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Deceived Wisdom
- Why What You Thought Was Right Is Wrong
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins
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Follow the money! 😩
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Publisher's summary
Have you ever been reminded to take off your coat indoors or you won’t "feel the benefit" when you leave? That what you need to cool down is a nice cup of tea? And that you have to let that red wine breathe to improve its taste? Tackling the facts we all think we know, one-by-one, award-winning science writer David Bradley’s clear and witty writing examines the science behind the statements to reveal why what you thought was right…is wrong.
Entries include:
- Why urinating on a jellyfish sting does not help (in fact it can make things worse)
- Why cats are not smarter than dogs
- Why the 10,000-hour practice rule is not what it seems
- Why your mobile phone won’t give you cancer
- Why hangover cures do not work (sorry about this one!)
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Story
What won't we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth? Well, just imagine a time when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants. When liquefied gold was touted as immortality in a glass. And when strychnine - yes, that strychnine, the one used in rat poison - was dosed like Viagra. Looking back with fascination, horror, and not a little dash of dark, knowing humor, Quackery recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices.
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Computer-generated Narrator. Dated Humour.
- By Nemo on 12-28-18
By: Lydia Kang, and others
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Poisons
- From Hemlock to Botox and the Killer Bean Calabar
- By: Peter Macinnis
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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A wide-ranging and provocative look - teeming with little-known facts and engaging stories - at a subject of the direst interest. Poisons permeate our world. They are in the environment, the workplace, the home. They are in food, our favorite whiskey, medicine, well water. They have been used to cure disease as well as incapacitate and kill. They smooth wrinkles, block pain, stimulate, and enhance athletic ability. In this entertaining and fact-filled audiobook, science writer Peter Macinnis considers poisons in all their aspects. He recounts stories of the celebrated poisoners in history and literature....
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#MyNonFictionAddiction
- By EinsteinzVice on 11-07-19
By: Peter Macinnis
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Human Errors
- A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes
- By: Nathan H. Lents
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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We humans like to think of ourselves as highly evolved creatures. But if we are supposedly evolution's greatest creation, why do we have such bad knees? Why do we catch head colds so often - 200 times more often than a dog does? How come our wrists have so many useless bones? And are we really supposed to swallow and breathe through the same narrow tube? Surely there's been some kind of mistake. As professor of biology Nathan H. Lents explains in Human Errors, our evolutionary history is nothing if not a litany of mistakes, each more entertaining and enlightening than the last.
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From Pointless Bones to Broken Genes to...Aliens?
- By Katy.LED on 12-04-18
By: Nathan H. Lents
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The Cancer Chronicles
- Unlocking Medicine's Deepest Mystery
- By: George Johnson
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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When the woman he loved was diagnosed with a metastatic cancer, science writer George Johnson embarked on a journey to learn everything he could about the disease and the people who dedicate their lives to understanding and combating it. What he discovered is a revolution under way - an explosion of new ideas about what cancer really is and where it comes from. In a provocative and intellectually vibrant exploration, he takes us on an adventure through the history and recent advances of cancer research that will challenge everything you thought you knew about the disease.
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A quick read - hard to put down
- By Digital Dilema on 09-06-13
By: George Johnson
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The Disappearing Spoon
- And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Reporter Sam Kean reveals the periodic table as it’s never been seen before. Not only is it one of man's crowning scientific achievements, it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.
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Great Book, Great Narration, But...
- By Henny Button on 09-18-10
By: Sam Kean
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The Joy of Sweat
- The Strange Science of Perspiration
- By: Sarah Everts
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Sweating may be one of our weirdest biological functions, but it’s also one of our most vital and least understood. In The Joy of Sweat, Sarah Everts delves into its role in the body - and in human history. Everts’ entertaining investigation takes listeners around the world - from Moscow, where she participates in a dating event in which people sniff sweat in search of love, to New Jersey, where companies hire trained armpit sniffers to assess the efficacy of their anti-sweat products. Along the way, Everts traces humanity’s long quest to control sweat.
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Interesting and virtually singular review on the subject of perspiration, but lacking
- By Christopher Latkowski on 01-06-22
By: Sarah Everts
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Soonish
- Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything
- By: Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith
- Narrated by: Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In this smart and funny book, celebrated cartoonist Zach Weinersmith and noted researcher Dr. Kelly Weinersmith give us a snapshot of what's coming next - from robot swarms to nuclear fusion powered-toasters. By weaving their own research and interviews with the scientists who are making these advances happen, the Weinersmiths investigate why these technologies are needed, how they would work, and what is standing in their way.
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Really Good-ish!
- By See Reverse on 04-16-18
By: Kelly Weinersmith, and others
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At the Edge of Uncertainty
- 11 Discoveries Taking Science by Surprise
- By: Michael Brooks
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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The atom, the big bang, DNA, natural selection - all are ideas that have revolutionized science; and all were dismissed out of hand when they first appeared. The surprises haven't stopped in recent years, and in At the Edge of Uncertainty, best-selling author Michael Brooks investigates the new wave of radical insights that are shaping the future of scientific discovery.
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All smoke, no fire
- By Kenton on 07-25-15
By: Michael Brooks
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The Complete (Short) Guide to Absolutely Everything
- Adventures in Math and Science
- By: Adam Rutherford, Hannah Fry
- Narrated by: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Geneticist Adam Rutherford and mathematician Hannah Fry guide listeners through time and space, through our bodies and brains, showing how emotions shape our view of reality, how our minds tell us lies, and why a mostly bald and curious ape decided to begin poking at the fabric of the universe.
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A great listen and fun way to learn some things
- By R. Mueller on 06-10-23
By: Adam Rutherford, and others
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Proof
- The Science of Booze
- By: Adam Rogers
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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A spirited narrative on the fascinating art and science of alcohol, sure to inspire cocktail party chats on making booze, tasting it, and its effects on our bodies and brains. Drinking gets a lot more interesting when you know what's actually inside your glass of microbrewed ale, single-malt whisky, or Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. All of them begin with fermentation, where a fungus called yeast binges on sugar molecules and poops out ethanol. Humans have been drinking the results for 10,000 years. Distillation is a 2,000-year-old technology - invented by a woman - that we're still perfecting today.
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Great listening to all about booze
- By Atila on 08-02-14
By: Adam Rogers
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A Little History of the World
- By: E. H. Gombrich
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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E. H. Gombrich's world history, an international best seller now available in English for the first time, is a text dominated not by dates and facts but by the sweep of experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity's achievements, and an acute witness to its frailties.
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an enlightening book; very well read
- By A.B.Oxford on 06-03-06
By: E. H. Gombrich
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Radiation
- What It Is, What You Need to Know
- By: Robert Peter Gale, Eric Lax
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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The essential guide to radiation: the good, the bad, and the utterly fascinating, explained with unprecedented clarity. Earth, born in a nuclear explosion, is a radioactive planet; without radiation, life would not exist. And while radiation can be dangerous, it is also deeply misunderstood and often mistakenly feared. Now Robert Peter Gale, M.D. - the doctor to whom concerned governments turned in the wake of the Chernobyl and Fukushima - in collaboration with medical writer Eric Lax draws on an exceptional depth of knowledge to correct myths and establish facts.
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A great and accessible introduction to the field o
- By Neuron on 04-12-13
By: Robert Peter Gale, and others
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Evolving Ourselves
- How Unnatural Selection and Nonrandom Mutation are Changing Life on Earth
- By: Juan Enriquez, Steve Gullans
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Why are conditions like autism, asthma, obesity, and allergies exploding at unprecedented rates? Why are we living longer, getting smarter, having far fewer kids? If Darwin were alive today, how would he explain this new world?
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fascinating ideas and science
- By Joel on 07-04-15
By: Juan Enriquez, and others
What listeners say about Deceived Wisdom
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mark
- 11-17-12
Weak
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
If you haven't read much other debunking or popular science, or are not familiar with the various websites and blogs that clarify this kind of thing, a lot of this might be a revelation. I think it's especially good for younger readers, who haven't already heard most of this stuff. The reader who is less interested in the actual science and more trying to get some facts checked might have a good time with this.
Has Deceived Wisdom turned you off from other books in this genre?
No.
What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
The man's voice is pleasant and he mostly does well, but several times the emphasis within a sentence is a little weird - and does not support or clarify the meaning.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
I was definitely disappointed - I got the book after reading an extract on the BBC taking apart the 10,000 hours of practice theory that Malcolm Gladwell has popularized. This was a nice piece of writing and dealt with something that has, at least in my little world, become a seemingly ubiquitous "fact". The rest of the book only rarely matched the standard of that extract. The title, apart from the annoying pun on the phrase "received wisdom" (which reappears dozens of times throughout the text), is misleading. "Why What You Thought Was Right Is Wrong" suggests that the general reader would probably believe, or once have believed most of the items in Bradley's list. But lots of these ideas, like the moon landing being faked, are only believed by a minority. Other's, "a watched pot never boils", and one or two other aphorisms that nobody takes literally, were just pointless. The omnipresent jokes are exhausting. I mostly felt that I wasn't learning anything - seeing other reviews and blurbs I think this book is meant to be "light" and "accessible" - maybe I went in expecting the wrong thing.
Any additional comments?
There are some things that were news to me in this book - bits of common wisdom that I hadn't really thought about before. But I'd suggest that a great deal of the debunking is already common knowledge (like that the common cold is caused by a virus, not by going out with wet hair, or that penis length cannot be increased by pills). I expected this to be a fun journey towards the truth behind various misconceptions. Instead I felt the author was often having to go out of his way to drum up increasingly rare beliefs to correct, and occasionally just parading through the obvious for no apparent reason.
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