The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe

How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake

By: Steven Novella

Narrated by: Steven Novella

Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

An entertaining and all-encompassing guide to skeptical thinking for the age of misinformation.  

In this tie-in to their popular The Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast, Steven Novella, along with 'Skeptical Rogues' Bob Novella, Cara Santa Maria, Jay Novella and Evan Bernstein, explain the tenets of skeptical thinking and debunk some of the biggest scientific myths, fallacies and conspiracy theories (anti-vaccines, homeopathy, UFO sightings and many more.) They'll help us try to make sense of what seems like an increasingly crazy world using powerful tools like science and philosophy.   

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is your guide through this maze of modern life. It covers essential critical thinking skills as well as giving insight into how your brain works and how to avoid common pitfalls in thinking. They discuss the difference between science and pseudoscience, how to recognise common science news tropes, how to discuss conspiracy theories with that crazy colleague of yours and how to apply all of this to everyday life.  

As fascinating as it is entertaining, this enthralling audiobook is your essential guide to seeing through the fake news and media manipulation in our increasingly confusing world.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2018 SGU Productions LLC (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"A fantastic compendium of skeptical thinking and the perfect primer for anyone who wants to separate fact from fiction." (Richard Wiseman, author 59 Seconds)

"Thorough, informative, and enlightening...If this book does not become required reading for us all, we may well see modern civilisation unravel before our eyes." (Neil deGrasse Tyson, author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry)

A great follow-up to Sagan's Demon-Haunted World

The members of the SGU have done an outstanding job summarizing their experience as skeptics and science enthusiasts. It is a useful and healthy habit to review one's most closely held beliefs and this audiobook provides example after example of misguided and self-deceiving individuals who fail to apply critical thinking to their assumptions. We could all use some skepticism in our lives to protect us from charlatans, conspiracy theorists and our own tendencies toward self-deception. I'm so glad to have this in my library and I hope it reaches a wide audience!

Listen to it, Listen to it again,

This is one of the most accessible and well-framed books on skeptical and critical thinking that I have read/listened to, With practical and funny examples of everything from the fundamental flaws in our memory to conspiratorial thinking. Really a great book, enjoyed it thoroughly.

Lo releeré seguramente

Me encantó, y es un excelente recurso para entender las muchas formas en que podemos autoengañarnos y nos pueden engañar.

All in one introduction to scientific scepticism.

fifteen words required before to review this book from the skeptics guide to the universe

A book everyone should read or listen

I first bought the book. Then I bought five more books so that I could give them away to my friends. Finally I bought this podcast so that I could recap some of the parts on my commute. It is great at presenting and sharpening your tools of sceptical thinking in a way that is educational and sometimes even humorous. It can be a bit harder to read than an average novel, since it really requires your focus. But when you're done, it also functions as a encyclopedia of sceptical thinking. I have more than once had to return to this book when picking apart an argument or constructing my own - verifying that the logic is sound and that the premise is known and agreed upon by both parties.

Your escape to reality

It was great and a pleasure to listen to. Steve Novella is a great reader and I always love to listen to the podcast as well. Long time listener and this book was long overdue.

Concise and clear, but not much new for an SGU fan

Loved it, but couldn't help thinking that this is the book that OTHER people should read. Preaching to the choir a bit.

awesome book.

This is an excellent guide to scientific skepticism. a lot of chapters covering all kinds of phenomena. Great listen.
Dosn't matter whether you're a skeptic or not.

Wonderfull sourcebook

Great book about critical thinking. Very important information and tools to cope In our modern world.

Comes across as a bit egotistical

It's very revealing about arguments and bias, unfortunately, it is swamped with references to both good and bad research, so much so it seems tricky to find the point of his rambling. He appears to have a huge aversion to pseudo-scientists too. Quite the rant.

Great Performance but Empty Rhetoric

In a nutshell, this book conflates extreme nonsense such as ghost hunters with climate sceptics. This book promotes the political concept of a consensus as scientific fact. Not one single serious scientific topic for which there is polarisation and disagreement was tackled. Instead example after example of their stunning takedowns of ghost hunters, faith healers and the whole panoply of snake oil salesmen in general. This book is a manual on how to use sceptical terms to effectively mask appeals to authority and ad-hominem derision such as labelling anti-vaxers as conspiracy theorists (that didn't age well) and the old 'but it is peer-reviewed science' defence.

On the plus side, there is some talk of p-hacking, but it is dismissed as not that relevant, and other scientific problems such as publishing bias, mates-review (aka fake peer review), circular references, salami slicing, significance testing flaws were not tackled properly if at all.

All in all, a shallow and agenda-driven attempt to steer the notion of scepticism as acceptance of reported (i.e. what they call mainstream) scientific opinion and quite an intellectually dangerous read for the uninitiated.

If you want a window into the world of disinformation and scepticism, start with Nassim Taleb's The Black Sawn. Probably the most unbiased and objective perspectives of reality out there.

Should be read by all

This is not a self-help book, but a useful, educational and entertaining guide to ourselves, mostly on how to understand and try to overcome our own biases, cognitive traps and misconceptions. This book should be read by all. Humanity would be better off.

Critical thinking gets serious.

An antidote to cultural hypnosis, delusion, wish thinking, denial, and a demonstration of the truth-seeking potency of the grey blob between our ears.

Do yourself a solid relax & listen to this work

A wonderful experience delivered to the gold standard i have learned to expect from this small band of rogues! 😉 The world needs more critical thinkers... yesterday.

Great book to teach you critical thinking.

Loads of interesting topics covered to start you on the road to critical thinking and makes you aware of the amount of pseudo science that exists today.

Great introduction to Skepticism, and good listen.

Easy listen, I would definelty raccomomend as a good intro to critical thinking and Skepticism, and why they matter.

Pretty much everything you need to know

A fantastic compendium. Really helps you understand how humans can be simultaneously brilliant and flawed.

Practical and Fun

So much great info, although a bit dense to read/listen.
I will check out the podcast.