Bad Science

"A much-needed book. Ben Goldacre shows us—with hysterical wit—how to separate the scam artists from real science." —Timothy Ferriss, #1 New York Times–bestselling author

Have you ever wondered how one day the media can assert that alcohol is bad for us and the next unashamedly run a story touting the benefits of daily alcohol consumption? Or how a drug that is pulled off the market for causing heart attacks ever got approved in the first place? How can average readers, who aren't medical doctors or PhDs in biochemistry, tell what they should be paying attention to and what's, well, just more bullshit?

Ben Goldacre has made a point of exposing quack doctors and nutritionists, bogus credentialing programs, and biased scientific studies. He has also taken the media to task for its willingness to throw facts and proof out the window. But he's not here just to tell you what's wrong. Goldacre is here to teach you how to evaluate placebo effects, double-blind studies, and sample sizes, so that you can recognize bad science when you see it. You're about to feel a whole lot better.

"Ben Goldacre lucidly, and irreverently, debunks a frightening amount of pseudoscience, from cosmetics to dietary supplements to alternative medicine." —Sandeep Jauhar, New York Times–bestselling author of Doctored

"Smart, funny, clear, unflinching: Ben Goldacre is my hero. Bad Science should be kicking up the dust on every high school science curriculum in America." —Mary Roach, New York Times–bestselling author of Bonk

"An invaluable tool for anybody who wants to protect themselves from the snake oil salesmen of the twenty-first century." —Simon Singh, national bestselling author of The Code Book