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.
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
The world's fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second
2
Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths
3
The race to understand how and when Thwaites glacier will collapse
4
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
5
This physicist is hunting for the biggest black hole in the universe
6
We’ve uncovered a master gene that switches on human development
7
US government wants to have a useful quantum computer by 2028
8
I’m the first person whose life was saved by CRISPR base editing
9
I have a 100 per cent chance of getting cancer due to a rare gene
10
Our verdict on The Selfish Gene: An unpopular piece of popular science
