How Do You Know It's True?: Discovering the Difference Between Science & Superstition
by Hy Ruchlis, Hyman Ruchlis
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Book Summary Information
Author: Hy Ruchlis, Hyman RuchlisEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-08
ISBN: 0879756578
Number of pages: 112
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Book Reviews of How Do You Know It's True?: Discovering the Difference Between Science & Superstition
Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 2 Stars
I was hoping to get a great book for my 10-year-old daughter on the difference between science and superstition, but I was pretty disappointed by this book.
The first section of the book is quite ranty in tone, which I didn't really care for. Astrology will fall down all by itself when subjected to scrutiny; there's no need to yell about it. I felt that the tone detracted from the objective stance I hoped for, and even made the author seem a bit insecure about his position.
My real complaint, however, is about the second section, when Ruchlis tries to describe how Renaissance science got rid of older, incorrect ideas about a flat Earth and geocentric universe. He must not have checked his facts too well, because this science teacher believes the long-discredited Myth of the Flat Earth. (You can look it up on Wikipedia for a good summary.) Aristotle accepted the idea of a spherical earth, and Eratosthenes measured its circumference in 240 BC. Throughout the classical and medieval eras, educated people knew that the Earth is a sphere, and they had a good idea of how large it is. Ruchlis also, in my opinion, does not do a good job of describing the debate over the geocentric vs. heliocentric models of the solar system (for one thing, geocentrists did not believe that God had created the universe solely for us, nor that Earth was the most important thing in it--and Ruchlis fails to note that the Pope was quite sympathetic to Galileo until Galileo publicly insulted him in his written debate).
I did quite appreciate the last section, where Ruchlis reminds us that we stand on the shoulders of giants. I will still have my daughter read this book--but we'll be discussing the errors it contains! I suppose it does serve as a great lesson on how we always have to be careful about making mistakes and examining our thinking.
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