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Quack Quack: The Threat of Pseudoscience
Let the one and only Dr. Joe battle pseudoscience and cast a life preserver out to all those drowning in a sea of misinformation
“Ultimately, the author successfully demonstrates how claims should be queried and analyzed before they are accepted.” — Library Journal
We are in a crisis. A tsunami of misinformation and disinformation is threatening to engulf evidence-based science. While quackery — loosely defined as the spread of false “knowledge,” often accompanied by various versions of “snake oil” — is not a novel phenomenon, it has never posed as great a threat to public health as today. COVID-19 has unleashed an unprecedented flurry of destructive information that has fueled vaccine hesitancy and has steered people toward unproven therapies. Conspiracy theorists have served up a distasteful menu of twisted facts that create distrust in science.
In Quack Quack, Dr. Joe Schwarcz, who has been battling flimflam for decades, focuses on the deluge of anecdotes, cherry-picked data, pseudoscientific nonsense, and seductive baseless health claims that undermine efforts to educate the public about evidence-based science. The wide scope of the topics drawn from past and present aims to cast a life preserver to people drowning in a sea of misinformation.
“Ultimately, the author successfully demonstrates how claims should be queried and analyzed before they are accepted.” — Library Journal
We are in a crisis. A tsunami of misinformation and disinformation is threatening to engulf evidence-based science. While quackery — loosely defined as the spread of false “knowledge,” often accompanied by various versions of “snake oil” — is not a novel phenomenon, it has never posed as great a threat to public health as today. COVID-19 has unleashed an unprecedented flurry of destructive information that has fueled vaccine hesitancy and has steered people toward unproven therapies. Conspiracy theorists have served up a distasteful menu of twisted facts that create distrust in science.
In Quack Quack, Dr. Joe Schwarcz, who has been battling flimflam for decades, focuses on the deluge of anecdotes, cherry-picked data, pseudoscientific nonsense, and seductive baseless health claims that undermine efforts to educate the public about evidence-based science. The wide scope of the topics drawn from past and present aims to cast a life preserver to people drowning in a sea of misinformation.
- GenresNonfictionScience
250 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 27, 2022
10 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Joe Schwarcz
52 books109 followersDr. Joe Schwarcz holds a PhD in chemistry and is host of the radio program The Dr. Joe Show, directo of McGill University's Office for Science & Society and the author of fourteen bestselling books. Well known for his informative and entertaining lectures, Dr. Schwarcz has received numerous awards for teaching and deciphering science for the public.
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September 28, 2022Fake news, fake science, giving more credence to feelings than facts, using the word 'truth' instead of story, so that every version of anything cannot be questioned because it is 'their truth'. Cancelling. Polarisation. Demonising. This is how we live today. And I wonder, how much of it is due to the internet?
October 10, 2022
Long before there were infomercials that try to convince us that their products will work with various heath issues, there were medicine shows. These shows, wagons would travel from town to town hawking tonics and elixirs promising to cure everything from warts to serious illnesses. Interesting factoid: Harry Houdini, before he became the famous magician, actually hawked these pseudo cures. The one thing both these ways of selling have in common is that there was no scientific evidence to back them up. Of course, in the past, little was known, but now due diligence is possible and if there is any scientific evidence it can easily be found online. These money making so called cures bank on the naiveness and desperation of people.
The author takes us from the old medicine shows, the Kellogg health sanitarium in Kalamazoo to modern day scams, such as alkaline water. He tries put some of the modern products and one by one debunks their claims. Informative and well done, this is an interesting look at how these products are marketed and how they fool so many.
The narration by Jonathan Wen was very good and clear.
The author takes us from the old medicine shows, the Kellogg health sanitarium in Kalamazoo to modern day scams, such as alkaline water. He tries put some of the modern products and one by one debunks their claims. Informative and well done, this is an interesting look at how these products are marketed and how they fool so many.
The narration by Jonathan Wen was very good and clear.
October 7, 2022
For fifty years now, Dr. Joe Schwarcz has been lecturing, going on tv, radio and magazines, hosting a radio show and writing books – all about the frauds of alternative medicine. He checks out every single one he learns about. He’ll buy anything that’s offered. He’ll trace the maker of it and its history. He runs McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, which patiently examines every little thing that comes along, hoping to one day find something that actually works. So far, nada. Quack Quack is his latest book.
The book is one long chapter, broken into 73 one to three page stories about products and services that make their developers rich and do nothing for their customers (though sometimes they kill them, mostly by diverting them from real healthcare). That is unless you consider performing as well as a placebo a mark of success. Because that is all they ever accomplish.
In some ways, nothing has changed - ever. Fake cures have been around since the time of shamans. But today’s hustlers have glommed onto tech lingo, which has enabled them to promote massive new varieties of worthless products. Magnetism and magnetic fields can be employed to cure anything. So can copper and the fields it generates. Attaching the word bio to anything gives it new appeal. Same for electro, detox, energy, vibrating, and of course, smart. It is astonishing (and honestly, wearying) to read all the ways people market bogus cures.
There is no question readers will recognize many from commercials, infomercials and ads. There is something for everyone in this book, from bogus supplements to bogus pipes that return water to its normal, cure-all, agitated state (Straight pipes kill it, you see). Schwarcz says: “Today, the traveling medicine show with its fascinating mix of fun and flimflam is gone. But not forgotten. If you get a chance, take in a Psychic Fair or a Health Food Expo at a hotel or convention hall and experience a throwback to the past. I did. There were crystal healers, astrologers, and dietary supplements galore. Some of the claims sounded like they came straight from the mouths of the Kickapoo pitch doctors.”
Magnets are still big: “There are magnetic mattresses, pads, bandages, insoles, rings, and bracelets.
You can even buy magnetized water. A remarkable website sells magnetic immortality rings that claim to increase life span.”
But high tech water seems to be the most popular cure. It’s cheap, can be colored inexpensively, and there are lots of new words to pump up its pretended medicinal effects. Alkaline, electro, vitamin, smart, live, raw – water is the superfood for our time. Scammers love to claim they can alter the actual chemical composition of water’s molecules, giving it new and better powers, or just refreshing its old ones. Which it never had. But at least it won’t kill you. It’s just really expensive.
They love conspiracies, too. Many of the products employ a line about how Big Pharma doesn’t want you to know about this. Better buy it right now before they force it off the market. Etc.
There are lots of unmeasurable waves too. Some claim to mentally transmit cures anywhere in the world with just a photo in front of them. Some can cure by just passing their hands over someone else. Malaria goes away in just four hours! There are innumerable scammers who cure cancer by leveraging auras, meridians and chakras, high frequency and low frequency waves, moonbeams, magnetic fields and on and on.
And they love mixing scientific sounding words into long sentences that make their product sound like cutting edge technology. But reading them clearly shrieks – meaningless garbage: “The human body has a resonant frequency and coherence is its natural state.” Or “Chimps and humans have similar DNA, so that couldn’t explain the difference between them, the explanation is the morphogenetic field that informs which parts of DNA the body will access for its development.” Needless to say, Schwarcz adds, healers can restore health by altering this “morphogenetic field,” a totally fictional and meaningless term. Nonetheless, such products come emblazoned with messages like “As seen on the Dr. Oz Show!” giving them the ring of authenticity.
Schwarcz goes after the detox people fiercely. He defends the human body as having great detox functions, from the likes of the liver, the kidneys and the gut microbiome. It does not need bizarre diets to try to remove residues of anything; they’ve already been handled. Not that the detox recipes can have any salubrious effect anyway; they have no basis in science and no way to detoxify a human body.
Similarly, dietary supplements are a huge scam, with totally unprovable benefits. Rubbing vitamin C on skin can have no effect. Swallowing vitamin A does not improve eyesight. Ingesting vitamin E does not restore memory, and on and on. But because they are not marketed as drugs, Congress has seen fit to exempt them from testing, allowing them to be promoted in all kinds of immoral ways. They don’t really do anything. But they’re a multibillion dollar business anyway.
Possibly my favorite story in this collection is on candling. For just $25, Schwarcz bought two simple white candles, with hollow centers. You stick one in your ear and light it, creating a chimney effect, sucking ear wax out and into the candle. The clerk proves it by then cutting open the candle and showing you all the brown guck collected inside. But Schwarcz took his second candle, lit it and placed it over a scrap of tissue on the counter. The “chimney” couldn’t even hold onto the tissue, so how could it scrape and lift ear wax? Then he cut open the candle, and what do you know? It was filled with “ear wax”.
Schwarcz is a pain because he always wants proof. He wants to try the product in laboratory conditions, run tests, and somehow prove it will do better than a placebo. He wants to understand the chemistry (his profession), the physics and even the magic (he is an amateur magician). He is continually bombarded with products the gullible want to market or at least recommend. This makes him a busy man: “Whenever you think you have seen the ultimate in absurdity, something else comes along and reaches even loftier heights.”
And finally, in answer to why more research and authentication isn’t being done, Schwarcz says it is. “The Office of Alternative Medicine was created in 1991 and given a budget of two million dollars. It was later converted to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and had a budget of $151.9 million for 2020. The center will even award grants and organize clinical trials. Perhaps we can look forward to some interesting results; but so far since 1991 not much has happened. Not a
single alternative treatment was found to be highly effective and not a single one was completely debunked.” In other words, everyone truly wants one of these miracle products to be for real. But so far… nada.
Schwarcz is chatty. He likes to talk directly to the reader. He tries to keep it light, despite the worrying fraud and risks. He is sarcastic, ironic and cutting. And very serious about getting readers to stay away from these scams. He likes to tie his stories up with a pun or snarky comment linking the conclusion to the intro over some key word. It helps break up the sordid nature of this whole enterprise and helps make Quack Quack most readable.
David Wineberg
If you liked this review, I invite you to read more in my book The Straight Dope. It’s an essay collection based on my first thousand reviews and what I learned. Right now it’s FREE for Prime members, otherwise — cheap! Reputed to be fascinating and a superfast read. And you already know it is well-written. https://www.amazon.com/Straight-Dope-...
The book is one long chapter, broken into 73 one to three page stories about products and services that make their developers rich and do nothing for their customers (though sometimes they kill them, mostly by diverting them from real healthcare). That is unless you consider performing as well as a placebo a mark of success. Because that is all they ever accomplish.
In some ways, nothing has changed - ever. Fake cures have been around since the time of shamans. But today’s hustlers have glommed onto tech lingo, which has enabled them to promote massive new varieties of worthless products. Magnetism and magnetic fields can be employed to cure anything. So can copper and the fields it generates. Attaching the word bio to anything gives it new appeal. Same for electro, detox, energy, vibrating, and of course, smart. It is astonishing (and honestly, wearying) to read all the ways people market bogus cures.
There is no question readers will recognize many from commercials, infomercials and ads. There is something for everyone in this book, from bogus supplements to bogus pipes that return water to its normal, cure-all, agitated state (Straight pipes kill it, you see). Schwarcz says: “Today, the traveling medicine show with its fascinating mix of fun and flimflam is gone. But not forgotten. If you get a chance, take in a Psychic Fair or a Health Food Expo at a hotel or convention hall and experience a throwback to the past. I did. There were crystal healers, astrologers, and dietary supplements galore. Some of the claims sounded like they came straight from the mouths of the Kickapoo pitch doctors.”
Magnets are still big: “There are magnetic mattresses, pads, bandages, insoles, rings, and bracelets.
You can even buy magnetized water. A remarkable website sells magnetic immortality rings that claim to increase life span.”
But high tech water seems to be the most popular cure. It’s cheap, can be colored inexpensively, and there are lots of new words to pump up its pretended medicinal effects. Alkaline, electro, vitamin, smart, live, raw – water is the superfood for our time. Scammers love to claim they can alter the actual chemical composition of water’s molecules, giving it new and better powers, or just refreshing its old ones. Which it never had. But at least it won’t kill you. It’s just really expensive.
They love conspiracies, too. Many of the products employ a line about how Big Pharma doesn’t want you to know about this. Better buy it right now before they force it off the market. Etc.
There are lots of unmeasurable waves too. Some claim to mentally transmit cures anywhere in the world with just a photo in front of them. Some can cure by just passing their hands over someone else. Malaria goes away in just four hours! There are innumerable scammers who cure cancer by leveraging auras, meridians and chakras, high frequency and low frequency waves, moonbeams, magnetic fields and on and on.
And they love mixing scientific sounding words into long sentences that make their product sound like cutting edge technology. But reading them clearly shrieks – meaningless garbage: “The human body has a resonant frequency and coherence is its natural state.” Or “Chimps and humans have similar DNA, so that couldn’t explain the difference between them, the explanation is the morphogenetic field that informs which parts of DNA the body will access for its development.” Needless to say, Schwarcz adds, healers can restore health by altering this “morphogenetic field,” a totally fictional and meaningless term. Nonetheless, such products come emblazoned with messages like “As seen on the Dr. Oz Show!” giving them the ring of authenticity.
Schwarcz goes after the detox people fiercely. He defends the human body as having great detox functions, from the likes of the liver, the kidneys and the gut microbiome. It does not need bizarre diets to try to remove residues of anything; they’ve already been handled. Not that the detox recipes can have any salubrious effect anyway; they have no basis in science and no way to detoxify a human body.
Similarly, dietary supplements are a huge scam, with totally unprovable benefits. Rubbing vitamin C on skin can have no effect. Swallowing vitamin A does not improve eyesight. Ingesting vitamin E does not restore memory, and on and on. But because they are not marketed as drugs, Congress has seen fit to exempt them from testing, allowing them to be promoted in all kinds of immoral ways. They don’t really do anything. But they’re a multibillion dollar business anyway.
Possibly my favorite story in this collection is on candling. For just $25, Schwarcz bought two simple white candles, with hollow centers. You stick one in your ear and light it, creating a chimney effect, sucking ear wax out and into the candle. The clerk proves it by then cutting open the candle and showing you all the brown guck collected inside. But Schwarcz took his second candle, lit it and placed it over a scrap of tissue on the counter. The “chimney” couldn’t even hold onto the tissue, so how could it scrape and lift ear wax? Then he cut open the candle, and what do you know? It was filled with “ear wax”.
Schwarcz is a pain because he always wants proof. He wants to try the product in laboratory conditions, run tests, and somehow prove it will do better than a placebo. He wants to understand the chemistry (his profession), the physics and even the magic (he is an amateur magician). He is continually bombarded with products the gullible want to market or at least recommend. This makes him a busy man: “Whenever you think you have seen the ultimate in absurdity, something else comes along and reaches even loftier heights.”
And finally, in answer to why more research and authentication isn’t being done, Schwarcz says it is. “The Office of Alternative Medicine was created in 1991 and given a budget of two million dollars. It was later converted to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and had a budget of $151.9 million for 2020. The center will even award grants and organize clinical trials. Perhaps we can look forward to some interesting results; but so far since 1991 not much has happened. Not a
single alternative treatment was found to be highly effective and not a single one was completely debunked.” In other words, everyone truly wants one of these miracle products to be for real. But so far… nada.
Schwarcz is chatty. He likes to talk directly to the reader. He tries to keep it light, despite the worrying fraud and risks. He is sarcastic, ironic and cutting. And very serious about getting readers to stay away from these scams. He likes to tie his stories up with a pun or snarky comment linking the conclusion to the intro over some key word. It helps break up the sordid nature of this whole enterprise and helps make Quack Quack most readable.
David Wineberg
If you liked this review, I invite you to read more in my book The Straight Dope. It’s an essay collection based on my first thousand reviews and what I learned. Right now it’s FREE for Prime members, otherwise — cheap! Reputed to be fascinating and a superfast read. And you already know it is well-written. https://www.amazon.com/Straight-Dope-...
September 17, 2022
I took this in as the audiobook narrated very well by Jonathan Yen.
This is a fun and educational guided tour by a 'skeptical inquirer' cast from the same mold as James Randi or Joe Nickell. The author actually lies on the bed of nails, buys the purported miracle device, and tells us what it actually is and isn't. I doubt if anything here would convert anyone, it feels more like laughing at the snake oil salesmen with him. Schwarcz generally brings in as much history as possible, which I like, and definitely brings in the starts of quackery, such as and border blaster pioneer. He also brings in newer things I have been curious about, like these alkaline water storefronts I see popping up as well as the Omega XL I see advertised on late-night TV. (1/40 the fish oil found to be efficacious and a lot of green-lipped mussel extract with unverified claims.) I like that he admits non-mainstream claims can become future medical fact, such as the bacterium helicobacter pylori is one of the major causative factors of peptic ulcer disease -- more so than stress itself. Schwarcz educated me that such nontraditional medicines are even investigated with government funding by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). I subscribed to the newsletter!
This is a fun and educational guided tour by a 'skeptical inquirer' cast from the same mold as James Randi or Joe Nickell. The author actually lies on the bed of nails, buys the purported miracle device, and tells us what it actually is and isn't. I doubt if anything here would convert anyone, it feels more like laughing at the snake oil salesmen with him. Schwarcz generally brings in as much history as possible, which I like, and definitely brings in the starts of quackery, such as and border blaster pioneer. He also brings in newer things I have been curious about, like these alkaline water storefronts I see popping up as well as the Omega XL I see advertised on late-night TV. (1/40 the fish oil found to be efficacious and a lot of green-lipped mussel extract with unverified claims.) I like that he admits non-mainstream claims can become future medical fact, such as the bacterium helicobacter pylori is one of the major causative factors of peptic ulcer disease -- more so than stress itself. Schwarcz educated me that such nontraditional medicines are even investigated with government funding by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). I subscribed to the newsletter!
January 31, 2023
Love it!
Dr. Joe Schwarcz, the Director of McGill University’s Office of Science and Society, has written many books (seventeen by my count) mostly explaining the chemistry of everyday life. His latest book is right up my alley: Quack Quack: The Threat of Pseudoscience. I love his writing and his sense of humor and I could hardly wait to see what he had to say about quackery. He covers many topics that I had also written about, so I didn’t expect to learn anything new, but I did. I was both informed and entertained.
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/quac...
Dr. Joe Schwarcz, the Director of McGill University’s Office of Science and Society, has written many books (seventeen by my count) mostly explaining the chemistry of everyday life. His latest book is right up my alley: Quack Quack: The Threat of Pseudoscience. I love his writing and his sense of humor and I could hardly wait to see what he had to say about quackery. He covers many topics that I had also written about, so I didn’t expect to learn anything new, but I did. I was both informed and entertained.
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/quac...
September 26, 2022
Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the audio version of this book. Everything I I write is of my own personal feelings and opinions.
I absolutely love and adore this book! The author debunks so many quack quack medical and other theories. I had several laugh out loud moments with this book.
I absolutely love and adore this book! The author debunks so many quack quack medical and other theories. I had several laugh out loud moments with this book.
February 5, 2023
A must-read for everyone!
December 28, 2023
Books like this are very good and should be required reading in school for all the people out there being raised by quacks. Or living in groups who are proponents of quackery
July 6, 2023
Quack Quack: The Threat of Pseudoscience by Joe Schwarcz
“Quack Quack” is an entertaining overview of debunked popular pseudoscientific claims. Dr. Joe Schwarcz with his skeptical expertise provides readers with a witty and provocative tour of brief essays covering a wide-scope of nonsensical beliefs. This 250-page book includes seventy-four conspiratorial essays.
Positives:
1. A well-researched, witty and humorous book.
2. An interesting topic, debunking popular old and new pseudoscientific claims.
3. Dr. Schwarcz is fair in his criticism. He lets the scientific method guide him.
4. The Introduction appropriately sets the tone for the book. “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
5. Does a good job of defining key terms. “In essence, pseudoscience encompasses any belief, process, or claim that pretends to have a scientific basis but actually has none. While real science accumulates facts and formulates testable theories to gain an understanding of the physical world, pseudoscience relies on anecdotes, ideology, and cherry-picked data to support preconceived notions.”
6. Provides a wide-range of pseudoscientific beliefs, which he gleefully debunks.
7. Describes the inception of the term snake oil. “Actually, Clark Stanley didn’t come up with the idea of snake oil as a remedy. That notion can be credited to the ancient Chinese who rubbed the oil on aching joints and claimed relief.”
8. Examines the history of medicine shows. “In 1950, LeBlanc reinvented the traveling Medicine Show. A caravan of 130 vehicles toured the south, entertaining as many as 10,000 people a night who had come with Hadacol box tops as admission tickets.”
9. Examines puke weed. “Thomson believed that all diseases could be cured by the use of herbs and heat. While his system of healing used some sixty herbs, Lobelia inflata, also known as puke weed or Indian tobacco, was front and center. Puke weed is a very appropriate name because ingesting the flowers, seeds, or roots of the plant makes people, let us just say, lose their breakfast.”
10. Examines and debunks interesting gadgets. “The widespread introduction of electricity was tailor-made for Dr. Abrams. Now he could put his vibrational ideas on a scientific footing! Diseases, he suggested, were caused by a disharmony of electronic oscillations in the body and could be cured by vibrations that have the same frequency as the disease. He invented a device, known as the dynamizer, to diagnose illness by measuring electronic vibrations in a drop of blood.”
11. Not every scoundrel can be painted black and white. “While P.T. Barnum’s reputation as a scoundrel who swindled people with his hoaxes has some merit, he curiously was also a champion of critical thinking.”
12. Examines even the most odd claims. “For $5,000 he would even implant genuine human glands which he obtained from prisoners on death row. He had mansions, a fleet of Cadillacs, airplanes, and yachts. Of course, what he did not have was scientific respect.”
13. Examines the water cure fad. “The water cure fad can be traced back to a young Austrian farmer and a runaway cart. Vincenz Priessnitz broke some ribs when the cart crashed into him and found relief from the terrible pain by wrapping himself tightly in a wet bandage.”
14. Examines iridology. “The iris, he suggested, was therefore a window into the health of the body. This curious tale, believe it or not, gave birth to the bizarre practice of iris diagnosis, or iridology.”
15. Examines quack products. “There were magnetic toe rings for weight loss, healing crystals from India, acupuncture point–stimulating Chinese balls, and detoxifying Tibetan singing bowls. But the one that really caught my attention was the Belly Button Tool, designed to “push the greatest button you will ever push.””
16. Examines ear candles. “So, how is this magical process supposed to work? The explanation usually involves reference to the “chimney effect.” When a hollow candle is placed in the ear and lit at the end remote from the ear, the hot air rising inside the candle creates a vacuum effect that sucks earwax out of the ear canal.”
17. Examines “alternative medicine”. “Gerson retorted that the review had been unfairly influenced by the “cancer establishment,” for the simple reason that his natural cure was a threat to the grotesque profits realized by the pharmaceutical industry from its expensive but useless chemotherapeutic drugs. That tired old refrain has practically become the anthem of the “alternative medicine” community.”
18. Examines the Healing Code. “They are not bothered at all by the fact that nobody has ever shown the existence of any energy field other than heat radiating from the body. Or that no energy emanates from one’s fingers.”
19. Examines autourine therapy. “So why has this magic potion not been more widely publicized? Could it be that, as urophagists (that’s the technical term for urine drinkers) suggest, doctors and “Big Pharma” have conspired to keep the lifesaving information under wraps because “with urine there is no more need for medication or surgery since it kills illnesses in such a short time that doctors are afraid they will lose their jobs.””
20. Examines homeopathy. ““We found an effect for homeopathic therapy which is compatible with a placebo effect.” A number of other investigations have come to the same conclusion. An analysis of over 200 studies by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council in 2015 concluded that homeopathy didn’t work better than a placebo.”
21. Many more fascinating claims examined.
Negatives:
1. No notes.
2. No supplementary visual material that would have added value.
3. I would have added an Appendix describing the scientific method with use of charts and graphs.
In summary, this is a very fun book to read. Dr. Schwarcz shows off his expertise in science by debunking popular pseudoscientific claims new and old. The essays are brief and you can jump from essay to essay in any order. The use of wit and humor makes the reading more enjoyable. My only complaint is the lack of supplementary materials, which would have complimented the interesting narrative.
Further suggestions: “Monkeys, Myths, and Molecules: Separating Fact from Fiction in the Science of Everyday Life” by the same author, “Flim Flam” and “Faith Healers” by James Randi, “Conspiracy” and “Why People Believe Weird Things” by Michael Shermer, “Fads and Fallacies” and “Undiluted Hocus-Pocus” by Martin Gardner, “Bad Science” by Ben Goldacre and “The Grand Unified Theory of Bullsh!t” by Cicirello and Curry.
“Quack Quack” is an entertaining overview of debunked popular pseudoscientific claims. Dr. Joe Schwarcz with his skeptical expertise provides readers with a witty and provocative tour of brief essays covering a wide-scope of nonsensical beliefs. This 250-page book includes seventy-four conspiratorial essays.
Positives:
1. A well-researched, witty and humorous book.
2. An interesting topic, debunking popular old and new pseudoscientific claims.
3. Dr. Schwarcz is fair in his criticism. He lets the scientific method guide him.
4. The Introduction appropriately sets the tone for the book. “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
5. Does a good job of defining key terms. “In essence, pseudoscience encompasses any belief, process, or claim that pretends to have a scientific basis but actually has none. While real science accumulates facts and formulates testable theories to gain an understanding of the physical world, pseudoscience relies on anecdotes, ideology, and cherry-picked data to support preconceived notions.”
6. Provides a wide-range of pseudoscientific beliefs, which he gleefully debunks.
7. Describes the inception of the term snake oil. “Actually, Clark Stanley didn’t come up with the idea of snake oil as a remedy. That notion can be credited to the ancient Chinese who rubbed the oil on aching joints and claimed relief.”
8. Examines the history of medicine shows. “In 1950, LeBlanc reinvented the traveling Medicine Show. A caravan of 130 vehicles toured the south, entertaining as many as 10,000 people a night who had come with Hadacol box tops as admission tickets.”
9. Examines puke weed. “Thomson believed that all diseases could be cured by the use of herbs and heat. While his system of healing used some sixty herbs, Lobelia inflata, also known as puke weed or Indian tobacco, was front and center. Puke weed is a very appropriate name because ingesting the flowers, seeds, or roots of the plant makes people, let us just say, lose their breakfast.”
10. Examines and debunks interesting gadgets. “The widespread introduction of electricity was tailor-made for Dr. Abrams. Now he could put his vibrational ideas on a scientific footing! Diseases, he suggested, were caused by a disharmony of electronic oscillations in the body and could be cured by vibrations that have the same frequency as the disease. He invented a device, known as the dynamizer, to diagnose illness by measuring electronic vibrations in a drop of blood.”
11. Not every scoundrel can be painted black and white. “While P.T. Barnum’s reputation as a scoundrel who swindled people with his hoaxes has some merit, he curiously was also a champion of critical thinking.”
12. Examines even the most odd claims. “For $5,000 he would even implant genuine human glands which he obtained from prisoners on death row. He had mansions, a fleet of Cadillacs, airplanes, and yachts. Of course, what he did not have was scientific respect.”
13. Examines the water cure fad. “The water cure fad can be traced back to a young Austrian farmer and a runaway cart. Vincenz Priessnitz broke some ribs when the cart crashed into him and found relief from the terrible pain by wrapping himself tightly in a wet bandage.”
14. Examines iridology. “The iris, he suggested, was therefore a window into the health of the body. This curious tale, believe it or not, gave birth to the bizarre practice of iris diagnosis, or iridology.”
15. Examines quack products. “There were magnetic toe rings for weight loss, healing crystals from India, acupuncture point–stimulating Chinese balls, and detoxifying Tibetan singing bowls. But the one that really caught my attention was the Belly Button Tool, designed to “push the greatest button you will ever push.””
16. Examines ear candles. “So, how is this magical process supposed to work? The explanation usually involves reference to the “chimney effect.” When a hollow candle is placed in the ear and lit at the end remote from the ear, the hot air rising inside the candle creates a vacuum effect that sucks earwax out of the ear canal.”
17. Examines “alternative medicine”. “Gerson retorted that the review had been unfairly influenced by the “cancer establishment,” for the simple reason that his natural cure was a threat to the grotesque profits realized by the pharmaceutical industry from its expensive but useless chemotherapeutic drugs. That tired old refrain has practically become the anthem of the “alternative medicine” community.”
18. Examines the Healing Code. “They are not bothered at all by the fact that nobody has ever shown the existence of any energy field other than heat radiating from the body. Or that no energy emanates from one’s fingers.”
19. Examines autourine therapy. “So why has this magic potion not been more widely publicized? Could it be that, as urophagists (that’s the technical term for urine drinkers) suggest, doctors and “Big Pharma” have conspired to keep the lifesaving information under wraps because “with urine there is no more need for medication or surgery since it kills illnesses in such a short time that doctors are afraid they will lose their jobs.””
20. Examines homeopathy. ““We found an effect for homeopathic therapy which is compatible with a placebo effect.” A number of other investigations have come to the same conclusion. An analysis of over 200 studies by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council in 2015 concluded that homeopathy didn’t work better than a placebo.”
21. Many more fascinating claims examined.
Negatives:
1. No notes.
2. No supplementary visual material that would have added value.
3. I would have added an Appendix describing the scientific method with use of charts and graphs.
In summary, this is a very fun book to read. Dr. Schwarcz shows off his expertise in science by debunking popular pseudoscientific claims new and old. The essays are brief and you can jump from essay to essay in any order. The use of wit and humor makes the reading more enjoyable. My only complaint is the lack of supplementary materials, which would have complimented the interesting narrative.
Further suggestions: “Monkeys, Myths, and Molecules: Separating Fact from Fiction in the Science of Everyday Life” by the same author, “Flim Flam” and “Faith Healers” by James Randi, “Conspiracy” and “Why People Believe Weird Things” by Michael Shermer, “Fads and Fallacies” and “Undiluted Hocus-Pocus” by Martin Gardner, “Bad Science” by Ben Goldacre and “The Grand Unified Theory of Bullsh!t” by Cicirello and Curry.
February 25, 2023
I love all books medical, the weirder the better. I appreciated this look into the medical charlatans of history and some of the absurd cures people ate up without question. However, I found the author to be pedantic and at times down right snide. I appreciate his quest for information and solid theories in the interest of medicine but his quest for pseudoscience sneers at the layman and his desire to believe in miracle cures.
His endless quest for the new "evidence based practice" medicine, while important in some fields, completely disregards some homeopathic techniques that have been around for thousands of years (i.e. acupuncture). In attempts to be tried and true he has purchased some of these outlandish products available today but clearly has not tested every single non-evidence based cure-all.
One can debunk things without being a snot about it and I found that in his writing to be extremely off-putting. His overuse of the same words also got obnoxious, particularly mountebank (a synonym for snake oil salesman) and nostrum repeatedly. Buy a thesaurus with the money you make from this book, sir.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. Opinions in this review are my own.
His endless quest for the new "evidence based practice" medicine, while important in some fields, completely disregards some homeopathic techniques that have been around for thousands of years (i.e. acupuncture). In attempts to be tried and true he has purchased some of these outlandish products available today but clearly has not tested every single non-evidence based cure-all.
One can debunk things without being a snot about it and I found that in his writing to be extremely off-putting. His overuse of the same words also got obnoxious, particularly mountebank (a synonym for snake oil salesman) and nostrum repeatedly. Buy a thesaurus with the money you make from this book, sir.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. Opinions in this review are my own.
September 21, 2022
I was all kinds of excited when I was browsing Netgalley and came across Quack Quack: The Threat of Pseudoscience by Dr. Joe Schwarcz, the director at McGill University’s Office for Science and Society. The book aims to convince people of the importance of separating sense from nonsense, and it’s packed with plenty of examples of the kind of quackery that people are promoting and making lots of money off of.
The book’s main focus is the nonsense of the present, but it begins with a look at some of the quackery of the past. For example, “In the late 1800s, the Battle Creek Sanitarium was unquestionably the place to be for people who needed to be cured of diseases they never had.”
You might recall that drinking one’s own urine was one of the bizarre ideas people came up with for supposedly curing COVID. There’s a chapter devoted to autourine therapy (i.e. drinking one’s own urine), and apparently, there was a World Conference on Urine Therapy.
Then there’s the woman who thought fermented cabbage juice could cure anything and everything, let you regrow missing limbs, and let you live 400 years. Regarding that, Dr. Joe says, “Never before have I heard such concentrated hogwash in such a short time.” He writes that her claims are “full of baloney. Or bunkum. Or balderdash. Take your choice. I have other words too.”
A fair bit of the book is devoted to debunking the weird and wacky claims that people make about water. For example, there’s alkaline water, and Dr. Joe points out that even if it did change the pH of the blood (which it doesn’t), “you would not have to worry about illness because you would be dead.” There’s also the notion of double helix water, as opposed to regular water, which is supposedly weakened by flowing through straight pipes. Then there’s raw water, which can actually harm you depending on what bacteria happen to be contaminating it (I can’t even begin to tell you how not fun it is to have a Giardia infection, quaintly known as “beaver fever“).
The author points out how companies that make these dodgy products will often string together a bunch of words that sound scientific but are actually meaningless. Regarding a device that’s claimed to energize water, he says, “In all my years of wading through swamps of claptrap I don’t think I have come across anything to match the stew of random, garbled, meaningless words cooked up on behalf of Alpha Spin.”
Dr. Joe explains that the most prevalent myth that he’s come across is that “natural” substances are somehow inherently superior to synthetic ones. He points out that chemicals are made out to be a bad thing, but all atoms are chemicals, so the notion of chemical-free doesn’t even make any sense. And if you thought homeopathic remedies were just another kind of herbal product, they’re not, Dr. Joe will explain to you just how wacky the idea behind homeopathy is (trust me, it’s really out there).
The book concludes with a chapter with tips on evaluating information/misinformation, like “nonsensical lingo can sound very scientific”, “nature is not benign”, and “education is not a vaccine against folly.”
This book is hilarious. The things the author is talking about are funny, but it’s the way he talks about them that is absolute gold. I love his word choices, including mountebank, “mind-numbing claptrap”, poppycock, “mindless twaddle”, “woo-isms”, mumbo jumbo, balderdash, malarkey, puffery, and gobbledygook. There were plenty of bits that had me laughing, such as this after being urged not to knock a product before trying it: “Well, I’m knocking. We do not live in a scientific vacuum. We do not concoct ways to trap the tooth fairy.” It was rather difficult to limit myself when it came to the number of quotes I included in this review, since there were just so many great lines.
I loved this book. I think anyone with a science background will find it highly amusing, and I hope that it will convince some people to keep their money to themselves rather than hand it over to hucksters trying to make them think that they need a magic carafe to make double-helix water. Our world is desperately in need of more sense, and hopefully Dr. Joe’s book will help to put a bit of a dent in the shortage thereof.
The book’s main focus is the nonsense of the present, but it begins with a look at some of the quackery of the past. For example, “In the late 1800s, the Battle Creek Sanitarium was unquestionably the place to be for people who needed to be cured of diseases they never had.”
You might recall that drinking one’s own urine was one of the bizarre ideas people came up with for supposedly curing COVID. There’s a chapter devoted to autourine therapy (i.e. drinking one’s own urine), and apparently, there was a World Conference on Urine Therapy.
Then there’s the woman who thought fermented cabbage juice could cure anything and everything, let you regrow missing limbs, and let you live 400 years. Regarding that, Dr. Joe says, “Never before have I heard such concentrated hogwash in such a short time.” He writes that her claims are “full of baloney. Or bunkum. Or balderdash. Take your choice. I have other words too.”
A fair bit of the book is devoted to debunking the weird and wacky claims that people make about water. For example, there’s alkaline water, and Dr. Joe points out that even if it did change the pH of the blood (which it doesn’t), “you would not have to worry about illness because you would be dead.” There’s also the notion of double helix water, as opposed to regular water, which is supposedly weakened by flowing through straight pipes. Then there’s raw water, which can actually harm you depending on what bacteria happen to be contaminating it (I can’t even begin to tell you how not fun it is to have a Giardia infection, quaintly known as “beaver fever“).
The author points out how companies that make these dodgy products will often string together a bunch of words that sound scientific but are actually meaningless. Regarding a device that’s claimed to energize water, he says, “In all my years of wading through swamps of claptrap I don’t think I have come across anything to match the stew of random, garbled, meaningless words cooked up on behalf of Alpha Spin.”
Dr. Joe explains that the most prevalent myth that he’s come across is that “natural” substances are somehow inherently superior to synthetic ones. He points out that chemicals are made out to be a bad thing, but all atoms are chemicals, so the notion of chemical-free doesn’t even make any sense. And if you thought homeopathic remedies were just another kind of herbal product, they’re not, Dr. Joe will explain to you just how wacky the idea behind homeopathy is (trust me, it’s really out there).
The book concludes with a chapter with tips on evaluating information/misinformation, like “nonsensical lingo can sound very scientific”, “nature is not benign”, and “education is not a vaccine against folly.”
This book is hilarious. The things the author is talking about are funny, but it’s the way he talks about them that is absolute gold. I love his word choices, including mountebank, “mind-numbing claptrap”, poppycock, “mindless twaddle”, “woo-isms”, mumbo jumbo, balderdash, malarkey, puffery, and gobbledygook. There were plenty of bits that had me laughing, such as this after being urged not to knock a product before trying it: “Well, I’m knocking. We do not live in a scientific vacuum. We do not concoct ways to trap the tooth fairy.” It was rather difficult to limit myself when it came to the number of quotes I included in this review, since there were just so many great lines.
I loved this book. I think anyone with a science background will find it highly amusing, and I hope that it will convince some people to keep their money to themselves rather than hand it over to hucksters trying to make them think that they need a magic carafe to make double-helix water. Our world is desperately in need of more sense, and hopefully Dr. Joe’s book will help to put a bit of a dent in the shortage thereof.
March 11, 2023
XXXXX
SEPARATING SENSE FROM NONSENSE
XXXXX
"In this collection, I will try to provide a taste of the widespread nonsensical beliefs I have encountered and hope to convince you of the importance of separating sense from nonsense."
The above (in italics) comes from this very informative and hilarious book by Joe Schwarcz, PhD. He is a Professor of Chemistry at McGill University (in Montreal, Quebec, Canada). Schwarcz is also founding director of McGill's Office for Science and Society. He is also a prolific author penning eighteen books.
The Office for Science and Society (OSS) is dedicated to science education, debunks pseudo-scientific myths, and helps improve scientific literacy.
In order to appeciate this book, it's helpful to understand four terms: pseudoscience, quackery, alternative medicine, and the placebo effect.
Pseudoscience (false science) consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claims; reliance on confirmation bias rather than rigorous attempts at refutation; lack of openness to evaluation by other experts; absence of systematic practices when developing hypotheses; and continued adherence long after the pseudoscientific hypotheses have been experimentally discredited.
Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the strong promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices. A quack is a person who pretends to have skill, knowledge, qualification or credentials that they do not possess. Common elements of general quackery include questionable diagnoses using questionable diagnostic tests, as well as untested or refuted treatments, especially for serious diseases such as cancer.
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Alternative therapies reside outside of medical science and instead rely on pseudoscience. Traditional practices become 'alternative' when used outside their original settings and without proper scientific explanation and evidence.
A placebo effect is the tendency of any medication or treatment, even an ineffective one, to exhibit results simply because the patient believes that it will work.
Schwarcz has combined all these elements to present a ultra-informative and highly entertaining look at quackery and psedoscience past and present. I guarantee that you wll be astonished to read about all the ways people market bogus cures. In fact, readers will probably recognize many from commercials, infomercials, and ads.
Be sure to read the appendix which presents 25 tips on dealing with information and misinformation. This provides a reminder for all of us to be continually on alert.
Finally, there are no citations or references in this book. However, since Schwarcz has been doing this work of fighting the scammers for over twenty years (the OSS was founded in 1999), it's safe to call him an authority in this field and therefore honest & trustworthy.
In conclusion, in a world inundated with misinformation and twisted science, this book is a must-read!!
XXXXX
(2022; introduction; 73 chapters; main narrative 225 pages; appendix; index)
XXXXX
SEPARATING SENSE FROM NONSENSE
XXXXX
"In this collection, I will try to provide a taste of the widespread nonsensical beliefs I have encountered and hope to convince you of the importance of separating sense from nonsense."
The above (in italics) comes from this very informative and hilarious book by Joe Schwarcz, PhD. He is a Professor of Chemistry at McGill University (in Montreal, Quebec, Canada). Schwarcz is also founding director of McGill's Office for Science and Society. He is also a prolific author penning eighteen books.
The Office for Science and Society (OSS) is dedicated to science education, debunks pseudo-scientific myths, and helps improve scientific literacy.
In order to appeciate this book, it's helpful to understand four terms: pseudoscience, quackery, alternative medicine, and the placebo effect.
Pseudoscience (false science) consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claims; reliance on confirmation bias rather than rigorous attempts at refutation; lack of openness to evaluation by other experts; absence of systematic practices when developing hypotheses; and continued adherence long after the pseudoscientific hypotheses have been experimentally discredited.
Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the strong promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices. A quack is a person who pretends to have skill, knowledge, qualification or credentials that they do not possess. Common elements of general quackery include questionable diagnoses using questionable diagnostic tests, as well as untested or refuted treatments, especially for serious diseases such as cancer.
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Alternative therapies reside outside of medical science and instead rely on pseudoscience. Traditional practices become 'alternative' when used outside their original settings and without proper scientific explanation and evidence.
A placebo effect is the tendency of any medication or treatment, even an ineffective one, to exhibit results simply because the patient believes that it will work.
Schwarcz has combined all these elements to present a ultra-informative and highly entertaining look at quackery and psedoscience past and present. I guarantee that you wll be astonished to read about all the ways people market bogus cures. In fact, readers will probably recognize many from commercials, infomercials, and ads.
Be sure to read the appendix which presents 25 tips on dealing with information and misinformation. This provides a reminder for all of us to be continually on alert.
Finally, there are no citations or references in this book. However, since Schwarcz has been doing this work of fighting the scammers for over twenty years (the OSS was founded in 1999), it's safe to call him an authority in this field and therefore honest & trustworthy.
In conclusion, in a world inundated with misinformation and twisted science, this book is a must-read!!
XXXXX
(2022; introduction; 73 chapters; main narrative 225 pages; appendix; index)
XXXXX
Read
July 4, 2023Hey buddy, wanna buy this nifty little magic coin that can cure anything in your body? It has healing properties like you have never seen before. I really have no coin, but I am sure some might believe my claim.
Claims like this are as common as the rising and setting of the sun. In the book QUACK QUACK, Dr. Joe Schwarcz, looks at the massive amount of snake-oil-like claims that have been part of civilization for centuries. Schwarcz is the director of the McGill University’s Office for Science and Society. His office has been in the business of separating fact from fiction.
Throughout history, there have been so many claims that such and such a procedure will be guaranteed to work. If claims like that were all true, disease and suffering would likely be eradicated, and it would be just like a fantasy island we all live on, and live happily ever after at that.
Donald Trump always talked about fake news. Well medical claims and cures take fake news to new heights. The book is packed with one “too good to be true” claim after another, with the author setting the record straight through science and logic.
QUACK QUACK is actually quite amusing in many places, only because the person who came up with the claims and cures, usually believed in the healing processes. Of course there are also many in the book who were plain and simple con artists, knowing without any doubt that their claims were ludicrous and harmful, in giving people a false sense of security and hope.
An interesting claim noted in the book was the use of color therapy to heal illness. Dinshah P. Ghadali was born in India in 1873. He had a Spectro-Chrome wheel, which was a lightbulb in a box, and there were different colored filters used. Any disease was eradicated thanks to the color chosen. Of course at some point the law was involved and put the color king out of business.
There is another incredibly bizarre story involving a woman named Mary, who kept giving birth to dead rabbits. People believed something supernatural was happening inside her body. Even King George 1 was interested in this phenomenon, as it captured public attention. Alas, it was proven she inserted the rabbits into her birth canal, and then gave viewers a hare-raising experience.
There is so much more here, including urine therapy, a robber putting lemon on his face because he thought it would make his face invisible, angels able to change the composition of water, magnets that can heal, and sticking candles in your ear to suck out ear wax. The book certainly provides a massive amount of laughs and head shaking as we learn quackery of the highest order.
Claims like this are as common as the rising and setting of the sun. In the book QUACK QUACK, Dr. Joe Schwarcz, looks at the massive amount of snake-oil-like claims that have been part of civilization for centuries. Schwarcz is the director of the McGill University’s Office for Science and Society. His office has been in the business of separating fact from fiction.
Throughout history, there have been so many claims that such and such a procedure will be guaranteed to work. If claims like that were all true, disease and suffering would likely be eradicated, and it would be just like a fantasy island we all live on, and live happily ever after at that.
Donald Trump always talked about fake news. Well medical claims and cures take fake news to new heights. The book is packed with one “too good to be true” claim after another, with the author setting the record straight through science and logic.
QUACK QUACK is actually quite amusing in many places, only because the person who came up with the claims and cures, usually believed in the healing processes. Of course there are also many in the book who were plain and simple con artists, knowing without any doubt that their claims were ludicrous and harmful, in giving people a false sense of security and hope.
An interesting claim noted in the book was the use of color therapy to heal illness. Dinshah P. Ghadali was born in India in 1873. He had a Spectro-Chrome wheel, which was a lightbulb in a box, and there were different colored filters used. Any disease was eradicated thanks to the color chosen. Of course at some point the law was involved and put the color king out of business.
There is another incredibly bizarre story involving a woman named Mary, who kept giving birth to dead rabbits. People believed something supernatural was happening inside her body. Even King George 1 was interested in this phenomenon, as it captured public attention. Alas, it was proven she inserted the rabbits into her birth canal, and then gave viewers a hare-raising experience.
There is so much more here, including urine therapy, a robber putting lemon on his face because he thought it would make his face invisible, angels able to change the composition of water, magnets that can heal, and sticking candles in your ear to suck out ear wax. The book certainly provides a massive amount of laughs and head shaking as we learn quackery of the highest order.
October 3, 2022
Princess Fuzzypants here: The “true-believers “, whatever their persuasion or cult of choice- will not like this book. The conspiracy theorists will not buy into it either. But for the average person who wants to wade through all the noise of miracle cures and alternative life styles that will conquer all ills, Dr. Joe has written a truly eye-opening book.
I consider myself fairly savvy. I have a healthy skepticism for things that sound too good to be true. The overt cons are apparent and well documented in the book. Snake oil has always been snake oil. It is the ones that sound like there might be something to them that are dangerous. One runs across people all the time who boast that this or that is the panacea for what ails you. When relief is hard to find and hope is fading, people are vulnerable to a good story with anecdotal proof. But if this book over succeeds, it is in debunking much of the “evidence” with pure science. For most of us who have a minimal amount of scientific education- although from the book it sounds like that too is dwindling fast- much of what Dr. Joe points out is not common knowledge. And therein lies the trap. This book should be required reading for every self diagnosing person on the web. Sadly, the ones who need it most will avoid it like the plague.
For the rest of us, it provides some very solid and easy to understand debunking of many of the more popular trends in healing. Even the things that he says may have merit, and there are some, there is no backup from independent testing that could prove one way or the other. He says that is a shame because many things that are today accepted as true started out with skepticism. But when they were put through their paces, they showed promise.
Well researched, easy to read and entertaining but filled with important information, I give this book five very grateful purrs and two paws up.
I consider myself fairly savvy. I have a healthy skepticism for things that sound too good to be true. The overt cons are apparent and well documented in the book. Snake oil has always been snake oil. It is the ones that sound like there might be something to them that are dangerous. One runs across people all the time who boast that this or that is the panacea for what ails you. When relief is hard to find and hope is fading, people are vulnerable to a good story with anecdotal proof. But if this book over succeeds, it is in debunking much of the “evidence” with pure science. For most of us who have a minimal amount of scientific education- although from the book it sounds like that too is dwindling fast- much of what Dr. Joe points out is not common knowledge. And therein lies the trap. This book should be required reading for every self diagnosing person on the web. Sadly, the ones who need it most will avoid it like the plague.
For the rest of us, it provides some very solid and easy to understand debunking of many of the more popular trends in healing. Even the things that he says may have merit, and there are some, there is no backup from independent testing that could prove one way or the other. He says that is a shame because many things that are today accepted as true started out with skepticism. But when they were put through their paces, they showed promise.
Well researched, easy to read and entertaining but filled with important information, I give this book five very grateful purrs and two paws up.
October 11, 2022
Quack Quack: The Threat of Pseudoscience is a collection of short and lighthearted essays written by Dr Joe Schwarcz (an author and professor with a PhD in chemistry). This book debunks many different manipulative products and theories people are profiting off in the name of “science.”
Before even starting this book I was a huge skeptic when it came to any of these remedies and concepts. Maybe it’s because of my medical background, maybe it’s because I don’t believe in things like ghosts or the supernatural, I’m not really sure. But because of this, it felt like beating a dead horse - he didn’t have to convince me. I do see the need/interest for a book like this though, as I have many friends who’ve tried some of the more popular products like ear candles, alkaline water, detoxes and crystals. So there definitely are people buying these products.
I listened to this as an audiobook provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The narrator, Jonathan Yen, did an exceptional job. His voice definitely pulls you in and makes you want to keep listening.
I feel I would’ve enjoyed this book more if I had a hard copy instead and could read it at my leisure. It would be a good coffee table book, or need I say bathroom book, due to the quick chapters that each have their own focus. It felt a bit long to me and I had to work to get through it. But don’t worry Dr Schwarcz, I won’t buy any raw water.
Before even starting this book I was a huge skeptic when it came to any of these remedies and concepts. Maybe it’s because of my medical background, maybe it’s because I don’t believe in things like ghosts or the supernatural, I’m not really sure. But because of this, it felt like beating a dead horse - he didn’t have to convince me. I do see the need/interest for a book like this though, as I have many friends who’ve tried some of the more popular products like ear candles, alkaline water, detoxes and crystals. So there definitely are people buying these products.
I listened to this as an audiobook provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The narrator, Jonathan Yen, did an exceptional job. His voice definitely pulls you in and makes you want to keep listening.
I feel I would’ve enjoyed this book more if I had a hard copy instead and could read it at my leisure. It would be a good coffee table book, or need I say bathroom book, due to the quick chapters that each have their own focus. It felt a bit long to me and I had to work to get through it. But don’t worry Dr Schwarcz, I won’t buy any raw water.
June 15, 2024
Honestly, I really wanted to like Quack Quack far more than I actually did. This thing is, addressing the problems of pseudoscience and how they impact the people in this world negatively is an important topic to discuss and one that I would love to see more people become aware of. I don’t know that this book truly addresses it, though.
Quack Quack honestly feels like one of those books that exists merely to feed the egos of those who recognize this so called “quackery” already. It’s not going to appeal to those who have fallen for it from time to time nor will it do anything for those who are deeply entrenched in the nonsense. People like that mostly likely aren’t going to pick this book up and if by some chance they ever did, they’d immediately put it back down for how patronizing it is. And then, for those of us who already recognize this issue and want to do something about it—the book doesn’t really do anything to put forth an understanding of how we can address this problem in any meaningful way.
Instead, we simply follow Dr. Joe Schwarcz as he tries out one various concerning pseudoscientific remedy after another, debunking them—more or less—along the way. He calls out the problematic sorts who push these false remedies solely to profit off the gullible, which is good to do, but I don’t think it has the impact it should.
Maybe I am expecting too much from a book like this?
I’m not sure.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Quack Quack honestly feels like one of those books that exists merely to feed the egos of those who recognize this so called “quackery” already. It’s not going to appeal to those who have fallen for it from time to time nor will it do anything for those who are deeply entrenched in the nonsense. People like that mostly likely aren’t going to pick this book up and if by some chance they ever did, they’d immediately put it back down for how patronizing it is. And then, for those of us who already recognize this issue and want to do something about it—the book doesn’t really do anything to put forth an understanding of how we can address this problem in any meaningful way.
Instead, we simply follow Dr. Joe Schwarcz as he tries out one various concerning pseudoscientific remedy after another, debunking them—more or less—along the way. He calls out the problematic sorts who push these false remedies solely to profit off the gullible, which is good to do, but I don’t think it has the impact it should.
Maybe I am expecting too much from a book like this?
I’m not sure.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 29, 2023
Such a fantastic book! Dr Schwarcz outlines some funny, ironic, and dangerous examples of scientific misinformation. An easy read as it is organized as a collection of short essays. I especially loved his collection of ways to recognize and combat misinformation. I think he highlights so many important flaws that everyday people and scientists do - cherry pick evidence - whether that’s from a scientific journal or a 7 pm news segment.
I read lots of reviews about this book and noticed critiques of Dr Schwarcz’s “arrogant” tone but I would have to say I disagree. He weaves a fair bit of humour into these stories but more importantly he is discrediting the work of people who are either knowingly or unintentionally causing people harm, and that is nothing to be taken lightly. It takes courage and passion for a person to stand up to these dangerous people and their ideas especially when they are supported by many. He speaks with an earned authority on the subject, not because he is all knowing, but because he puts in the work to hear people out, test their theories, and systematically dismantle them with peer-reviewed research. A nobel pursuit.
I read lots of reviews about this book and noticed critiques of Dr Schwarcz’s “arrogant” tone but I would have to say I disagree. He weaves a fair bit of humour into these stories but more importantly he is discrediting the work of people who are either knowingly or unintentionally causing people harm, and that is nothing to be taken lightly. It takes courage and passion for a person to stand up to these dangerous people and their ideas especially when they are supported by many. He speaks with an earned authority on the subject, not because he is all knowing, but because he puts in the work to hear people out, test their theories, and systematically dismantle them with peer-reviewed research. A nobel pursuit.
March 7, 2023
Battling nonsense may be an exercise in futility. As the author says, the world is filled with preposterous pseudoscience gobbledygook. That was a well-turned phrase.
I found the account of Dr. Kellogg’s sanitarium entertaining and encourage the reader to avoid corn flakes, unless you are a nun or something. Look it up, if you do not know what I am talking about.
Coverage of historical frauds was vaguely interesting, but I am more fascinated by current media charlatans, some of whom become popular and run for senate and the goofy tabloids that plague me as I am attempting to check out from the grocery store. Apparently, a celebrity can sell ridiculous products and seek political office.
The final chapter on dealing with misinformation is the most important.
But, my main concern is how easy it is to create a following. A bit of charisma seems to be all it takes. This is fascinating. The world lacks critical thinking. Instead, magical thinking is all the rage. That is not a good thing.
Quacks will always be with us. Books such as Quack Quack are definitely needed. I just wish they would make a difference.
I found the account of Dr. Kellogg’s sanitarium entertaining and encourage the reader to avoid corn flakes, unless you are a nun or something. Look it up, if you do not know what I am talking about.
Coverage of historical frauds was vaguely interesting, but I am more fascinated by current media charlatans, some of whom become popular and run for senate and the goofy tabloids that plague me as I am attempting to check out from the grocery store. Apparently, a celebrity can sell ridiculous products and seek political office.
The final chapter on dealing with misinformation is the most important.
But, my main concern is how easy it is to create a following. A bit of charisma seems to be all it takes. This is fascinating. The world lacks critical thinking. Instead, magical thinking is all the rage. That is not a good thing.
Quacks will always be with us. Books such as Quack Quack are definitely needed. I just wish they would make a difference.
September 28, 2022
I loved this book. As with his previous books, the snippets are well written and in a conversational tone, with Dr. Schwarcz showing a sense of humor, although again, some of the attempts at humour fell flat. But this is more than compensated for by how interesting the topics of conversation are. I love the snippet format, that makes the book easy to pick up and read whenever some time pops up. Although very sciency, Schwarcz explains everything very clearly and does not use jargon. The book extensively discusses misinformation in an honest and appropriately blunt manner. The section on views on dealing with information and misinformation is priceless. I am not exaggerating when I say that this should be on posters and billboards. Overall, this book is well worth reading and provides captivating accounts of science, for people familiar or not with science. Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for the advance reader copy.
June 11, 2025
Audiobook. At one third of the way through the book it was not good. Tedious 10-minute chapters examined one quack after another, snidely debunking each one.
Persevering through about 80 chapters to the end though, the last chapter provided what I was after: a general approach to differentiaiting pseudo-science, alternative medicine, etc., from more reliable approaches.
But it has taken a pre-built respect for ti⅚h author to stick with it to this point.
I will now re-read the first three chapters that are at least titled in a general-approach way.
...I'm back. Alas, still rather example-focused, to me.
So in summary, the benefit of the book is largely to those with interest towards specific pseudoscience, except for the last chapter which offers a list of guidelines.
Persevering through about 80 chapters to the end though, the last chapter provided what I was after: a general approach to differentiaiting pseudo-science, alternative medicine, etc., from more reliable approaches.
But it has taken a pre-built respect for ti⅚h author to stick with it to this point.
I will now re-read the first three chapters that are at least titled in a general-approach way.
...I'm back. Alas, still rather example-focused, to me.
So in summary, the benefit of the book is largely to those with interest towards specific pseudoscience, except for the last chapter which offers a list of guidelines.
September 26, 2022
This is a series of fast-paced essays debunking dozens of different aspects of pseudoscience. Our choose-your-own facts culture is flooded with examples, but I think Schwarcz is preaching to the choir rather than trying to change the minds of folks who perhaps lack critical thinking. It is a good book to read if you only have a few minutes here and there as the essays are very short and light-hearted.
August 8, 2023
Interesting but oddly structured
Dr. Schwarcz's final chapter does an excellent job of summarizing the preceding pages' themes, but the book itself reads like a series of unconnected blog posts on an assortment of topics. That last chapter feels like the author's only serious effort at imposing structure onto his collection of facts and ideas. As a result, the book simply isn't as compelling as a should be, given the sober and complex nature of the subject.
Dr. Schwarcz's final chapter does an excellent job of summarizing the preceding pages' themes, but the book itself reads like a series of unconnected blog posts on an assortment of topics. That last chapter feels like the author's only serious effort at imposing structure onto his collection of facts and ideas. As a result, the book simply isn't as compelling as a should be, given the sober and complex nature of the subject.
September 29, 2022
Thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the audiobook ARC!
Dr Joe Schwarcz doesn't hold back in this fairly exhaustive review of quack medicine. Though his scathing criticisms are cut somewhat with corny humor, which softens the blow a little, Schwarcz leaves no doubt as to where he stands on the issue of junk science. Some very interesting anecdotes here!
Dr Joe Schwarcz doesn't hold back in this fairly exhaustive review of quack medicine. Though his scathing criticisms are cut somewhat with corny humor, which softens the blow a little, Schwarcz leaves no doubt as to where he stands on the issue of junk science. Some very interesting anecdotes here!
September 1, 2023
Well written and researched with a fun dose of appropriate sarcasm. I would have given the book 3.5 stars if that was an option. The only thing that kept me from giving it a higher score was that most of the examples discussed were so “out there” that I had never even heard of them so found it harder to relate to than some of his previous books.
October 2, 2023
If only a book like this could change the mind of or convince those who believe in quackery. It's also a little overwhelming how many bad ideas are out there and I don't think we'll ever win the game of Whack-a-Mole against them. Still it is an entertaining look at many ideas and the list of ways to combat misinformation was thorough and will probably see use in .y classroom in the future.
January 22, 2024
This is like a much less amusing version of the Sawbones podcast. Couldn't really figure out who this book was aimed for; it certainly isn't for anyone who believes in any of these things, but nor is it for somebody who wants to know more about any of these examples because it is such a surface level debunking.
November 24, 2022
Easy to read history of quackery and alternative medicine.
‘ “Alternative” medicine is a misnomer. Medicine either works or it doesn’t. If it works, it isn’t alternative. If it doesn’t it isn’t medicine’
‘ “Alternative” medicine is a misnomer. Medicine either works or it doesn’t. If it works, it isn’t alternative. If it doesn’t it isn’t medicine’
April 20, 2023
The best part was the end, which actually has a list of all the ways to deal with misinformation. The rest, while it provided a list of many pseudoscientific medical claims, was not tremendously well organized. But it is still a decent introduction.
October 23, 2022
Very punny
dnf
February 7, 2023DNF. I must be getting soft in my old age because I couldn’t find it as jokey as it’s supposed to be.
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