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In 1990 thousands of people in Missouri followed a scientist’s advice and
prepared for an earthquake. The trouble was, he was a zoologist—and the
catastrophe never happened. Christopher Toumey’s Conjuring Science (Rutgers
University Press, $16.95, ISBN 0 8135 2285 4), marshals examples of how
widespread ignorance of science in the US makes people trust its
symbols—such as technical terms, credentials and standards of
proof—over substance. Toumey has cut a real gem of anthropology.