A great primer on the basics and the controversial in modern science and medicine. Not just the evolution controversy but the ones affecting real lives today. Examples include the "Brain Gym" and the "fish oil trial" adopted (and quickly abandoned) by the British education system. The MMR vaccine scare and the media's prime responsibility in a scare that has cost the lives of dozens of children. Importantly it gives equal time to the bad actions of pharmaceutical companies as well as the prevalent pharmanoia in the media. A great little primer on the importance of the scientific method and the best medical science has to offer today.

Now an international bookray.

Participants so far.

sunfi (usa)
labmomnm (usa)
rebeccaljames (usa)
allthesepieces (usa)
hyphen8 (usa)
bookguide (neth)
Vekiki (uk)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

sent to sunfi in the post

Just received this one. I have 8 other rings/rays ahead of this one but will have it on its way within the next 8 weeks. Thanks davemurray101 for including me and mailing his to me, I'm excited to start it.

Thanks davemurray101 for including me in this one. Even though a lot of the things written about were British it was still an interesting book. I had to skip a couple of the more detailed pages on statistics, its usually late when I read and my mind wasn't able to concentrate on the concepts. I have to wonder how different things would be in this country if pharmaceutical companies couldn't market directly to the public, would we be better or worse off? I'll get this in the mail to labmomnm in the next few days.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent off today, it should arrive in the next couple of weeks.

Arrived in the mail; I'm going to need a chainsaw to get it out of the mailing envelope! Sunfi - I thought *I* was the Queen of Shipping Tape, but I bow to your superior tape-iness :-)

6 May '09 - I just wanted to say that I started reading this yesterday & have already ordered several copies - 1 to keep & a few to share - I'm LOVING this book! Powells.com has an international source & can get copies of this, in case anyone else in the USA (who avoids Amazon if possible) is interested in getting a copy. I called my local bookshop & they couldn't get one. Sigh. Anyway, I wasn't familiar with Goldacre, but now I'll be checking his website - I have to go & see what he has to say about the Merck/Elsevier fake journal "scandal"...

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed to rebeccaljames

19 June 2009 - haven't heard from rebeccaljames; PM'd her a few days ago to ask for an update on the book.

I received this a while ago. I will mail this out soon. Thank you for sharing.

This book is being mailed out tomorrow.

This just arrived today. I already adore the little mouse on the cover. I'll probably start reading this tonight. Thanks, Becca and Dave!

Almost finished!

I'm sending a PM to the next participant tonight. I should have the book on its way within the next few days.

EDIT: I finished this a few days ago, and I have to admit that I was expecting something a little more, uh, scientific! I just wasn't impressed with this one, but thank you for the chance to read it, anyway.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'll be dropping this in the mail today. Happy Bookcrossing, everyone!

Received today. This is one of two rings to arrive today, and I had another arrive on Friday, but this book will go on the top of the TBR stack.

Thanks for including me!

Checking in: I'm a little more than halfway through this - call it 5/8 maybe? I'm finding it quite interesting, but it requires a bit more concentration than my usual reads - this guy wants me to actually think?!

Unfortunately my life has way too much work in it between now and September 30 - which is seriously cutting into my reading time (left work at 8:30 tonight). There just aren't enough hours in the day, so I'm getting through this book a bit more slowly than I'd hoped.

I'll keep you posted on my progress, and if you decide it's taking me too long, give me a nudge and I'll send the book to the next person...

I'd never heard of "Brain Gym" before...what a concept!

This book is one of those that should be read by a lot more people; thanks for sending it traveling so I could be one of them.

I'm still trying to decide if I want to get a copy to give away - the key is whether or not that person will really read it.

Meanwhile, I've gotten bookguide's address and will be sending Bad Science on its way soon so that it can infect someone else with science. :p

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Mailing to bookguide today.

Points for packaging and covering the envelope with beautiful stamps, 10 out of 10, Hyphen8! It makes it all the more worthwhile when it takes a bit of a struggle to get in and find out what the book is inside;-) Thank you for the lovely postcard of a verdant waterfall in Hawaii - what a place to live. I'm looking forward to reading it, but (surprise, surprise!), several other ring books have elbowed their way in first, so I can't promise it will be within a month, especially if I have to think to understand it. I will read it in the coming two months, though. If you'd like to know where it is in my reading planning, look on my shelf.

This book was excellent, and changed my views about, for example, vitamin pills. I feel guilty that I buy them and then forget to take them, or just don't buy them at all, and 'Bad Science' has convinced me that I don't need to anyway, as the proof just isn't statistically sound. Relief all round! I've always been very interested in health and diet, and was brought up watching programmes such as 'Tomorrow's World', and used to subscribe to 'New Scientist', so I feel that I have a better than average understanding of scientific thinking, although without any scientific training beyong O-level (aged 16). I agree entirely with the following: "This process of professionalising the obvious fosters a sense of mystery around science, and health advice, which is unnecessary and destructive. More than anything, more than the unnecessary ownership of the obvious, it is disempowering. All too often this spurious privatisation of common sense is happening in areas where we could be taking control, doing it ourselves, feeling our own potency and our ability to make sensible decisions; instead we are fostering our dependence on expensive outside sysems and people." (p.19) So true, and it does often shock me how people are at the mercy of dumbed-down headlines in the press, and how often the medical profession or researchers apparently announce that a certain food causes cancer or protects against it. When one realises that such research may be based on a tiny sample, it makes a mockery of such claims. I was particularly shocked to discover that the much-vaunted fish-oil supplement tests in Durham schools, which has caused so many of my contemporaries to spend small fortunes in capsules for their children, turns out to have very little basis in science. All Dr. Robert Winston's fault that it became so well-known, as he championed it in one of his TV programmes!

The book also made me chuckle to myself, for example when it points out that "surveys... say that doctors are the most trusted of all public figures, and journalists are the least trusted, but that doesn't seem to be the lesson from the media's MMR hoax"! (p.76) I enjoyed both the content and the style of the book, and I shall be looking out for Ben Goldacre's columns in the future, and visiting the website www.badscience.net.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

'Bad Science' is winging its way to fellow Bookcrossing Monopoly participant Vekiki. Hope you enjoy it, and thank you to DaveMurray101 for making it a ring.


This book has been released as part of the following BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - read and release books, with extra points for a monthly theme
- Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) - read and release books on the TBR list since before Jan. 2010. My reading goal is 75 books.
- Pages Read Challenge - read a self-set target number of pages in 2010. My goal is 24,000.
- Set It Yourself Challenge

Why are bookrays like buses?
Because you get nothing for months then two come along at once!

But I shouldnt be too long with this, I'm really looking forward to reading it.

Thankyou bookguide for posting it to me (and great stamps from you too... I save them as one of my BC buddies gives them to her grandson) - and yes, I would love to catch some of WistfulDragon's book, I even went hunting for one, but without success. I'm even more eager now though as my team has slipped into second place this week :( so hopefully I will be a better hunter in the future!

An interesting one.

Most of the concepts were things I have come across before or already deduced for myself. However, the illustratory examples were well choosen and interesting, and a fair few of them I hadnt encountered before. Goldacre has a very 'readable' style - he explains things in a way that makes them understandable, without being patronising, and he is very funny, I was laughing aloud on the train reading this.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone with a layman's interest in science.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm gonna give this to my Sister-in-law (to be)- I know she likes science-y stuff and I think she'll be interested to read this.

My Sister in law had read this and left it at my parents house for me, but without telling me! Oh well, I found it while i was there... and I'm sending it off as a RABCK

In the post and away across the irish sea...

Thanks Vekiki for this wishlist book and for the socks.