Author(s): Philip C. Plait

Plait, a science writer who works in the physics and astronomy department at Sonoma State University,
is appalled that millions of Americans don't believe the moon landing really took place and do believe
that Galileo went blind from looking at the sun, or that they can make an egg stand on end only on the
vernal equinox. To set the record straight, he debunks these and many other astronomy-related urban
egends in this knowledgeable, lighthearted volume. The early chapter "Idiom's Delight" sets the stage
by clearing up the scientific inaccuracies in everyday expressions as in the phrase "light years ahead,
" for example, which is used to indicate timeliness or prescience when light years are actually a unit
of distance. In later chapters, Plait explains meteors, eclipses, UFOs, and the big bang theory,
revealing much about the basic principles of astronomy while clearing up fallacies. With avuncular
humor, he points out the ways advertising and media reinforce bad science and pleads for more accuracy
in Hollywood story lines and special effects. This book is the first in Wiley's Bad Science series on
scientific misconceptions (future titles will focus on biology, weather and the earth). (Mar.)Forecast:
If every entry in the series is as entertaining as Plait's, good science may have a fighting chance
with the American public. Expect respectable sales, for the paperback format is nicely suited for
armchair debunkers.

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