Unscientific Nonsense
355396
The author spends nearly half the book with criticsm of performance measurement, a technique currently practiced by the vast majority of fortune 500 companies. He then sets up a "model" for assessing performance measurement techniques and uses this to "prove" that such techniques must fail, are totally useless and have adverse impacts on any organization deploying them. He then indicates that he alone knows what's best (apparently the rest of us are fools). Having poured scorn on his competition, he then puts forward the technique of Catalytic Coaching but of course fails to subject it to the same model that he used in his diatribe against performance measurement. The truth, as any management professional well knows, is that if you don't measure it, you can't manage it! Avoiding the issue does not resolve it. This book is unscientific nonsense dressed up in the language of science in order to deceive the reader.
1909913
A Book that plans to debunk a science and a philosophy.

A scientist looks at biology. He investigates the inner workings of the cell. He observes the intricacy of the molecular machines. He notes the vast information storehouse that is DNA. He uses mathematics to try and calculate the possible pathways from a simple machine to a vastly more complex one. He uses all the most technologically advanced tools available to modern science. He writes a paper on his findings and submits it to a peer reviewed Journal. It is not accepted. Why? Was there something wrong with his science? No, instead, there as something wrong with his conclusion, that what he has observed suggests design and intelligence rather than chance and random mutation. Nothing else separates this scientist from his peers other than the final conclusion of the science. The scientist I refer to is just your typical ID, or Intelligent Design, researcher.

Wait. ID is religious propaganda created to turn America into a Theocracy, right?

When one side of an argument stoops to lying, deception and hysterical propaganda in order to stop someone with an an opposing view encroaching on their scientific turf, all it shows is one side is very scared of their daft lack of real evidence. They are threatened to the core. ID is simple science and religion plays no part in it. Of course, the Darwinian Fundamentalists will scream and shout bloody murder to try and convince you otherwise. They do not fight fair, they use ad hominids, scare tactics and outright threats to achieve their agenda.

Let the scientists do the research and display their findings. If evolution is proved wrong, it sure will not be the first time commonly held scientific theory was turned on its head and utterly abandoned. Today's neo-Darwinist acts like a spoilt playground child in fear of his imaginary friend being taken away from him. They are NOT acting like scientists at all. Good science always challenges existing views. Why is this view of evolution so different? If there is so much evidence for evolution, WHAT ARE YOU ALL AFRAID OF? Let the evidence speak for itself. Let the science speak for itself. Follow the evidence where it leads instead of trying to just find evidence that supports what you want it to say.

I will say nothing about Creationism. it is a philosophy, not science, and not ID. Nor is ID, creationism.
1599703
I have now read this book entirely. One of the things he writes is: "I'm completely confident that I can prove there's no such thing as the laws of physics". I recognise this for the arrogantly-expressed rubbish that it is. I still observe such significant inconsistencies and plain errors / assumptions that I believe the potential reader should be warned of. However, my original comments based upon exerpts from the book still stand.

Firstly, he makes assumptions and misinterpretations concerning the effects of the Sun and the Solar System. He suggests that there is some unmeasurable 'wave of energy' generated by the planets having some kind of impact upon our own reality on Earth, and goes on to enter the field of the unbelievable error when he writes that the orbital paths of the planets have a far greater effect upon radio signals than does the Suns' 22 or 11-year cycle, [of which records have been kept since 1849 in Zurich]. It is also not the direct effect of magnetic solar activity that affects radio signals, as he suggests, it is known to be the UV and x-ray emissions that affect the Earths' atmospheric layers that cause these effects. In other words, radiation.

Secondly, he bases many of his points throughout the book on astrology rather than scientific facts, far too many to go into in a review so short as this but noteworthy nevertheless as it is coupled with his belief in some dire 'Secret' that Governments know about but do not tell the public. If you're looking for a good collection of facts, you are wrong in reading this book. If your interests are in ESP, the unmeasurable and undefinable aspects of astrology, the indefensable, conspiracies and U.F.O.'s then here is your entertainment.

Thirdly there are a number of demonstrations of his own lack of knowledge - he doesn't know the effectivity of a Faraday Cage - his is made of lead which is a far inferior conductor as well as being heavy whereas silver-plated copper would be the practical choice of metal.

Bara assumes that the Suns' temperature must be far higher if it is effectively a nuclear power source (20 million degrees C) as opposed to it's measured apparent temperature of around 6 million degrees; he also suggests that in [his] reality the Sun is simply an 'Energy Portal'...
The fact is even here on Earth our nuclear power stations may typically produce if uncontrolled a far greater deal of energy than is required or even desired: that is why there are 'control rods' in the reactor to regulate its activity, and nothing states that similar materials in the Sun also don't affect the amount of nuclear activity and hence its temperature.

This list goes on (and on...)

Whilst I could carry on with more examples of misinterpretation, inconsistencies and lack of reality. it would be far too long for a review of this kind.

He professes to know a great deal, I am of the opnion that he posesses the inverse of that amount.
-- F.C.T. Gale.
3523734
The author is a cosmologist and winner of the Templeton Prize, the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for religiously-oriented science writing, or scientifically-oriented religious writing. This is a very small book, purportedly about the possible existence of alien life on other worlds. As such, one would expect it to be a science book. But, true to his Templeton prize, the author sneaks too much religion into the text. A particularly useless and pointless discussion revolved around whether "God" might have become incarnate in alien life the way one particular Earth religion believes happened on this planet. The author actually mentions this as a means of salvation of the putative aliens from sin. Seriously. The author thinks he is writing a science book here, folks. The only religion mentioned is Christianity. Why is that? To be fair, all the several hundred or thousands of Earth religions should be discussed to see how the theology of each fits into the scenarios discussed about the search for alien life or the possibility of alien life. An elementary error, or perhaps a convenient point of view, is that the author states several times that the universe is infinite. He goes on to make some unjustified conclusions based on that view. Another egregious error is that the claim is made that if alien life is discovered to be based on DNA and proteins, this will somehow invalidate Darwinism and point to a teleology, which of course indicates a plan or purpose in the universe. And that seems to be what this religion author is driving at in this poorly disguised religious tract.
1280584
As a professional geologist, I have some special expertise in karst limestone formations. I also have decades worth of paranormal research under by belt so I think I can rightfully critique this volume. Ill be blunt, this book is shallow, pretentious nonsense. The geological explanations are so muddled, and nonsensical - jaw-droppingly bad. Yohe is not a scientist but is pretending to play one. If the best you can cite are popular websites or How Stuff Works as your references, you should not be writing books for anyone.

Paranormalists LOVE the idea of the stone tape theory because it sounds sciencey and they can buffalo those readers who don't have enough science background to be able to tell how ridiculous it sounds.  Always be concerned about self-published books that claim to be bridging science and the paranormal. Turn and RUN away from any that invoke quantum theories of entanglement. It's all hand waving and bamboozling with big words and amateur speculation.

This is a book of pseudoscience. Neither limestone nor any other type of rock (ghost hunters playing scientists like to invoke granite and other quartz-containing rock) has ever been shown to any degree to absorb emotional energy and then play it back later. Not only is there no viable mechanism for recording or for playback, there is no evidence that this even is a reasonable observation. A scientific theory is one that has been supported by evidence and can be used to predict observations. The "stone tape" theory is not a theory - it's a handy speculative fictional device.

To affect scientific expertise when you have none is abhorrent to me. This book is just terrible. An awful waste of words. If you read it, you will end up more misinformed than informed.
1308535
This book is the result of a non-scientist, unencumbered by the requisite knowledge of the nature of scientific truth, pontificating about the details of a complex biological phenomenon--Darwinian evolution. It would be no less absurd for me--as a biological scientist--to write a book on constitutional law or astrophysics. Intelligent Design is not a scientific theory, and this fact is not changed no matter how many people claim that it is. As a committed, liberal Christian, I find it very sad that the Intelligent Design crowd spends so much time, energy, and money trying to prove the existence of God, while countless numbers of their fellow humans remain hungry, naked, and homeless. Jesus must weep at the sorry spectacle.
4675034
This film is biased towards one particular viewpoint.  No real surprise there.  Unfortunately, there is little scientific evidence to support any of the "expert" claims made during the film, and those things that were partly true were taken out of context and communicated in wildly inaccurate ways.  For instance, I ran across the part of the film that mentioned "digestive leukocytosis".  I was unfamiliar with this specific term, but found the description in the film sounded implausible.  After digging up a few studies and wading through the findings, it became obvious that their claims did not reflect actual evidence.  Kouchakoff's experiment found immune response triggered only in foods that had been cooked at temperatures of 189 degrees F or higher (depending on the food) and even then, many cooked foods triggered no immune response at all.  Kouchakoff suggested that digestive leukocytosis could be avoided by eating 10% raw foods at a meal, or by cooking foods below the critical temperature, nowhere near the staggering 50% suggested in the film.  Despite 8 decades of research, nobody has ever been able to reproduce any of Kouchakoff's findings.

I'm also very concerned by any entity that makes claims that any dietary or supplementary action can prevent countless physical ailments without having hard scientific evidence to support such a claim.  There is no diet that can make you either immortal or impervious to all disease.  There are some physical ailments that are, at least in part, triggered by lifestyle choices.  There are others that remain shrouded in mystery despite long and diligent study.  Just visit a children's hospital and take a look at all of the little people who have been struck down by cancer, heart defects, lung problems, brain problems.  Some children are born with these ailments, despite their mothers eating a perfect vegetarian, whole foods, raw foods, organic diet during the entire pregnancy.  Some don't even make it until they are born.  Without immediate, often dramatic medical intervention, these conditions lead to death or lifelong impairment.  Serious, life threatening conditions can develop at any point in an individual's life.  They are not all related to diet, and many are determined within the individual's DNA, but are asymptomatic until later.  Others are triggered by environmental stimuli or viruses.

The bottom line is that the human body very complex, with many different parts and systems that all have to work together in harmony in order to maintain good health.  If there is a breakdown in any one of these systems, the results could be catastrophic.  However, as each body part is different, each health problem must be approached differently.  It is not logical to apply only one solution to such a vast variety of problems.  This is not only lazy, in any professional capacity is is irresponsible, as it could place the person following your advice in harm's way.  Giving someone an arm cast will not cure a heart attack, even if their arm is hurting at the time.
1814615
Religious baloney masquerading as science. Don't be fooled. Well-known skeptic Richard Dawkin's name was put on this movie without his permission to make it seem like a balanced, thoughtful perspective.
3227281
Ridiculous insta-love, unbelievable science, and a poorly imagined premise- mix them together, and you get The Murder Complex. Clearly, the author has never taken a science course and believes fiction shouldn't have a scrap of it to make it credible. We readers can tell because she glosses over her explanations, hopeful no one will notice. To hide if further-Dr. Lark-the brilliant mad scientist- tosses out to her daughter Meadow-"you're not smart enough to understand it." The premise of a society that has children robot killing machines because no one can die is laughable. It made no sense and was a poor attempt at originality. The insta-love was also concerning-Meadow and Zephyr- their relationship's start-she has waist length blond hair and he has dark green eyes. As Isaac Asimov, the greatest science fiction writer said, "Anyone who writes about science must know about science, which cuts down competition considerably."
2385197
My interests have always been wide and varied.  After having read and reviewed two other similar (UFOs caught on film and Ghosts caught on film) books and found them amusing but not convincing, I decided to purchase this volume to see if I could find one photo that would make be a "true believer."  The Paranormal caught on film by Dr. Melvyn Willin failed to amuse me very much.  This one was the least interesting of the three "caught on film" texts. It never ceases to amaze me how so many gullible and possibly uneducated people can believe in UFOs, Ghosts and other so-called paranormal subjects with absolutely no scientific proof.  I guess faith and belief is more powerful than science?

 Most of the photographs in this volume are questionable at best and probably faked in most cases.  In our modern age with computers and photo shop anyone with an average degree of intelligence can create better photographs than I have seen in these "Caught on Film" books I have read lately.

This volume is organized into five parts.  Part one has photos of ghostly figures.  Part two has photos of strange lights and apparitions.  Part three has photographs of Simulacra. Part four shows photographs of the unexplained: Poltergeists and other phenomena.  The final section shows photographs from people who have came "back for the dead."

In conclusion,  Those who adhere to reason, logic and the scientific method will find many of these photographs amusing but none of them will stand up to strict scientific investigation.  "True Believers" do not need to have an objective and rational mind and probably will love this book.

Rating:  3 Stars.  Joseph J. Truncale  (Author:  Martial Art Myths)
1422912
Daniels sets out to disprove the theory of evolution and verify the accuracy of the Bible. The result is a rather folksy essay.

He covers the improbabilities of evolution, beginning with interdependency. He notes the unlikeliness of male and female of a species evolving at the same time, let alone that happening 1.8 million times. He writes about the issues of animals and their necessary habitat and food sources evolving all at the exact same time. He defends the geological column as a result of the flood. He critiques carbon 14 dating. He compares creation and evolution, notes the evidence for a Designer, and likens evolution to idolatry. He then defends the Bible and presents a gospel message.

Daniels has provided no documentation in his work, that is, no footnotes. He makes lots of unsubstantiated claims. For example, ...the human genome has remain fixed, unchanged... All other plant and animal genomes have remained unchanged... (55) He offers no documented proof for such a claim.

He makes sweeping statements: We cannot trust any of the claims made by scientists regarding the age of the earth or the origins of life. All of their claims are based solely on speculation and theory. There is no scientific proof for any of it. (23) Quite a statement to make when he himself offers no scientific proof for his claims.

The subtitle of the book is not accurate. What Daniels presents is not new. If you have done any reading at all in the creation evolution debate, you will have read about the information Daniels presents. The information here would be new only to someone who has not read anything by Morris or Ham or any other of the scores of authors writing on the subject. And I did not find the arguments compelling. That was mostly because they were unsubstantiated claims. While I may agree with some of them, they were not presented in a compelling way.

Potential readers should be aware that Daniels recommends the Bible commentaries of Ellen G. White, one of the founders of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

I find it odd that the cover image of the book, a painting by Michelangelo, has been altered. Was it really necessary to spare readers the anatomical accuracy of the original painting?

I would not recommend this book. There are many books, long and short, that are much better on the issue of creation and evolution.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Book Crash for the purpose of an independent and honest review.
535721
It always amazes me how seemingly intelligent people can become so  irrational when it comes to their religious beliefs.  This feeble attempt  to show how new theories in science point to a God is nothing new.  Ontological and cosmological "proofs" for God have been around  for a long time and this book offers nothing new.  I have a PhD in physics  and have met many other scientists and have shared thoughts on this  subject. I must say the editors and sample scientists views are NOT  representative of most.  It seems obvious the editors picked those  scientists who held similar views.  Sure they chose a few token agnostics.  The only way I could recommed this book is for a laugh and the simple  wonder of how the comfort of religion can corrupt even a well disciplined  scientific mind.
1476307
Being a prophet and having prophetic visions is just plain silly not to mention unprovable, which is exactly what this author and the other authors in this book want. They are praying (no pun intended) off weak-minded people who will follow them wherever they go, loading up the their pockets with money only to be left with another "soon, believers!" from them. Using the Bible to decode the end times is like using the book Cinderella to decode the meaning of life out of Sleeping Beauty; it's researching a fairy tale to prove another fairy tale right or wrong. The sheer premise of what they want to achieve is flawed from the beginning. The end of times will not happen in any of our lifetimes or our children or even our children's children's children. The end times will happen in a couple billion years when the sun looses hydrogen and expands into a red giant, eventually overtaking our inner solar system. THAT is a fact. We can see it all over the observable universe. It has been tested, viewed, tested again, scrutinized and then scrutinized some more; it's the scientific method. Being ignorant to a beautiful, already fascinating world is such a shame. Do you really think that all the stuff described in the book will happen? Honestly? With the world being documented better than ever has anyone ever seen irrefutable proof of magic nowadays? The thought is truly ridiculous. Anything we don't understand is just science we haven't learned yet. Anyone who believes this belongs in the Dark Ages where people where afraid of crows and women with red hair. I got this book from family member trying to convert me to the Dark Side/Ignorant Side. Read the whole thing to be open mined. Pure crap. This book will only make your brain dumber, I promise. You can believe in a god and be smart, but this book is not the way.
1404965
The book has little scientific value.  It is based on amateurish and shallow research.  Several important books on the subject have not been referenced in the short reference list.  Even worst it follows the footsteps of Charles Hapgood who's outlandish claim that the map is drawn looking from space has already been debunked.  (See Charles H. Hapgood, "Map of the Ancient Sea Kings", 1966.).  The subject book received lukewarm acceptance even in Turkey where it was published, as the author complained on the last page.  The book is in Turkish.  I would encourage the author who was only 24 when he wrote this book to pursue reasearch in the future.  The enthusiasm is there.  Publications should follow education, scientific research, and critical thinking. Those take years to master.
3134985
24 pages is 24 pages too many when presented with this kind of paranoid drivel. I'm sure some of those those duped by the "chemtrail" hoax will lap this nonsense up, although to be fair, this surely goes beyond the tolerances of even the most scientifically nescient fear-porn fan, caught up in this hoax by fanatics telling them to "Look up!":
"After millions of people had died from weather modification, weather became a weapon. After all, who can be prosecuted when 95% of the population believes that their weather was caused by an "act of God?""
or how about:
"The only non-man-made "clouds" that you will see on earth, again, are from volcanoes."
A sad indictment on the state of education and the promotion of paranoid delusions as 'entertainment'.
1 Star because 0 isn't allowed
4250330
If there is intelligent design in the universe, it certainly didn't find its way into the arguments put forth by Dembski.  Dembski tries to squeeze God into naturalistic science with a series of "logical" arguments about "specified complexity" ... but it just doesn't fit.  He repeatedly says that his is not a "God of the gaps" argument -- so much so that you know it is.
  Dembski's basic argument is that life is so complex yet functional that it must have been designed.  But unlike Michael Behe wo at least tried (in vain) to apply "irreducible complexity" to the real biological world, Dembski never even tries.  And unlike Werner Gitt's (failed) attempt to apply information theory to DNA, Dembski just gets muddled in side arguments.  Without any empirical tests, he cannot claim that his work is one of science.  Moreover, Dembski never even mentions the fossil record or how "intelligent design" can account for billions of years worth of extinct species.
  Dembski even contradicts his whole argument on page 175 when he states "In sexual reproduction ... genetic information from both parents combines randomly, yet in a well-defined random process that's functionally specified by the organism."  An evolutionist could not have put it better.  So where is the need for an intelligent designer?
  After writing THE RIDDLED CHAIN, a book exploring human evolution, I began reading creationist literature.  I wanted to know why some claimed to see intelligent design where I see the signs of chance, coincidence, and chaos.  But, uniformly, the quest for evidence of intelligent design fails to have scientific merit due tot eh lack of empirical tests, hence the publication of such materials in popular books rather than in peer-reviewed academic journals.  Mostly it is just a thinly veiled attempt to sneak religion into the back door of secular science classrooms.  Dembski's book is by far the worst of the lot.  His inelegant prose, subterfuge techniques, and constant whining about evolutionists, undermines his own philosophy and insults the intelligent reader.
...
1913006
A cobbled collection of unsubstantiated claims, guesswork, opinion, wild and unproven theory bereft of any historical, archeological or linguistic proof. A house of cards that collapses with exposure to simple logic or research.
Associations made between Egypt, Sumer and Freemasons are very tenuous at best, more often simply ridiculous - supported only by the authors' curious interpretations, assumptions or simply guesses. Claims are not backed by proper documentation, authority or creditable references. What starts as a wild guess in one chapter becomes a "conclusion" by the end, then treated as "fact" thereafter.
This is a flight of fancy; the authors lack basic credentials or training in any of the fields they discuss. It is a fantasy that contains little more than sequential leaps of blind faith from one rickety supposition to another. The result is  stunning only in its ability to defy the gravity of evidence.
Leave this book on the same shelf as Von Daniken and other silly forays into the alleged unknown - only the most gullible will credit any of its claims. It isn't even entertaining enough to read as humour.