Pandora's lab : seven stories of science gone wrong
Record details
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Physical Description:
1 online resource (1 audio file (9:hr., 6: min.)) : digital.
remote
access
electronic resource - Edition: Unabridged.
- Publisher: [United States]: Blackstone Audio, Inc. , 2017.
- Distributor: Made available through hoopla
Content descriptions
Restrictions on Access Note: | Digital content provided by hoopla. |
Participant or Performer Note: | Narrated by Greg Tremblay. |
Summary, etc.: | What happens when ideas presented as science lead us in the wrong direction? History is filled with brilliant ideas that gave rise to disaster, and this book explores the most fascinating-and significant-missteps. Pandora's Lab takes us from opium's heyday as the pain reliever of choice to recognition of opioids as a major cause of death in the United States; from the rise of trans fats as the golden ingredient for tastier, cheaper food to the heart disease epidemic that followed; and from the cries to ban DDT for the sake of the environment to an epidemic-level rise in world malaria. These are today's sins of science-as deplorable as mistaken ideas from the past such as advocating racial purity or using lobotomies as a cure for mental illness. These unwitting errors add up to seven lessons both cautionary and profound, explained by renowned author and speaker Paul A. Offit. Offit uses these lessons to investigate how we can separate good science from bad, using as case studies some of today's most controversial creations: e-cigarettes, GMOs, and drug treatments for ADHD. For every "Aha!" moment that should have been an "Oh no," this book is an engrossing account of how science has been misused disastrously-and how we can learn to use its power for good. |
System Details Note: | Mode of access: World Wide Web. |
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Subject: | Science |
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