, author of The Gendered Brain
Gripping tales of increasing recent villainy and bias in the laboratory, which should worry those of us who love science -- MATT RIDLEY, author of How Innovation Works
All the replication-failure and scientific-misconduct stories you've ever heard are here - along with more that you haven't ... This comprehensive collection of mishaps, misdeeds and tales of caution is the great strength of Ritchie's offering ... Ritchie's four themes carve complex, interconnected issues at natural joints, and allow his case studies to shine -- Fiona Fidler * Nature *
He has come to praise science, not to bury it; nevertheless, his analyses of science's current ethical ills - fraud, hype, negligence and so on - are devastating -- Simon Ings * Telegraph *
Science Fictions... is a useful account of ten years or more of debate, mostly in specialist circles, about reproducibility -- John Whitfield * London Review of Books *

Author Bio

Dr Stuart Ritchie is a Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London and winner of the 2015 'Rising Star' award from the Association for Psychological Science. He has written for The Times, Spectator, Washington Post, Wired, Literary Review and Aeon, and has appeared on BBC Radio 4 programmes The Infinite Monkey Cage, More or Less and Bringing Up Britain. His Twitter account is @StuartJRitchie.