In this lively collection, Gardner examines the rich and hilarious variety of pseudoscientific conjectures that dominate the media today. With a special emphasis on parapsychology and occultism, these witty pieces address the evidence put forth to support claims of ESP, psychokinesis, faith healing, and other pseudoscience.

Fair, witty appraisal of cranks, quacks, and quackeries of science and pseudoscience: hollow earth, Velikovsky, orgone energy, Dianetics, flying saucers, Bridey Murphy, food and medical fads, and much more.

A searing exposé of the misuses and misrepresentations of science from the time of Galileo continuing through to the present day, this new edition includes updates on the asbestos industry, the chemicals industry, the sugar industry, the agriculture industry (the abuse of antibiotics), and the automobile industry (lead in gasoline). The final chapter has been expanded to include the full-blooded assault on science mounted by the Trump administration.

In the early days of photography, many believed and hoped that the camera would prove more efficient than the human eye in capturing the unseen. Spiritualists and animists of the nineteenth century seized on the new technology as a method of substantiating the existence of supernatural beings and happenings. This fascinating book assembles more than 250 photographic images from the Victorian era to the 1960s, each purporting to document an occult phenomenon: levitations, apparitions, transfigurations, ectoplasms, spectres, ghosts, and auras. Drawn from the archives of European and American occult societies and private and public collections, the photographs in many cases have never before been published. The Perfect Medium studies these rare and remarkable photographs through cultural, historical, and artistic lenses. More than mere curiosities, the images on film are important records of the cultural forces and technical methods that brought about their production. They document in unexpected ways a period when developing photographic technology merged with a popular obsession with the occult to create a new genre of haunting experimental photographs.

This collection of essays by America's foremost polymath delves into some of the many fascinating subjects in which Martin Gardner has had an abiding interest. Focusing primarily on literary and philosophical subjects, Order and Surprise is the sequel to the widely acclaimed Science: Good, Bad and Bogus. Some of Gardner's best essays and reviews are included in this volume, such as: "Why Librarians Dislike Oz" "The Strange Case of Robert Maynard Hutchins" "H.G. Wells, 'Premature' Anti-Communist" "Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four" "Is Nature Ambidextrous?" "Beyond Cultural Relativism" "The Popperism of Sir Karl" "Keeping Up With Einstein" In addition, Gardner has included many of his perceptive reviews of books by and about such authors as Franz Kafka, Thomas Wolfe, John Updike, Vance Packard, Colin Wilson, Lewis Carroll, and many others. In some cases the author has modified the original texts, sometimes restoring passages removed by editors, sometimes adding new footnotes to update the material. In many cases, Gardner has added a postscript that allows him to comment on an article or review. Like the previous anthology, this book is divided into two parts. The first contains articles in chronological order of publication; the second, book reviews in similar order. Order and Surprise represents Gardner at his best - incisive, witty, and urbane.

"Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity ... An explosion of scientific discoveries in the last twenty years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now ... neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming"--Amazon.com.