Corrupted Science

In Discarded Science, John Grant took a fascinating look at all the things science got wrong through the centuries. But at least those were honest mistakes. Grant’s equally absorbing follow-up examines something more sinister: deliberate hoaxes and frauds. He takes us through a rogue’s gallery that features faked creatures, palaeontological trickery, false psychics, and miracle cures that aren’t so miraculous. See how ideology, religion, and politics have imposed themselves on science throughout history, from the Catholic Church’s influence on cosmology to Nazi racist pseudoscience to the Bush Administration’s attempt to deny climate change. The themes, while entertaining as ever, are serious and timely.