When the Earth Was Flat: All the Bits of Science We Got Wrong by Graeme Donald (PDF)

Description

Perfect for anyone with an interest in our scientific history, When the Earth Was Flat exposes the scientific theories that were once widely believed to be true but have since been disproved.Featuring ideas that now seem more crazy than credible, from the human body being made up of only four humours – black and yellow bile, blood and phlegm – to the discovery of the so-called ‘missing link’ in the evolutionary chain. When the Earth Was Flat tells the fascinating story behind those scientific theories we once believed to be true, and shows how the way we view the world, and the way we think the world works, has changed completely throughout history.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The title tells all, covering the may ideas that science got wrong, including: “The Origin of the Species: There is a missing link in the evolutionary chain” and the idea that one’s offspring can inherit characteristics from a previous mating of the female parent. Others include that African and Polynesian societies indulged in cannibalism, the plagues of the Middle Ages were bubonic and carried by rats’ fleas, even the earth is a hollow vessel, the bodies of animals contain a life energy that can be influenced by external magnetic forces, the human body is made up of four humours—blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile. Others include the physical measurements of the skull correlate to a person’s personality, a battalion of marching soldiers can cause a suspension bridge to collapse, base metals can be turned into gold, hysteria is the sole preserve of women, tobacco can cure a variety of health problems, and injecting monkeys’ glands into humans encourages sexual rejuvenation, and, last, the selective breeding of humans can weed out the weak from society. Some of these ideas I could not judge, but those I could. he was right on the money.

⭐I have read a number of books by this author and I’ve never been disappointed in his work. This book is no exception. Here, he covers a variety of cases in history where some of the prevailing scientific ideas were simply wrong. He points out that some of these erroneous theories have led to modern respectable sciences, e.g., alchemy led to chemistry, animal magnetism led to hypnosis, etc. In each case, he elaborates on many of the details/evolution of the theories, their proponents and their demise, thus making this book both intriguing, and especially entertaining.Written in a prose that is clear, friendly, lighthearted, witty and quite engaging, this book is sure to please anyone with a penchant for the lighter side of scientific history.

⭐When Donald writes about things I’m familiar with, such as Onan and Telegony, I find he has deliberately misquoted his sources to fit his theory better. Which is a shame, because he has some great ideas, and no doubt most of his material is good – it’s just hard to tell which bits are ‘adjusted’. I expect more honest research in a book that purports to be science.

⭐and also very surprising. It is so full of digestible information, some of which, it has to be said, is stranger than fiction.

⭐This book starts out with some fun misc. science history, but ends rambling about how evolution lacks evidence, etc. At the end of a page on Neanderthals he writes “… he is still with us, a fact that will come as no surprise to female readers” – wth, he really wrote that?! I found this book not well researched, not coming close to the title “all the bits of science we got wrong”. It lacks mention of modern science and thought.

⭐Author is sexually frustrated and speaks of odd propaganda and weird history – tries to push that it was all normalized! Come on man?? If you want to feel you are descended from a bunch of idiots, buy this book… I wouldn’t bother buying this book, totally regret the purchase. Other than random / weird / rare propaganda — absolutely NO useful information! Waste of a read!

⭐This is a populist look at various now discredited scientific theories and how they affected society and subsequently came to be disproved. The range is very wide; dangerous theories with evil consequences (e.g. phrenology, eugenics); well known Medieval scientific theories reflecting the state of scientific knowledge at the time (e.g. alchemy, the four humours, the miasma theory of disease); benevolent views of substances now regarded as harmful (e.g. tobacco smoke cures, Victorian era patent medicines based on cocaine and opium); alternative theories about the Earth (flat earth/hollow earth) that survive in a limited way today; modern-sounding theories that die hard (e.g. the effectiveness of subliminal advertising); and even ridiculous ones such as the treatment of hysterical women in the 19th century by doctors, ahem, using their fingers to massage their patients’ lower genital organs, a development which led to the invention of the first mechanical vibrators in the late 19th century so these ladies could effect their own “cure”!There was one chapter I thought ill-placed here, that on the Black Death, which treated the majority opinion that this was caused by bubonic plague as “bad science”, and instead advancing the anthrax theory as the most likely culprit. The latter is a theory held by some, but cannot plausibly be presented as true science superseding the “wrong science” of bubonic plague.Overall, though, a sometimes amusing, sometimes horrifying, always interesting book.

⭐i found this book fascinating,mainly because it doesn’t just say that science got it wrong, it also explains why. also, the author linked together the various errors where they were related to each other and that made it more interesting because it helped show how all these mistakes linked together!oh and i had no idea how into mad scientific theories Hitler was!!!

⭐A good stocking filler book. Some really interesting entries.

⭐I expected this book to be a light-hearted look at where we had gone wrong, That was where I went wrong! It seems to be a rather cold and flat description of minor errors that have been made in the past. I will not give it as a present, which hade been my intention.

⭐Still the funniest and most candid book in my collection. One to pick up, any time. Unbelievable revelations, so well written, revealing the true unbelievable facts, you’ll have to discover for yourself. I would recommend it, but perhaps not everyone is as broad-minded as I am!

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