RationalWiki:Bookshelf
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*Feder, Kenneth, ''Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology''. This one is often used in actual archaeology courses. | *Feder, Kenneth, ''Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology''. This one is often used in actual archaeology courses. | ||
*Fisher, David Hackett, ''Historians' Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought''. The first section of the book is basically an encyclopedia of logical fallacies using examples from historical and [[pseudohistory|pseudohistorical]] works to illustrate each one. The rest of the book is more specific to the fields of history and historiography. | *Fisher, David Hackett, ''Historians' Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought''. The first section of the book is basically an encyclopedia of logical fallacies using examples from historical and [[pseudohistory|pseudohistorical]] works to illustrate each one. The rest of the book is more specific to the fields of history and historiography. | ||
| + | *Rodda, Chris, ''[[Liars for Jesus|Liars for Jesus: The Religious Right's Alternate Version of American History]]''. Debunks the most common myths surrounding the claim that the United States were conceived of as a [[The_United_States_as_a_Christian_nation|"Christian Nation"]]. Now available as a free download. | ||
*Stannard, David E., ''Shrinking History: On the Fraud and Failure of Psychohistory''. A debunking of the fringe field of psychohistory, a fusion of history with Freudian psychoanalysis. (Not to be confused with the fictional version found in Isaac Asimov's literature.) | *Stannard, David E., ''Shrinking History: On the Fraud and Failure of Psychohistory''. A debunking of the fringe field of psychohistory, a fusion of history with Freudian psychoanalysis. (Not to be confused with the fictional version found in Isaac Asimov's literature.) | ||
Revision as of 06:58, 6 May 2011
There are many classic books on skepticism and rational thinking. This page lists our favorites.
General skepticism
- Carroll, Robert Todd, The Skeptic's Dictionary. A collection of essays debunking pseudoscience and superstition put into book format, taken from the website.
- Frankfurt, Harry, On Bullshit. A philosophical definition and exploration of bovine excrement.
- Gardner, Martin, Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (Dover Publications, 1956). One of the first great skeptical works in American English, and surprisingly relevant given how much of what he wrote about fifty-plus years ago is still poking around in some degenerate form or another.
- Randi, James:
- Flim-Flam!
- The Faith Healers
- The Truth about Uri Geller
- Sagan, Carl, Many of his works, but particularly The Demon-Haunted World, his last.
- Shermer, Michael, Why People Believe Weird Things. Less oriented toward psychology and more toward cataloging and debunking pseudoscience, crankery, and cult movements than the title would suggest.
Astronomy
Plait, Phil, Bad Astronomy.
Atheism and religion
See the main article on this topic: Atheism faq
Biology, evolution, and creationism
- Brockman, John (editor), Intelligent Thought: Science versus the Intelligent Design Movement. A collection of essays debunking Intelligent Design.
- Dawkins, Richard:
- The Blind Watchmaker. The case for the evolutionary paradigm and life without a designer.
- Climbing Mount Improbable. Evolution, probability, and debunking creationism.
- Isaak, Mark. The Counter-Creationism Handbook. A collection of creationist talking points and refutations.
- Gould, Stephen Jay:
- The Mismeasure of Man. A debunking of racial pseudosciences.
- The Panda's Thumb. A collection of essays on evolution, critical thinking, and misconceptions related to evolution.
- Scott, Eugenie:
- Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction
- Not in Our Classrooms (with Glenn Branch)
Conspiracy theories
- Hofstadter, Richard, The Paranoid Style in American Politics. Traces popular conspiracy theories among the wingnut set from the nation's earliest days (Freemasonry, Illuminati, and anti-Catholicism) to when it was written in the 1950s (McCarthyism, the John Birch Society).
- Knight, Peter (editor), Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia.
Economics
- Ariely, Dan, Predictably Irrational. Application of research on cognitive biases in psychology to everyday economic decisions.
- Keen, Steve, Debunking Economics. An overview and critique of the major schools of economics of the 20th century.
- Krugman, Paul, Peddling Prosperity. Differentiates what he calls "policy entrepreneurs" (read: economic snake oil peddlers) from academic economists and debunks claims from both liberal and conservative "entrepreneurs," though takes special aim at supply-siders.
- Mandelbrot, Benoit and Richard L. Hudson. The (Mis)Behavior of Markets. The creator of fractal geometry applies it to critique modern finance theory.
- Taleb, Nicholas Nassim:
- Fooled by Randomness. More application of cognitive biases to economics, this time to econometric models and stock market forecasting.
- Black Swan
Global warming and denialism
- Bradley, Raymond S., Global Warming and Political Intimidation. A debunking of denialist talking points and documentation of the interplay between politics and science.
- Oreskes, Naomi and Erik M. Conway, Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. Focuses on global warming denial and compares it to earlier campaigns (which used many of the same experts for hire) to deny the link between cancer and smoking, the hole in the ozone layer, and acid rain.
History, pseudohistory, and pseudoarchaeology
- Fagan, Garrett (editor), Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public. What it says on the tin. Includes essays by multiple scholars.
- Finkelstein, Israel and Neil A. Silberman, The Bible Unearthed. A look at Old Testament archaeology which debunks good chunks of the Bible and biblical pseudoarchaeology along the way.
- Feder, Kenneth, Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology. This one is often used in actual archaeology courses.
- Fisher, David Hackett, Historians' Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought. The first section of the book is basically an encyclopedia of logical fallacies using examples from historical and pseudohistorical works to illustrate each one. The rest of the book is more specific to the fields of history and historiography.
- Rodda, Chris, Liars for Jesus: The Religious Right's Alternate Version of American History. Debunks the most common myths surrounding the claim that the United States were conceived of as a "Christian Nation". Now available as a free download.
- Stannard, David E., Shrinking History: On the Fraud and Failure of Psychohistory. A debunking of the fringe field of psychohistory, a fusion of history with Freudian psychoanalysis. (Not to be confused with the fictional version found in Isaac Asimov's literature.)
Math and statistics
- Best, Joel. Damned Lies and Statistics. Detailing the abuse of statistics in the media.
- Paulos, John Allen:
- Innumeracy. A look at the pitfalls of being mathematically illiterate, or "innumerate."
- A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper. A further look at innumeracy in popular media.
Medicine, alternative medicine, and quackery
- Goldacre, Ben, Bad Science. Dismantles a lot of Big Pharma shilling and alt med quackery.
Psychology, the cognitive sciences, and pseudo-psychology
- Brown, Derren, Tricks of the Mind. A con man reveals his tricks. Also touches on religion and evangelical Christianity.
- Burton, Robert A., On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not. Psychological research on cognitive biases, but with a concentration on the neuroscientific side of things. Also relates this research to beliefs in religion and creationism as well as making a case for a skeptical perspective.
- Chabris, Christopher and Daniel Simons. The Invisible Gorilla. Explains the failings of intuition and sensory perception.
- Hood, Bruce. Supersense. More neuroscience and psychology of superstition.
- Gilovich, Thomas, How What We Know Isn't So. Looks at psychological research (along with some original research) on cognitive biases and applies it to pseudoscientific and crank ideas, especially ESP. Quick read as well.
- Loftus, Elizabeth (with Katherine Ketcham):
- The Myth of Repressed Memory. Debunking of Freudian notions of repressed memory and quack recovered memory therapies.
- Witness for the Defense. Explains processes of confabulation and debunks claims surrounding the Satanic Panic of the '80s as well as recounting Loftus' courtroom testimonies.
- Schacter, Daniel, The Seven Sins of Memory. Explains the ways in which memory can be unreliable and lead to false beliefs.
- Vyse, Stuart. Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition. Similar to Gilovich's work, but concentrates more on psychosocial aspects of superstition.
Social commentary, politics, and skepticism
- Mencken, H.L.:
- A Mencken Chrestomathy. A collection of essays, mostly social commentary, but also includes a number of criticisms of popular pseudosciences, quackery (especially chiropractic), myths, and academic fads of Mencken's time.
- A Religious Orgy in Tennessee: A Reporter's Account of the Scopes Monkey Trial. Collection of Mencken's columns on the Scopes Trial.
- Treatise on the Gods. Mencken tears into religion.
- Mooney, Chris. The Republican War on Science.
- Pierce, Charles, Idiot America. Interesting since it rather successfully applies the same sort of skeptical razor to US politics rather than science.
- Specter, Michael. Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives.