LEADER 04282nam 2200649Ia 450 001 9910819579003321 005 20230124183406.0 010 $a1-282-53136-0 010 $a9786612531361 010 $a1-4008-2877-5 024 7 $a10.1515/9781400828777 035 $a(CKB)2520000000007020 035 $a(EBL)485799 035 $a(OCoLC)614020002 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000429144 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11282369 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000429144 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10430243 035 $a(PQKB)10959916 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC485799 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse43048 035 $a(DE-B1597)453667 035 $a(OCoLC)979576980 035 $a(DE-B1597)9781400828777 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL485799 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10367269 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL253136 035 $a(EXLCZ)992520000000007020 100 $a20100401d2008 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|n|---||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aSuperstition $ebelief in the age of science /$fRobert L. Park 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aPrinceton $cPrinceton University Press$dc2008 215 $a1 online resource (241 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 $a0-691-13355-7 311 $a0-691-14597-0 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $tFrontmatter -- $tContents -- $tIntroduction: Lessons from a tree -- $tCHAPTER ONE. A Bigger Prize: In which we discover scientists of faith -- $tCHAPTER TWO. The Secret of Life: In which Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection survives -- $tCHAPTER THREE. Miracle at Columbia: In which both sides pray for victory -- $tCHAPTER FOUR. Giving Up the Ghost: In which we search for the soul -- $tCHAPTER FIVE. The Silent Army: In which we search for an afterlife -- $tCHAPTER SIX. The Tsunami God: In which the innocent suffer -- $tCHAPTER SEVEN. The New Age: In which anything goes -- $tCHAPTER EIGHT. Schrödinger's Grave: In which quantum mysticism is found to be superstition -- $tCHAPTER NINE. The Barbary Duck: In which the body heals itself -- $tCHAPTER TEN. The Deer. In which the placebo effect is explained -- $tCHAPTER ELEVEN. The Moral Law: In which we instinctively know right from wrong -- $tCHAPTER TWELVE. The Last Butterfly. In which there is no place else to go -- $tBibliography -- $tIndex 330 $aFrom uttering a prayer before boarding a plane, to exploring past lives through hypnosis, has superstition become pervasive in contemporary culture? Robert Park, the best-selling author of Voodoo Science, argues that it has. In Superstition, Park asks why people persist in superstitious convictions long after science has shown them to be ill-founded. He takes on supernatural beliefs from religion and the afterlife to New Age spiritualism and faith-based medical claims. He examines recent controversies and concludes that science is the only way we have of understanding the world. Park sides with the forces of reason in a world of continuing and, he fears, increasing superstition. Chapter by chapter, he explains how people too easily mistake pseudoscience for science. He discusses parapsychology, homeopathy, and acupuncture; he questions the existence of souls, the foundations of intelligent design, and the power of prayer; he asks for evidence of reincarnation and astral projections; and he challenges the idea of heaven. Throughout, he demonstrates how people's blind faith, and their confidence in suspect phenomena and remedies, are manipulated for political ends. Park shows that science prevails when people stop fooling themselves. Compelling and precise, Superstition takes no hostages in its quest to provoke. In shedding light on some very sensitive--and Park would say scientifically dubious--issues, the book is sure to spark discussion and controversy. 606 $aReligion and science 606 $aSuperstition 615 0$aReligion and science. 615 0$aSuperstition. 676 $a215 700 $aPark$b Robert L$043852 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910819579003321 996 $aSuperstition$94077991 997 $aUNINA