Introduction
PART I: Bad Astronomy Begins at Home
1. The Yolk's on You: Egg Balancing and the Equinox
2. Flushed with Embarrassment: The Coriolis Effect and Your Bathroom
3. Idiom's Delight: Bad Astronomy in Everyday Language
PART II: From the Earth to the Moon
4. Blue Skies Smiling at Me: Why the Sky Is Blue
5. A Dash of Seasons: Why Summer Turns to Fall
6. Phase the Nation: The Moon's Changing Face
7. The Gravity of the Situation: The Moon and the Tides
8. The Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie: The Big Moon Illusion
PART III: Skies at Night Are Big and Bright
9. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star: Why Stars Appear to Twinkle
10. Star Light, Star White: Stars of Many Colors
11. Well, Well: The Difficulty of Daylight Star Sighting
12. The Brightest Star: Polaris-Just Another Face in the Crowd
13. Shadows in the Sky: Eclipses and Sun-Watching
14. The Disaster that Wasn't: The Great Planetary Alignment of 2000
15. Meteors, Meteoroids, and Meteorites, Oh My!: The Impact of Meteors and Asteroids
16. When the Universe Throws You a Curve: Misunderstanding the Beginning of It All
PART IV: Artificial Intelligence
17. Appalled at Apollo: Uncovering the Moon-Landing Hoax
18. Worlds in Derision: Velikovsky vs. Modern Science
19. In the Beginning: Creationism and Astronomy
20. Misidentified Flying Objects: UFOs and Illusions of the Mind and Eye
21. Mars Is in the Seventh House, But Venus Has Left the Building: Why Astrology Doesn't Work
PARTV: Beam Me Up
22. Hubble Trouble: Hubble Space Telescope Misconceptions
23. Star Hustlers: Star Naming for Dummies
24. Bad Astronomy Goes Hollywood: The Top-Ten Examples of Bad Astronomy in Major Motion Pictures
Recommended Reading.
Acknowledgments
Index
PHILIP PLAIT, Ph.D., works in the physics and astronomy department at Sonoma State University in California. He maintains the Web site badastronomy.com and writes monthly articles on astronomy for the German newspaper Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. His work has appeared in the Encyclopedia Britannica Yearbook of Science and the Future and Astronomy magazine. He also writes a monthly column for astronomy.com.
"Inspired by his popular web site, www. badastronomy.com, this
first book by Plait (astronomy, Sonoma State Univ.) debunks popular
myths and misconceptions relating to astronomy and promotes science
as a means of explaining our mysterious heavens. The work describes
24 common astronomical fallacies, including the beliefs that the
Coriolis effect determines the direction that water drains in a
bathtub and that planetary alignments can cause disaster on Earth.
The author sharply and convincingly dismisses astrology,
creationism, and UFO sightings and explains the principles behind
basic general concepts (the Big Bang, why the sky is blue, etc.).
Though some may find him strident, Plait succeeds brilliantly
because his clear and understandable explanations are convincing
and honest. This first volume in Wiley's 'Bad Science' series is
recommended for all libraries, especially astronomy and folklore
collections." Jeffrey Beall, Univ. of Colorado Lib., Denver
(Library Journal, March 15, 2002) "...everything's beautifully
explained. He gives the neatest explanation of tides I've ever
seen...for that alone, this book should be in every school library
on the planet." (New Scientist, 4 May 2002) "...the book might be a
better student introduction than many more sober tomes..." (Times
Higher Education Supplement, 7 June 2002) "Bad Astronomy is a book
which is both timely and welcome. I would recommend it without
hesitation, and I have no doubt that it will be widely read..."
(The Observatory, October 2002) For skeptics, always fans of
science: The first two books in a series devoted to "bad science,"
Bad Astronomy by Philip Plait and Bad Medicine (Wiley, $15.95) by
Christopher Wanjek, may warm even a Scrooge's heart. In short
chapters, Plait tackles misperceptions about why the moon looks
larger on the horizon and why stars twinkle before moving on,
dismantling conspiracy kooks who doubt the moon landing and
offering a top 10 list of bad science moments in movie history.
Wanjek, a science writer who has also written jokes for The Tonight
Show and Saturday Night Live, takes an edgy and funny tack in
debunking myths such as humans using only 10% of their brains, the
utility of "anti-bacterial" toys and the safety of "natural" herbal
remedies, ones often loaded with powerful chemicals. (USA TODAY,
December 3, 2002) "...a good read...Plait's book is readable,
entertaining, not exclusively for astronomers, and often very
funny..." (Astronomy & Space, June 2003) "...a great book to dip
into..." (Popular Astronomy, January 2004)
"Der Autor grenzt sich eindeutig und unmissverständlich von
Astrologie, Kreationismus und UFOlogie ab. "Der außerordentliche
Erfolg des Autors gründet sich auf klare und nachvollziehbare,
dabei ehrlich und überzeugend wirkende Erklärungen." Library
Journal
"Alles wird wunderbar erklärt - der Erklärung der Gezeiten ist in
der Tat die hübscheste, die ich jemals gesehen habe. "Schon aus
diesem Grund sollte das Werk in keiner Schulbücherei auf unserem
Planeten fehlen." New Scientist
"Dieses Buch könnte die Studenten besser in das Thema einführen als
viele andere, ernsthafter angelegte Wälzer." Times Higher Education
Supplement
"Bad Astronomy ist ein modernes und sehr willkommenes Buch. Ich
empfehle es ohne zu zögern und ich zweifle nicht, dass es einen
breiten Leserkreis finden wird." The Observatory
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