Skip to main content

Book review: Bad Science and I Used to Know That- History

Product Details
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre.
I whizzed through this book, which was actually quite entertaining, as well as thought-provoking. Essentially, he explains the 'bad science' behind alternative remedies/medicine, the dubious credentials of some famous providers of health and nutritional advice, and discusses the media storm around healthcare stories, such as the MMR vaccine's link (or not, as it turned out) to autism.

I felt like I was already vaguely familiar with a lot of the information on how scientific research is conducted (although the last time I did anything even close a scientific experiment was about 10 years ago, at A-Level) but there was a lot that I have forgotten, or was not familiar with in such depth. This was a very accessible book, which didn't treat the reader as stupid. It has given me a healthy suspicion of health/science stories as reported in the media...I suppose I always thought there were a lot of dubious/exaggerated stories which may have misunderstood the science, but now I will be reading Ben Goldacre's website and this website, mentioned in the book, to have a look at the research myself and hopefully make up my own mind. I am looking forward to being more informed about these topics!

 Product Details
I Used to Know That- History by Emma Marriott
Despite having a history degree, I sometimes feel that I have large gaps in my historical knowledge, particularly when it comes to modern history. This book aimed to give an overview of history (albeit from a British/European perspective). Due to my patchy knowledge, it became more useful the further into it I read, and I think it was quite good at showing how the 'headlines' of history fitted together.
One issue that I had with this book in Kindle format was that what were probably well laid out information boxes in the print version became jumbled up in the Kindle version, so I found that I was jumping between the main paragraph and the 'detail' box- annoying!

I seem to be getting through the Kindle books quite speedily (and making slow progress on the print books- if only the print books would hold themselves open whilst I knit!). Next up is 'A Brief History of the Third Reich'- bought in an attempt to fill in my knowledge gaps, I think!

Comments

  1. Anonymous2 December 2013 at 11:49

    Hi Nicola, I really liked Bad Science, and as you probably know, the author also wrote Bad Pharma, which I haven't read yet. I would benefit from reading the history book - having no degree in history, my gaps are yawning chasms! BTW, from one of your previous posts, I have heard of that snail book and I think I would like it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NicolaB2 December 2013 at 18:47

      I think Bad Pharma will be on my list to read once I have got through my backlog! I wonder if our local library has it digitally..hmm!
      The snail book was quite calming, in an odd way- I think the slow pace of the snail filtered through whilst I was reading.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2014 aims and review of 2013 aims

After all of the Christmas feasting (the fridge is still full of cheese, and sprouts that didn't get cooked), and despite the first cold of the winter, I am feeling the urge to get cracking with some projects, and finish up all of those little lingering jobs that I've been putting off. One of those is to work out what I am aiming to achieve this year...and this is what I have come up with: - complete first module of C&G knitting course and start second. Save enough money to pay the course fees for the whole course. - donate 2% (minimum) of earnings to charity. I am planning to donate at the end of each month, and to donate to a variety of causes, local, international, animals, people, conservation- hopefully a wide variety. - read down the house- I'd like to read 12 books this year, which would leave quite a few books unread. But it'd be nice to establish the habit of reading again. - reduce stash of knitting yarn from just under 40,000 metres to under 30,000 m...
10 comments
Read more

A book at bedtime

I used to read a lot when I was a child/teenager. We'd go to the town library, I'd check out the full allowance of books (which I think was 8, but may have increased to 12 later on) and by the next time we went back to the library (probably the following week), I'd have read them all. Now that I have to do things like go to work, feed myself, wash clothes etc etc, I probably don't read that many books in a year. (Although I do read the newspaper on my Kindle most days).  This may also be influenced by the fact that if I really get in to a book I find it hard to tear myself away from it to do anything else, such as sleep, and end up knackered and living in a bit of a mess. (Moderation...what's that?! So rather than watching stuff on BBC iPlayer at bedtime, I am going to start reading, but limit myself to 10.30pm lights out to try and impose this 'moderation' thing on myself. (If I am really tired or it is a boring book, I may fall asleep with book on face, a...
6 comments
Read more

Belated round-up

Having just re-read my 2014 aims post , and noticed that I intended to write a monthly round up of my progress, I thought it was about time for, err, a three-and-a-half monthly progress summary! - C&G knitting course- I have made slow progress on this- although slow is better than none! I have at least written out a giant list of what I need to do to finish the module so that I can have the satisfaction of ticking things off said list. I've knitted a few more samples and written up the notes on them. I think I need to focus more on this aim, if I am to actually finish the module this year. I seem to have a bit of mental block about it though, and I am not sure why. - donate 2% of earnings to charity. I have been doing this, although more by sponsoring people for the London Marathon and joining the National Trust than by picking a charity each month and donating to it, which is what I originally envisaged. I am wondering if donating less often, say every six months, would b...
3 comments
Read more