Pseudo-Science and Society in 19th-Century America

Pseudo-Science and Society in 19th-Century America

Author: Arthur Wrobel

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2021-10-21

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 0813186757

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Progressive nineteenth-century Americans believed firmly that human perfection could be achieved with the aid of modern science. To many, the science of that turbulent age appeared to offer bright new answers to life's age-old questions. Such a climate, not surprisingly, fostered the growth of what we now view as "pseudo-sciences"—disciplines delicately balancing a dubious inductive methodology with moral and spiritual concerns, disseminated with a combination of aggressive entrepreneurship and sheer entertainment. Such "sciences" as mesmerism, spiritualism, homoeopathy, hydropathy, and phrenology were warmly received not only by the uninformed and credulous but also by the respectable and educated. Rationalistic, egalitarian, and utilitarian, they struck familiar and reassuring chords in American ears and gave credence to the message of reformers that health and happiness are accessible to all. As the contributors to this volume show, the diffusion and practice of these pseudo-sciences intertwined with all the major medical, cultural, religious, and philosophical revolutions in nineteenth-century America. Hydropathy and particularly homoeopathy, for example, enjoyed sufficient respectability for a time to challenge orthodox medicine. The claims of mesmerists and spiritualists appeared to offer hope for a new moral social order. Daring flights of pseudo-scientific thought even ventured into such areas as art and human sexuality. And all the pseudo-sciences resonated with the communitarian and women's rights movements. This important exploration of the major nineteenth-century pseudo-sciences provides fresh perspectives on the American society of that era and on the history of the orthodox sciences, a number of which grew out of the fertile soil plowed by the pseudo-scientists.


Book Synopsis Pseudo-Science and Society in 19th-Century America by : Arthur Wrobel

Download or read book Pseudo-Science and Society in 19th-Century America written by Arthur Wrobel and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2021-10-21 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Progressive nineteenth-century Americans believed firmly that human perfection could be achieved with the aid of modern science. To many, the science of that turbulent age appeared to offer bright new answers to life's age-old questions. Such a climate, not surprisingly, fostered the growth of what we now view as "pseudo-sciences"—disciplines delicately balancing a dubious inductive methodology with moral and spiritual concerns, disseminated with a combination of aggressive entrepreneurship and sheer entertainment. Such "sciences" as mesmerism, spiritualism, homoeopathy, hydropathy, and phrenology were warmly received not only by the uninformed and credulous but also by the respectable and educated. Rationalistic, egalitarian, and utilitarian, they struck familiar and reassuring chords in American ears and gave credence to the message of reformers that health and happiness are accessible to all. As the contributors to this volume show, the diffusion and practice of these pseudo-sciences intertwined with all the major medical, cultural, religious, and philosophical revolutions in nineteenth-century America. Hydropathy and particularly homoeopathy, for example, enjoyed sufficient respectability for a time to challenge orthodox medicine. The claims of mesmerists and spiritualists appeared to offer hope for a new moral social order. Daring flights of pseudo-scientific thought even ventured into such areas as art and human sexuality. And all the pseudo-sciences resonated with the communitarian and women's rights movements. This important exploration of the major nineteenth-century pseudo-sciences provides fresh perspectives on the American society of that era and on the history of the orthodox sciences, a number of which grew out of the fertile soil plowed by the pseudo-scientists.

Pseudo-science and Society in Nineteenth-century America

Pseudo-science and Society in Nineteenth-century America

Author: Arthur Wrobel

Publisher:

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13:

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The 19th century was the golden age of many things, and pseudo-science was one of them. Nowhere was this more obviously the case than in America. If he shopped around, a 19th-century American could consult a psychographer or a hydropath or a magnetizer(in 1843, there were supposed to be more than 200 magnetizers - practitioners of mesmerism -in Boston alone). As soon as he had taken off his water girdle, he was free to put on his Heidelberg Electric Belt, and perhaps smoke an electric cigarette. He could read pamphlets explaining why husbands and wives ought to have sex once every two years, on a sunny day in August or September, between 11 A.M. and noon. These are only a few of the topics touched on in ''Pseudo-Science and Society in 19th-Century America,'' a new collection of essays edited by Arthur Wrobel, a professor of American literature at the University of Kentucky. Mr. Wrobel and his fellow contributors trace the impact of most of the major pseudo-sciences of the period, and some of the minor ones; they look at them in the light of other 19th-century cultural developments, and try to set them in a specifically American context. Only one of the essays deals with an individual pseudo-scientist - Taylor Stoehr's absorbing account of Robert H. Collyer, a lecturer of the 1830's and 40's whose specialties included phrenology, mesmerism and painless dentistry (fairly painless, thanks to a combination of mesmerism, alcohol and opium). In due course, Collyer concocted a hybrid science of his own called phrenomagnetism, which enabled him to detect a whole host of ''organs'' in the brain that orthodox phrenology had somehow missed - organs of Sarcasm, Love of Pets, Desire for Seeing Ancient Places and other specialized propensities. His final inspiration, which plainly owed something to the advent of photography, was psychography, a system of transferring mental images by bouncing them off a bowl of molasses.


Book Synopsis Pseudo-science and Society in Nineteenth-century America by : Arthur Wrobel

Download or read book Pseudo-science and Society in Nineteenth-century America written by Arthur Wrobel and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 19th century was the golden age of many things, and pseudo-science was one of them. Nowhere was this more obviously the case than in America. If he shopped around, a 19th-century American could consult a psychographer or a hydropath or a magnetizer(in 1843, there were supposed to be more than 200 magnetizers - practitioners of mesmerism -in Boston alone). As soon as he had taken off his water girdle, he was free to put on his Heidelberg Electric Belt, and perhaps smoke an electric cigarette. He could read pamphlets explaining why husbands and wives ought to have sex once every two years, on a sunny day in August or September, between 11 A.M. and noon. These are only a few of the topics touched on in ''Pseudo-Science and Society in 19th-Century America,'' a new collection of essays edited by Arthur Wrobel, a professor of American literature at the University of Kentucky. Mr. Wrobel and his fellow contributors trace the impact of most of the major pseudo-sciences of the period, and some of the minor ones; they look at them in the light of other 19th-century cultural developments, and try to set them in a specifically American context. Only one of the essays deals with an individual pseudo-scientist - Taylor Stoehr's absorbing account of Robert H. Collyer, a lecturer of the 1830's and 40's whose specialties included phrenology, mesmerism and painless dentistry (fairly painless, thanks to a combination of mesmerism, alcohol and opium). In due course, Collyer concocted a hybrid science of his own called phrenomagnetism, which enabled him to detect a whole host of ''organs'' in the brain that orthodox phrenology had somehow missed - organs of Sarcasm, Love of Pets, Desire for Seeing Ancient Places and other specialized propensities. His final inspiration, which plainly owed something to the advent of photography, was psychography, a system of transferring mental images by bouncing them off a bowl of molasses.

On the Fringe

On the Fringe

Author: Michael D. Gordin

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-03-23

Total Pages: 122

ISBN-13: 0197555780

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Everyone has heard of the term "pseudoscience", typically used to describe something that looks like science, but is somehow false, misleading, or unproven. Many would be able to agree on a list of things that fall under its umbrella-- astrology, phrenology, UFOlogy, creationism, and eugenics might come to mind. But defining what makes these fields "pseudo" is a far more complex issue. It has proved impossible to come up with a simple criterion that enables us to differentiate pseudoscience from genuine science. Given the virulence of contemporary disputes over the denial of climate change and anti-vaccination movements--both of which display allegations of "pseudoscience" on all sides-- there is a clear need to better understand issues of scientific demarcation. On the Fringe explores the philosophical and historical attempts to address this problem of demarcation. This book argues that by understanding doctrines that are often seen as antithetical to science, we can learn a great deal about how science operated in the past and does today. This exploration raises several questions: How does a doctrine become demonized as pseudoscientific? Who has the authority to make these pronouncements? How is the status of science shaped by political or cultural contexts? How does pseudoscience differ from scientific fraud? Michael D. Gordin both answers these questions and guides readers along a bewildering array of marginalized doctrines, looking at parapsychology (ESP), Lysenkoism, scientific racism, and alchemy, among others, to better understand the struggle to define what science is and is not, and how the controversies have shifted over the centuries. On the Fringe provides a historical tour through many of these fringe fields in order to provide tools to think deeply about scientific controversies both in the past and in our present.


Book Synopsis On the Fringe by : Michael D. Gordin

Download or read book On the Fringe written by Michael D. Gordin and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-03-23 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everyone has heard of the term "pseudoscience", typically used to describe something that looks like science, but is somehow false, misleading, or unproven. Many would be able to agree on a list of things that fall under its umbrella-- astrology, phrenology, UFOlogy, creationism, and eugenics might come to mind. But defining what makes these fields "pseudo" is a far more complex issue. It has proved impossible to come up with a simple criterion that enables us to differentiate pseudoscience from genuine science. Given the virulence of contemporary disputes over the denial of climate change and anti-vaccination movements--both of which display allegations of "pseudoscience" on all sides-- there is a clear need to better understand issues of scientific demarcation. On the Fringe explores the philosophical and historical attempts to address this problem of demarcation. This book argues that by understanding doctrines that are often seen as antithetical to science, we can learn a great deal about how science operated in the past and does today. This exploration raises several questions: How does a doctrine become demonized as pseudoscientific? Who has the authority to make these pronouncements? How is the status of science shaped by political or cultural contexts? How does pseudoscience differ from scientific fraud? Michael D. Gordin both answers these questions and guides readers along a bewildering array of marginalized doctrines, looking at parapsychology (ESP), Lysenkoism, scientific racism, and alchemy, among others, to better understand the struggle to define what science is and is not, and how the controversies have shifted over the centuries. On the Fringe provides a historical tour through many of these fringe fields in order to provide tools to think deeply about scientific controversies both in the past and in our present.

Hawthorne's Mad Scientists

Hawthorne's Mad Scientists

Author: Taylor Stoehr

Publisher:

Published: 1978

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Hawthorne's Mad Scientists by : Taylor Stoehr

Download or read book Hawthorne's Mad Scientists written by Taylor Stoehr and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Crania Americana

Crania Americana

Author: Samuel George Morton

Publisher:

Published: 1840

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Crania Americana by : Samuel George Morton

Download or read book Crania Americana written by Samuel George Morton and published by . This book was released on 1840 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Pseudoscience

Pseudoscience

Author: Allison B. Kaufman

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2019-03-12

Total Pages: 537

ISBN-13: 0262537044

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Case studies, personal accounts, and analysis show how to recognize and combat pseudoscience in a post-truth world. In a post-truth, fake news world, we are particularly susceptible to the claims of pseudoscience. When emotions and opinions are more widely disseminated than scientific findings, and self-proclaimed experts get their expertise from Google, how can the average person distinguish real science from fake? This book examines pseudoscience from a variety of perspectives, through case studies, analysis, and personal accounts that show how to recognize pseudoscience, why it is so widely accepted, and how to advocate for real science. Contributors examine the basics of pseudoscience, including issues of cognitive bias; the costs of pseudoscience, with accounts of naturopathy and logical fallacies in the anti-vaccination movement; perceptions of scientific soundness; the mainstream presence of “integrative medicine,” hypnosis, and parapsychology; and the use of case studies and new media in science advocacy. Contributors David Ball, Paul Joseph Barnett, Jeffrey Beall, Mark Benisz, Fernando Blanco, Ron Dumont, Stacy Ellenberg, Kevin M. Folta, Christopher French, Ashwin Gautam, Dennis M. Gorman, David H. Gorski, David K. Hecht, Britt Marie Hermes, Clyde F. Herreid, Jonathan Howard, Seth C. Kalichman, Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Arnold Kozak, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Emilio Lobato, Steven Lynn, Adam Marcus, Helena Matute, Ivan Oransky, Chad Orzel, Dorit Reiss, Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter, Kavin Senapathy, Dean Keith Simonton, Indre Viskontas, John O. Willis, Corrine Zimmerman


Book Synopsis Pseudoscience by : Allison B. Kaufman

Download or read book Pseudoscience written by Allison B. Kaufman and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-03-12 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Case studies, personal accounts, and analysis show how to recognize and combat pseudoscience in a post-truth world. In a post-truth, fake news world, we are particularly susceptible to the claims of pseudoscience. When emotions and opinions are more widely disseminated than scientific findings, and self-proclaimed experts get their expertise from Google, how can the average person distinguish real science from fake? This book examines pseudoscience from a variety of perspectives, through case studies, analysis, and personal accounts that show how to recognize pseudoscience, why it is so widely accepted, and how to advocate for real science. Contributors examine the basics of pseudoscience, including issues of cognitive bias; the costs of pseudoscience, with accounts of naturopathy and logical fallacies in the anti-vaccination movement; perceptions of scientific soundness; the mainstream presence of “integrative medicine,” hypnosis, and parapsychology; and the use of case studies and new media in science advocacy. Contributors David Ball, Paul Joseph Barnett, Jeffrey Beall, Mark Benisz, Fernando Blanco, Ron Dumont, Stacy Ellenberg, Kevin M. Folta, Christopher French, Ashwin Gautam, Dennis M. Gorman, David H. Gorski, David K. Hecht, Britt Marie Hermes, Clyde F. Herreid, Jonathan Howard, Seth C. Kalichman, Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Arnold Kozak, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Emilio Lobato, Steven Lynn, Adam Marcus, Helena Matute, Ivan Oransky, Chad Orzel, Dorit Reiss, Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter, Kavin Senapathy, Dean Keith Simonton, Indre Viskontas, John O. Willis, Corrine Zimmerman

Science, Pseudo-Science and Society

Science, Pseudo-Science and Society

Author: Marsha Hanen

Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press

Published: 2006-01-01

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 0889207933

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This volume collects the papers presented at a conference on “Science, Pseudo–science and Society,” sponsored by the Calgary Institute for the Humanities and held at the University of Calgary, May 10–12, 1979. More than many such collections, this one preserves some trace of the intellectual excitement which surrounded this gathering of scholars. A primary inspiration for the symposium on “Science, Pseudoscience, and Society” was a growing awareness of the crucial role the study of pseudo–science plays in the areas of contemporary scholarship which are concerned with the nature of science and its relationship to broader social issues. This volume is organized around three major questions concerning the relationships among science, pseudo–science, and society. The papers in the first section address the question of whether it is possible to draw a sharp demarcation between science and pseudo–science and what the criteria of that demarcation might be. The papers in the second section, recognizing the historical importance of various of the pseudo–sciences, consider their impact—positive or negative—on the development of the sciences themselves. The papers in the third section deal with the question of the relationship between the sciences and pseudo–sciences, on the one hand, and social factors on the other.


Book Synopsis Science, Pseudo-Science and Society by : Marsha Hanen

Download or read book Science, Pseudo-Science and Society written by Marsha Hanen and published by Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume collects the papers presented at a conference on “Science, Pseudo–science and Society,” sponsored by the Calgary Institute for the Humanities and held at the University of Calgary, May 10–12, 1979. More than many such collections, this one preserves some trace of the intellectual excitement which surrounded this gathering of scholars. A primary inspiration for the symposium on “Science, Pseudoscience, and Society” was a growing awareness of the crucial role the study of pseudo–science plays in the areas of contemporary scholarship which are concerned with the nature of science and its relationship to broader social issues. This volume is organized around three major questions concerning the relationships among science, pseudo–science, and society. The papers in the first section address the question of whether it is possible to draw a sharp demarcation between science and pseudo–science and what the criteria of that demarcation might be. The papers in the second section, recognizing the historical importance of various of the pseudo–sciences, consider their impact—positive or negative—on the development of the sciences themselves. The papers in the third section deal with the question of the relationship between the sciences and pseudo–sciences, on the one hand, and social factors on the other.

The Myth of Race

The Myth of Race

Author: Robert Wald Sussman

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2014-10-06

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 0674745302

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Biological races do not exist—and never have. This view is shared by all scientists who study variation in human populations. Yet racial prejudice and intolerance based on the myth of race remain deeply ingrained in Western society. In his powerful examination of a persistent, false, and poisonous idea, Robert Sussman explores how race emerged as a social construct from early biblical justifications to the pseudoscientific studies of today. The Myth of Race traces the origins of modern racist ideology to the Spanish Inquisition, revealing how sixteenth-century theories of racial degeneration became a crucial justification for Western imperialism and slavery. In the nineteenth century, these theories fused with Darwinism to produce the highly influential and pernicious eugenics movement. Believing that traits from cranial shape to raw intelligence were immutable, eugenicists developed hierarchies that classified certain races, especially fair-skinned “Aryans,” as superior to others. These ideologues proposed programs of intelligence testing, selective breeding, and human sterilization—policies that fed straight into Nazi genocide. Sussman examines how opponents of eugenics, guided by the German-American anthropologist Franz Boas’s new, scientifically supported concept of culture, exposed fallacies in racist thinking. Although eugenics is now widely discredited, some groups and individuals today claim a new scientific basis for old racist assumptions. Pondering the continuing influence of racist research and thought, despite all evidence to the contrary, Sussman explains why—when it comes to race—too many people still mistake bigotry for science.


Book Synopsis The Myth of Race by : Robert Wald Sussman

Download or read book The Myth of Race written by Robert Wald Sussman and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2014-10-06 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biological races do not exist—and never have. This view is shared by all scientists who study variation in human populations. Yet racial prejudice and intolerance based on the myth of race remain deeply ingrained in Western society. In his powerful examination of a persistent, false, and poisonous idea, Robert Sussman explores how race emerged as a social construct from early biblical justifications to the pseudoscientific studies of today. The Myth of Race traces the origins of modern racist ideology to the Spanish Inquisition, revealing how sixteenth-century theories of racial degeneration became a crucial justification for Western imperialism and slavery. In the nineteenth century, these theories fused with Darwinism to produce the highly influential and pernicious eugenics movement. Believing that traits from cranial shape to raw intelligence were immutable, eugenicists developed hierarchies that classified certain races, especially fair-skinned “Aryans,” as superior to others. These ideologues proposed programs of intelligence testing, selective breeding, and human sterilization—policies that fed straight into Nazi genocide. Sussman examines how opponents of eugenics, guided by the German-American anthropologist Franz Boas’s new, scientifically supported concept of culture, exposed fallacies in racist thinking. Although eugenics is now widely discredited, some groups and individuals today claim a new scientific basis for old racist assumptions. Pondering the continuing influence of racist research and thought, despite all evidence to the contrary, Sussman explains why—when it comes to race—too many people still mistake bigotry for science.

Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience

Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience

Author: William F. Williams

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-02

Total Pages: 445

ISBN-13: 1135955220

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The Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience is the first one-volume, A-to-Z reference that identifies, defines, and explains all of the terms and ideas dealing with the somewhat murky world of the "almost sciences". Truly interdisciplinary and multicultural in scope, the Encyclopedia examines how fringe or marginal sciences have affected people throughout history, as well as how they continue to exert an influence on our lives today. This comprehensive reference brings together: superstitions and fads that are part of popular culture, such as fortune telling; healing practices once thought marginal that are now become increasingly accepted, such as homeopathy and acupuncture; frauds and hoaxes that have occurred throughout history, such as UFOs; mistaken theories first put forward as serious science, but later discarded as false, such as phrenology and racial typing, etc. More than 2000 extensively cross-referenced and illustrated entries cover prominent phenomena, major figures, events topics, places and associations.


Book Synopsis Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience by : William F. Williams

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience written by William F. Williams and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-02 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience is the first one-volume, A-to-Z reference that identifies, defines, and explains all of the terms and ideas dealing with the somewhat murky world of the "almost sciences". Truly interdisciplinary and multicultural in scope, the Encyclopedia examines how fringe or marginal sciences have affected people throughout history, as well as how they continue to exert an influence on our lives today. This comprehensive reference brings together: superstitions and fads that are part of popular culture, such as fortune telling; healing practices once thought marginal that are now become increasingly accepted, such as homeopathy and acupuncture; frauds and hoaxes that have occurred throughout history, such as UFOs; mistaken theories first put forward as serious science, but later discarded as false, such as phrenology and racial typing, etc. More than 2000 extensively cross-referenced and illustrated entries cover prominent phenomena, major figures, events topics, places and associations.

Strange Science

Strange Science

Author: Lara Pauline Karpenko

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 047213017X

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A fascinating look at scientific inquiry during the Victorian period and the shifting boundary between mainstream and unorthodox sciences of the time


Book Synopsis Strange Science by : Lara Pauline Karpenko

Download or read book Strange Science written by Lara Pauline Karpenko and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating look at scientific inquiry during the Victorian period and the shifting boundary between mainstream and unorthodox sciences of the time