Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

Published by 4th Estate, 2008

Ben Goldacre – doctor, blogger and Guardian columnist - gives an entertaining and informative introduction to the scientific method for medical research and debunks a wide range of charlatans and dodgy practice.  He explains why poor journalism and a lack of scientific understanding has allowed health scares to develop and how different individuals have taken advantage, with topics including detox, nutritionists, homeopathy, Gillian McKeith, Patrick Holford, Brain Gym, MMR, antioxidants and MRSA.

Idea for the classroom:  Chapter 13 Bad Stats

Examples are given of how statistics and probability can be used (and misused) – tests for diseases, miscarriages of justice, the prosecuter’s fallacy.  Use these examples with A level students doing Statistics, ask them to explore the maths involved and challenge them to explain the ideas behind these misconceptions to a non-maths specialist.