Department of Earth Sciences
GEO 306 -- Science, Pseudoscience and Fraud
Spring, 2008  

textbooks:
Wynn CM and Wiggins AW (1997) The Five Biggest Ideas in Science. John Wiley and Sons, New York. 200 p.
Sagan C and Druyan A (1996) The Demon-Haunted World--Science as a Candle in the Dark. Ballentine Books, New York. 457 p.
Dawkins R (2000) Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder. Mariner Books. 352 p.
Hines T (2002) Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. (ISBN 1-57392-979-4)

catalog description: A multi-disciplinary course derived in equal parts from understanding natural phenomena in terms of basic science, unmasking the profound nature of scientific principles and applying them to everyday life. The course will focus on uncovering topics that are ‘messy’ and intellectually complex rather than ones that have ‘right answers’ or are contrived ‘cook book’ experiments. Sub-themes in the course will allow students to experience a scientist’s sense of triumph through rational thinking by exposing specious arguments (pseudoscience) and charlatans (fraud), such as Creationism, Dowsing, Pyramid Power, Astrology and Living Dinosaurs.

Click here for the syllabus and notes on written assignments. (63kB pdf file)

Click here for information on plagiarism. Also, I recommend working on the exercise here for practice on effective paraphrasing. (16kB pdf file)

Notes on Term Papers:
The point of the term paper is to clarify the status of the topic in terms of science, pseudoscience and/or fraud (SPF). You should give a thorough review of the history of the phenomenon, a full description of what the phenomenon is, and then give the appropriate details on where the phenomenon fits into the SPF heirarchy. This is not an opinion paper! Any personal insights you bring to the work need to be backed up with evidence and presented with objectivity.

Order of presentations:
Monday 4/14: Walker, Glod, Randall
Wednesday 4/16: Evon, Ciccoricco, Hecox
Friday 4/18: no class meeting (Tomascak on field trip)
Monday 4/21: Denny, Estes, Wende
Wednesday 4/23: no class meeting (Quest day)
Friday 4/25: Paar, Stevick, Wexler
Monday 4/28: Bond, Iannotta, Stephenson
Wednesday 4/30: Cirigliano, Loomis, Stevens
Friday 5/2: DeGroff, Berlingieri, Kissane
Monday 5/5: Card, McGinn, McCormick
Wednesday 5/7: Eno, Jablon, Vrooman
Friday 5/9: Stevens, Tan
Warning: If you had any intention of not attending the final weeks of class when students present their research projects, think again. The Final Exam will contain material that I hand-select from the talks.
Remember: (1) presentations are to take ~10 minutes and allow ~5 minutes for questions; (2) if you are not present on your assigned date you will not have another chance to present (presentation grade = 0); (3) if you need technological support (computer projection, internet, TV/DVD), you must let me know in advance, so I have things ready for your presentation.

Key to marks and abbreviations on papers:
- a check mark usually denotes something positive
- underlined words or passages either ask for clarification or make a specific comment; a squiggly underline generally denotes something I have a problem with, whether I follow it with a comment or not
- abbreviations: awk = understandable but badly worded section (section underlined or marked off with parentheses); unc = unclear (section usually marked off with parentheses; sometimes I will use a question mark instead); frag = sentence fragment; uc = letter should be in upper case; lc = letter should be in lower case; sp = spelling error; ww = wrong word used; run on = a run-on sentence, or a sentence that while technically not run-on needs to be divided in order to make it more effective; cliche = a cliche is a word or expression that through over/misuse has become meaningless or ineffective

Books in Penfield Library that may be helpful for background on our discsussions of evolution and creationism (I have copies that could be borrowed, too):
Berra, Tim (1990) Evolution and the myth of creationism: a basic guide to the facts in the evolution debate.
Kitcher, Philip (1982) Abusing science: the case against creationism.

Useful web sites for the course:
National Center for Science Education
The Skeptics Society
Quackwatch: Your Guide to Quackery, Health Fraud, and Intelligent Decisions
Skeptic Report.com
The skeptic's dictionary
CSICOP: Committee for the scientific investigation of claims of the paranormal
Evolution resources from the National Academies
The Panda's Thumb: discussions on evolution and anti-evolution study
The PBS program "Evolution"
Strange Science: The rocky road to modern paleontology and biology
The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization
The Boundary Institute for the Study of Foundations
Online tests of "psychic ability" from the Boundary Institute

For a list of Science Today lectures this semester,  click here.  (Wednesdays @ College Hour in Snygg Hall, rm. 102). 

For Earth Sciences News click here. 

updated material: 4/30/08, 3:26 p.m.