Steven Novella et al. - The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: How to Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake

In his 1995 book The Demon-Haunted World, the great Carl Sagan prophesied a descent into superstition and ignorance. Well, that world has arrived. Fortunately, Steve Novella and his coauthors are here to help us navigate it with critical thinking and scientifically appropriate skepticism, along the way exposing the anti-science and pseudoscience so prevalent in our public discourse today.

Michael Mann, distinguished professor, Penn State University, and coauthor of The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy

Steve and the gang have done it again. The Skeptics Guide to the Universe is the best and most popular podcast on science and skepticism out there (I am honored to have been their first guest!). And now this book is the best, soon to be the most popular, guide to whats really real, so far as we can tell.

Massimo Pigliucci, K. D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York and author of Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk

Theres nothing more riveting, nor more frightening, than the economy-size ability of the citizenry to embrace unscientific explanations for puzzling events. We hardly blink when ordinary folk are seduced by easy-to-graspif wrongexplanations. But we should be alarmed. The science may be pseudo, but the grievous consequences are real. Steven Novella and his colleagues offer a fascinating collection of the many contemporary phenomena now ascribed to mysterious or even conspiratorial causes. For those who want to know, not merely believe, this book is an essential read. Its also a great one.

Seth Shostak, senior astronomer, SETI Institute

Using examples ranging from Monty Python to Monty Hall, The Skeptics Guide to the Universe offers the first ever page-turner that teaches you how to think clearly.

Paul A. Offit, MD, author of Bad Advice: Or Why Celebrities, Politicians, and Activists Arent Your Best Source of Health Information

If everyone in the world were to read this book, we might just arrest humankinds depressing slide into truthlessness. Someone should put The Skeptics Guide on the vaccination schedule.

Tim Minchin, musician/comedian

Our lack of critical thinking skills and embarrassing scientific illiteracy are among the most critical issues of our time. We are drowning in a sea of myths, lies, deceptions, fakes, and superstitions. We are inundated and surrounded by pseudoscience and illogic. We have lost our way. The timing couldnt be better for the publication of a brilliant new book, The Skeptics Guide to the Universe. Its a friendly, comprehensive, clear, and direct guide to these pressing issues and guess what its a hell of a lot of fun to read.

Dean Edell, MD, host of the Dr. Dean Edell Show and author of Eat, Drink & Be Merry

Reads like a dream: casual, occasionally irreverent, full of great anecdotes and humor but ultimately a well-researched and authoritative account of the vagaries of human folly and foolishness.

Bruce Hood, author of SuperSense, The Self Illusion, and Possessed

If theres one thing we all need in these confusing and stressful times, it is clear thinking and accurate appraisals of the information flooding our senses. Thankfully, this book gives to the reader precisely the tools needed to bring this about. The Skeptics Guide to the Universe is an essential resource for a lifetime of critical thinking and analysis.

Michael Whelan, award-winning artist and author of The Art of Michael Whelan and Beyond Science Fiction

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another which states that this has already happened.

Douglas Adams

Spock lied to me.

And it wasnt just Spock (well, actually Leonard Nimoy as the host of the popular but dubious TV show In Search of) who lied but the media, journalists, corporations, politicians, salespeople, and just about every adult and authority figure in my life. Some were deliberately lying, while others were fudging the truth for what they thought was a good purpose. Most, however, were simply mistaken, misinformed, or self-deluded and were spreading what they assumed was the truth but were just the lies others had told them.