1
of
1
Pseudoscience
An Amusing History of Crackpot Ideas and Why We Love Them
Brief Description
A rollicking visual and narrative history of popular ideas, phenomena, and widely held beliefs disproven by science. The Bermuda Triangle. Personality tests. Ghost hunting. Crop circles. Mayan Doomsday. What do all these have in common? None can quite live up to the rigour of actual facts...
Read More
Format: Hardback
$4999
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
Pseudoscience
$4999
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Latest News
The Book Briefing 21/10/2026
Welcome back to another edition of 'The Book Briefing', your weekly round-up of all the...
Story to Screen - 21/10/26
It's been another huge week in the world of book-to-screen adaptations! From record-breaking trailers and...
Things We Learned from an Evening with Alice Oseman
Liam and Lizzy went along to an evening with Alice Oseman of Heartstopper! Here are...
The Book Hero Team's Wins and Misses in Film and TV Adaptations
We all love arguing in a mostly good-natured way about which adaptations of our favourite...
Vanya Insull (aka VJ Cooks) visits Book Hero
We were lucky to have a visit from popular foodie, home cook and baker Vanya...
See moreA rollicking visual and narrative history of popular ideas, phenomena, and widely held beliefs disproved by science.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
A rollicking visual and narrative history of popular ideas, phenomena, and widely held beliefs disproven by science.
The Bermuda Triangle. Personality tests. Ghost hunting. Crop circles. Mayan Doomsday. What do all these have in common? None can quite live up to the rigour of actual facts or science, and yet they all attract passionate supporters anyway.
Divided into broad sections covering the easily disproved, the wildly speculative, wishful thinking, and of course, hucksterism, Pseudoscience is a romp through much more than bad science. It's a light-hearted look into why we insist on believing in things such as Big Foot, astrology, and the existence of aliens. Did you know, for example, that you can tell a person's future by touching their butt? Rumpology. It's a thing, but not really. Or that Stanley Kubrick made a fake moon landing film for the US government? Except he didn't. Or that spontaneous human combustion is real? It ain't, but it can be explained scientifically.
From the authors of Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything, Pseudoscience is a wild mix of history, pop culture, and good old-fashioned science—one that not only entertains but also sheds a little light on why we all love to believe in a few things we know aren't true.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781523524259
Publisher: Workman Publishing
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 13 March 2025
Country: United States
Imprint: Workman Adult
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 26.0mm
Width: 158.0mm
Height: 206.0mm
Weight: 660g
Pages: 320
About the Author
Lydia Kang, MD, is a practicing internal medicine physician and author of young adult fiction and adult fiction. Her YA novels include Control, Catalyst, and the upcoming The November Girl. Her adult fiction debut is entitled A Beautiful Poison. Her nonfiction has been published in JAMA, the Annals of Internal Medicine, and the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
This author is represented by the Hachette Speakers Bureau.Nate Pedersen is a librarian, historian, and freelance journalist with over 400 publications in print and online, including in the Guardian, the Believer, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Art of Manliness.Also by Lydia Kang
View all-
Star Wars: Cataclysm
The next adventure in The High Republic, set after the events of Convergence and The Battle of Jedha. After the thrilling events of The High Republic: Convergence, the Jedi race to confront the Path of the Open Hand and end the Forever War. After five years of conflict, the planets Eiram and E'ronoh are on the cusp of real peace....Paperback$2700Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Patient Zero
From the masters of storytelling-meets-science and co-authors of Quackery, Patient Zero tells the long and fascinating history of disease outbreaks – how they start, how they spread, the science that lets us understand them, and how we race to destroy them before they destroy us. Written in the authors’ lively and accessible style, chapters include page-turning medical stories about a...Hardback$4999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Quackery
Journey back to a time when doctors tried to jolt your paralysed muscles awake with a strychnine-laced enema. When a physician wrote you a prescription for the mercury-based 'Thunderclapper' pill to relieve your constipation. When surgeons promised to improve your virility with goat-testicle implants. A tour of medicine’s most outlandish misfires, Quackery dives into 67 'treatments,' exploring their various uses...Hardback$4999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Pre-orderStar Wars Insider: The High Republic: Survivors of the Stormwall
A hardcover collection of Star Wars: The High Republic stories from the pages of Star Wars Insider, written by Lydia Kang and award-winning author Alyssa Wong, with illustrations by Star Wars creature concept designer, Jake Lunt Davies. This collection features 11 short stories set during Phase III of The High Republic, chronicling the ongoing battle against the Nihil centuries prior...Hardback$6200Unit price /UnavailableOut 10 Nov 2026Pre-order -
Pre-orderStar Wars Insider: The High Republic Slipcase Set
Experience the galaxy centuries before the struggle of the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire—at the height of the Jedi Order! Starlight Stories: Five thrilling tales from the High Republic era, written by The New York Times bestselling authors Justina Ireland, Cavan Scott, and Charles Soule. Set aboard the incredible space station, Starlight Beacon. Also includes in-depth interviews with the...Hardback$8500Unit price /UnavailableOut 16 Feb 2027Pre-order -
Star Wars: Cataclysm
The next adventure in The High Republic, set after the events of Convergence and The Battle of Jedha. After the thrilling events of The High Republic: Convergence, the Jedi race to confront the Path of the Open Hand and end the Forever War. After five years of conflict, the planets Eiram and E'ronoh are on the cusp of real peace....PaperbackSold Out
Also by Nate Pedersen
View all-
Patient Zero
From the masters of storytelling-meets-science and co-authors of Quackery, Patient Zero tells the long and fascinating history of disease outbreaks – how they start, how they spread, the science that lets us understand them, and how we race to destroy them before they destroy us. Written in the authors’ lively and accessible style, chapters include page-turning medical stories about a...Hardback$4999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Quackery
Journey back to a time when doctors tried to jolt your paralysed muscles awake with a strychnine-laced enema. When a physician wrote you a prescription for the mercury-based 'Thunderclapper' pill to relieve your constipation. When surgeons promised to improve your virility with goat-testicle implants. A tour of medicine’s most outlandish misfires, Quackery dives into 67 'treatments,' exploring their various uses...Hardback$4999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
More from Science & Nature
View all-
Raising Hare
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025 SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 SHORTLISTED FOR THE HATCHARDS AND BIOGRAPHERS' CLUB FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE HAY FESTIVAL, SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, SPECTATOR AND iNEWS 'A beautiful book' - ANGELINA JOLIE 'I...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Nuclear War
The Sunday Times bestselling non-fiction thriller that has to be read to be believed. Baillie Gifford shortlisted, a favourite of Steven Bartlett, with an average reader rating of 4.6, sure to be a mass-market hit. Up to now, no one outside of official circles has known exactly what would happen if a rogue state launched a nuclear missile at the...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Anxious Generation
A powerful argument for reclaiming childhood—and all human relationships—from the online world, from the influential social psychologist and international bestselling author. Jonathan Haidt has spent his career speaking truth and wisdom in some of the most difficult spaces—communities polarised by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the mental health emergency hitting teenagers today in many countries around...Paperback$2299Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Prisoners of Geography
Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present, and future to offer crucial insights into one of the major factors that determine world history – because if you don’t know geography, you’ll never have the full picture. Originally published in 2015, this completely revised and updated edition brings it up to date with the events and trends of the past...Paperback$2899Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Ultra-Processed People
Launching the runaway bestseller with ambitions to be the biggest non-fiction paperback of the year IT'S NOT YOU. IT'S THE FOOD. "If you only read one diet or nutrition book in your life, make it this one" - Bee Wilson "You've got to get this book in your life . . . Completely compelling . . . Read a page...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Pokemon Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded 2024
The essential guide to all things Pokémon, this year’s Encyclopedia includes all of the details of Ash Ketchum’s battle to become Pokémon World Champion! The new updated and expanded final edition of the Pokémon Encyclopedia! Ash Ketchum’s journey to becoming a Pokémon Master, and winner of the Masters Eight World Championships, has come to an end. Travel through all 8...Hardback$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Kitchen Confidential
The classic bestseller from the star of Parts Unknown and No Reservations: 25th Anniversary edition, with a new introduction by Irvine Welsh. BEFORE THERE WAS THE BEAR, THERE WAS BOURDAIN. ‘Elizabeth David written by Quentin Tarantino’ — A.A. Gill ‘Fantastic: as lip-smackingly seductive as a bowl of fat chips and pungent aioli’ — Daily Telegraph After twenty-five years of sex,...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Sapiens
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari is an extraordinary exploration of humanity's history from the dawn of our species to the present day. Harari delves into our evolution, offering insights into the cognitive revolutions that allowed Homo sapiens to rise above other animal species. Traversing through various stages of human development, he examines the Agricultural Revolution, the unification of humankind through...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Talk
A Harvard professor shows how we can become better talkers - and why effective conversation will help us all thrive. Conversation is at the heart of our relationships and decision-making, but the science behind our everyday interactions, and how to improve them, is little known. In Talk, Harvard Professor Alison Wood Brooks provides fascinating insights into the power of effective...Paperback$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Clean & Green
Simple swaps and innovative ideas for cleaning and maintaining your home that won't cost the Earth. Learn how easy it is to make simple swaps in your cleaning and tidying methods for a more eco-friendly home. This beautifully illustrated black and white guide with 101 hints and sustainable, natural cleaning tips and hacks will help you take small steps that...Paperback$2999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
18% offThe Genetic Book of the Dead
From one of the world’s great science writers, a book that explores the deepest principles of evolutionary history. In this groundbreaking new approach to the evolution of all life, Richard Dawkins shows how the body, behaviour, and genes of every living creature can be read as a book – an archive of the worlds of its ancestors. A perfectly camouflaged...Hardback$4000Elsewhere:$5499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Coming Wave
The instant Sunday Times bestseller from the ultimate AI insider - the only book you need to read on this subject. An Economist, Financial Times, Guardian, Prospect and Sunday Times Book of the Year Shortlisted for the FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year This is the only book you need to understand our new world - from the...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
Science & Nature lists from the team
Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!
