Discarded Science: Ideas That Seemed Good at the Time...

John Grant's comprehensive tome puts under his investigative spotlight a wide range of misinformation that was commonly accepted as fact throughout history. Whether it be faulty reckoning within the scientific community, science fiction that somehow has become accepted by gullable romantics as science "fact" (alien visitation, lost worlds, etc.), old wives' tales ("popular fallacy" -- see the chapter, "Us... or Something Like It"), or perverted science as created and professed by reactionary politicians and religious zealots, Mr. Grant spares no sensitivities in separating fact from fallacious belief. This was a most enjoyable and enlightening read. I recommend it to all who are willing to consider with logic the research contained therein.

I love science-for-the-layman histories and have a shelf of them, from Richard Feynman's autobiography to Ed Regis's multiple bios in his survey of physicists, "Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition: Science Slightly Over the Edge" (1991). Morever, I enjoy popular science in many genres - books about biology, astronomy, paleontology, natural history, ethology, human psychology and physiology - such as Leslie Brothers's 2001 "Friday's Footprint: How Society Shapes the Human Mind," John McCrone's "The Ape that Spoke" (1991) and "The Myth of Irrationality: The Science of the Mind from Plato to Star Trek" (1994), Colin Tudge's "The Tree: A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live, and Why They Matter" (2006), Frans de Waal's "The Ape and the Sushi Master: Cultural Reflections of a Primatologist" (2002), and so many more. I could list more titles, but I've mentioned the above for the benefit of those interested in particular disciplines. John Grant has written a delightful study of debunked and outdated theories and beliefs. "Discarded Science" will fascinate everyone from high school readers to adults who retain a youthful sense of wonder, not to mention a sense of humor. Grant has composed his history of science gone awry as partly biographical, partly chronological, entirely informative and highly entertaining. As a librarian, I recommend this for all libraries.

Grant travels through the history of wrong science and gets it right at every turn. With his slyly sardonic wit sneaking to the fore, Grant turns what could easily have been a dry subject into a lively thought-provoker. Loved every word.

DISCARDED SCIENCE is a bargain. For ten bucks the reader gains a historical perspective on scientific ideas that have proven to be wrong. Some of them, such as phlogiston (a substance that causes fire) were considered scientifically valid for decades or even centuries. Others, such as the European UFO cult the Raelians, have never been taken seriously except by the cult's adherents. John Grant neatly divides his attractive hardcover into six general categories, including "Worlds in Upheaval," "Lost Worlds, Lost People, Lost Creatures," "Survival of the Brightest," "Aliens Among Us," "Hard Science," and "Us . . . Or Something Like Us." These categories are further subdivided into user-friendly, illustrated chapters that examine everything outre from Atlantis to the Zetetic Society. The writing is lucid and at times very funny. DISCARDED SCIENCE is the best non-fiction book I've read in ages. It's entertaining and very informative, and the price is more than reasonable. I highly recommend it for those interested in science, or for those who want to educate themselves about the history of scientific folly.