Science Friction Where the Known Meets the Unknown

A scientist pretends to be a psychic for a dayand fools everyone. An athlete discovers that good-luck rituals and getting into the zone may, or may not, improve his performance. A son explores the possiblities of alternative and experimental medicine for his cancer-ravaged mother. And a skeptic realizes that it is time to turn the skeptical lens onto science itself. In each of the fourteen essays in Science Friction, bestselling author Michael Shermer explores the very personal barriers and biases that plague and propel science, especially when scientists push against the unknown. What do we know and what do we not know? How does science respond to controversy, attack, and uncertainty? When does theory become accepted fact? As always, Shermer delivers a thought-provoking, fascinating, and entertaining view of life in the scientific age.

Michael Shermer is a columnist for Scientific American and the author of the bestselling Why People Believe Weird Things (0-8050-7089-3), How We Believe (0-8050-7479-1), and The Science of Good and Evil (0-8050-7769-3). He is the publisher of Skeptic magazine and the founder and director of the international Skeptics Society. He lives in Los Angeles, California.