Weird water & fuzzy logic : more notes of a fringe watcher

270 Pages·1996·6.983 MB·English

by  Gardner, Martin, Gardner, Martin, Gardner, Martin

a Fringe Watcher
WEIRD WATER
& FUZZY LOGIC
Martin G
a r d n
Author ofScience: Good, Badand
WEIRD PATER
\>
& FUZZY
|f
NeverbeforehasAmericaneducationinsci-
encesunksolow,orthefloodofbooksabout
bogussciencerisensohigh.Booksdiscredit-
ingtheparanormalareoutnumberedbythose
promotingastrology,angels,parapsychology,
bizarreformsofmedicineandhealing,the
propheciesofNostradamus,thesecretsof
theGreatPyramid,attacksonevolution,and
scoresofsimilarfollies.MartinGardneris
amongthosesciencewriterswhobelievethat
thistideofirrationalityneedstobestemmed
byinformedwriting.
ForyearsGardnerhasauthoredthe
“NotesofaFringeWatcher”columnfor
SkepticalInquirermagazine.WeirdWaterand
FuzzyLogic:MoreNotesofaFringeWatcheris
acollectionofGardner’scolumns,towhich
areaddedthirtyrecentreviewsofbooksthat
dealwithscience,philosophy,theology,and
theparanormal.
Thecollectionrangeswidelyoverboth
goodandbadscience.Thereaderwillbe
introducedtomind-wrenchingprobabili-
typaradoxesandthesurprisingsuccessof
MarianneWilliamsoninpromotingACourse
inMiracles,claimedtohavebeenchanneled
byJesus.Otherentertainingcolumnscover
E-Prime,alanguagethatomitsallformsof
theverb“tobe”;NormanVincentPeale’s
naivebeliefsintheparanormal;thefakere-
pressedmemorytherapythatissendinghun-
dredsofinnocentparentsandteachersto
prison;scienceblundersbyfamouswriters;
thedeplorableinfluenceofTranscendental
MeditationonthecareerofmagicianDoug
Henning;Klingonandotherartificiallan-
guages;andmuchmore.
rrwi+iwimslm

WEIRD WATER
& FUZZY LOGIC
More Notes ofa Fringe Watcher
Martin Gardner
AuthorofScience:Good, BadandBogus
PrometheusBooks
59JohnGlennDrive
Amherst,NewYork 14228-2197
Published1996byPrometheusBooks
WeirdWaterandFuzzyLogic:MoreNotesofaFringeWatcher.
Copyright©1996byMartinGardner
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedina
retrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,
photocopying,recording,orotherwise,withoutpriorwrittenpermissionofthepub-
lisher,exceptinthecaseofbriefquotationsembodiedincriticalarticlesorreviews.
InquiriesshouldbeaddressedtoPrometheusBooks,59JohnGlennDrive,Amherst,
NewYork14228-2197,716-691-0133-FAX:[phone].
0099989796 54321
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Gardner,Martin,1914-
Weirdwaterandfuzzylogic:morenotesofafringewatcher/Martin
Gardner.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN1—57392—096—7(cloth:alk.paper)
I.Title.
AC8—.G335 1996
081 dc20 96-31113
CIP
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericaonacid-freepaper.
CONTENTS
SKEPTICALINQUIRERCOLUMNS
1. ProbabilityParadoxes 11
2. BigBangIsAliveandWell 23
3. MarianneWilliamsonandACourseinMiracles 29
4. MargaretMead’sGreatSamoanHoax 38
5. E-Prime:GettingRidofIsness 51
6. RMT:RepressedMemoryTherapy 63
7. WeirdWater,orH2Oh! 75
8. PealeismandtheParanormal 83
9. TheCultoftheGoldenRatio 90
10. EyelessVisionandGod 98
11. TheTragediesofFalseMemories 104
12. LiteraryScienceBlunders 117
13. Sciencevs.Beauty? 131
14. DougHenningandtheGigglingGuru 140
15. KlingonandOtherArtificialLanguages 147
16. FuzzyLogic 155
BOOKREVIEWS
17. FromHeretoInfinity 167
18. HowScienceWorksandFails 169
19. TheFaithofThreeScientists 172
5
6 WeirdWater&FuzzyLogic
20. SpeculationsofFreemanDyson 175
21. SheldonGlashowonScienceandSuperstrings 178
22. HeinzPagelsonMindsandComputers 181
23. SymmetryfromAtoZee 184
24. MathematicalBreakthroughs 186
25. Technology’sAwesomeMarch 193
26. ToPlutoandBeyond 195
27. AstronomersandGod 198
28. ReadingtheMindofNobody 201
29. IsWesternCultureVanishing? 203
30. Pencils 206
31. AllanSandage’sCosmology 209
32. TheMysteryofConsciousness 212
33. IsThereaGod? 216
34. TheWorldofStephenJayGould 219
35. IncredibleRamanujan 222
36. HowtoMakeaPPO 225
37. ArcheologicalCrankery 228
38. JosephCampbell,“Racist” 231
39. InformationTheoryandtheUniverse 237
40. MathematicalBeautyandCertainty 240
41. MoreSpeculationsofFreemanDyson 242
42. RichardFeynman,Magician 245
43. IstheSecondComingComing? 248
44. DoHumansSpontaneouslyCombust? 252
45. WillScienceDiscoverEverything? 255
46. TunnelsoftheMind 258