July 2004

Cover of 'Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?'

July's choice for book of the month is "Did Adam and Eve Have Navels: Discourses on Reflexology, Numerology, Urine Therapy, and Other Dubious Subjects" by Martin Gardner. Gardner is a regular columnist to the magazine Skeptical Inquirer, and is the author of more than 70 books. This particular book stems from some of the articles he has contributed to the SI and should prove to be rather entertaining for the reader. This review will be rather brief, however, because most of the topics he writes about are limited to a single chapter; I don't want to rewrite his book, so I'll just give a bit of a teaser, if possible.

Gardner breaks the book down into 10 parts, and covers a wide range of topics including science and religion. Clearly, dubious subjects is far from an exhaustive source to condense into a book of just over 300 pages (at least the hardcover edition is that long), so I think Gardner chose between his favorites and put them together in this wonderful book. In hs introduction, Gardner gives a bit of the background behind this book, and why he does what he does (that is, write about pseudoscience). He raised two points with which I agree with whole-heartedly: that it is the duty of every scientist and science writer to "keep exposing the errors of bad science" and that the scene of American ignorance regarding science is dismal. Getting right to the controversy, especially with regards to just how ignorant Americans are about science, Gardners first section is titled "Evolution vs. Creationism."

Part I: Evolution vs. Creationism

Chapter 1: Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?

This chapter's title has kind of a dual purpose. It serves as an obvious question posed to fundamentalist Christian's, which is generally always a precursor to heated debate. There really can be one of two answers to this question, yes, or no. If they didn't, it suggests that they were not formed as perfect humans, despite what Genesis says. If they did, it suggests that theres a bit of deception involved, because navels are the remainder of our connection to our mothers during our gestation. Adam and Eve didn't have a birth like anyone else, so there shouldn't have been an umbilical cord, and in turn no navel. This causes quite a dilemma, and it's just one aspect of the second purpose to this chapters title. A common (maybe too common) argument used by creationists is that they suggest God created everything with the implication of age. Navels in Adam and Eve imply that they had a birth, even though they really didn't; fossils found in the ground imply an ancient history to Earth which isn't really old. Gardner uses this chapter to make one consider if perhaps the Christian God is both Creator and Deceiver.

Chapter 2: Phillip Johnson on Intelligent Design

This chapter centers on a man named Phillip Johnson, who is a law professor at UC Berkeley. Johnson is also one of the foremost figures in a new movement called Intelligent Design (ID), which holds that everything in the Universe shows evidence of design from some intelligent source. Generally this source remains unnamed, because its adherents try to pass it off as science. The main difference between ID and creationism (as held by fundamentalist groups) is the varied beliefs of its members. Some of them accept an old age for the Earth and the Universe, while some still hold on to the idea that both are young. Gardner singles out Johnson specifically, because Johnson is so poignantly attacking "darwinism" as atheism, and has called for an end to it. Gardner uses this essay to ask Johnson "If not evolution, then what?," a question that doesn't seem to have an answer. This is the bulk of this chapter, although I would like to submit to Gardner, as well as the rest of the world that the ID movement has a very definite goal, and has an alternative to evolution: biblical creationism. This can be found in the now infamous Wedge Document. If one were to scroll down to the goals of the Wedge Document, there are two listed, and rather straightforward in detailiing the purpose of (at least some members of) the ID movement. The first goal is "To defeat scientific materialism and its destructive moral, cultural and political legacies." This stems from the common misconception that evolution = atheism = destruction of moral society. The second goal offers what looks to be a replacement for evolution: "To replace materialistic explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and hurnan beings are created by God." This really doesn't seem too different than fundamentalist creationism, at least to me. So my question to Mr. Johnson (or anyone else in the ID movement) is this: What is the difference between ID and fundamentalist creationism?

Part II: Astronomy

Chapter 3: Near Earth Objects: Monsters of Doom?

This chapter left me a little bit confused, because I wasn't too clear on the pseudoscience being addressed. Gardner brings up the topic of objects that will undoubtedly strike the Earth, and writes about a few of the ways we humans might act in this scenario. Most of them tend to have a somewhat religious/apocalytpic bent to them, i.e. the world being destroyed and only a handful survive. Others portray the planet being saved by a single savior, who sacrifices himself (seems all have been male) in order that the rest of us shall live. Perhaps the point to this chapter is to show how quickly we create stories of salvation when faced with peril.

Chapter 4: The Star of Bethlehem

This chapter discusses the attempts of fundamentalist to try and fibd a natural explanation for the Star of Bethlehem, the guide the wise men used to find the stable that Jesus was born in accoring to the book of Matthew. He asks why the need to find a natural explanation for a miraculous event, when the Bible is full of other miraculous events. I liked the point he reaches near the end (hopefully this isn't a spoiler) where he says, "Let the Bible be the Bible! It's not about science. It's not about history. It's a grab bag of religious fantasies written by many authors."

Part III: Physics

Chapter 5: The Great Egg-Balancing Mystery

This chapter is dedicated to the practice of egg-balancing, and its supposed relationship to the first day of spring. According to Gardner, it stems from an ancient Chinese practice that says that an egg will balance on one end on the first day of spring (and implying that it wouldnt on any other day). This has been transferred to western society (namely America) where the practice is held on the spring equinox. While the Chinese ceremony (called Li Chun) takes place about the 4th or 5th of February, the American version takes place almost a full two months later, on or around March 21. The question then arises, if the eggs will only balance on the first day of spring, why do they balance on two different days?

Chapter 6: Zero-Point Energy and Harold Puthoff

Much of this chapter admittedly went over my head; I'm not well-versed in physics enough to hold a competent discussion on zero-point energy (referred heretoafter as ZPE. For more information on ZPE and a much better explanation than I can offer, visit the Introduction to Zero Point Energy page, provided by the California Institue for Physics and Astrophysics.) Gardner opens this chapter discussing a bit of the history behind Harold Puthoff, one of only a handful of people that advocate ZPE can be exploited as an energy source. Apparently, Puthoff spent a lot of time in affiliation with research programs involved in other areas of pseudoscience, namely remote-viewing, ESP, and psychokinesis. I think the main point here is that there seem to be people willing to fund people that have a dubious background and credibility, and Puthoff happens to be one of the funded.

Chapter 7: David Bohm: The Guided Wave

This is another chapter where I have to admit ignorance, as it details Quantum Mechanics (QM) and a concept called guided-wave theory (GWT). I'm not really sure what the dubious topic here is, so I'm pretty much forced to pass this chapter over. It isn't clear if Gardner is suggesting that David Bohm's suggestion of GWT is dubious, or the reasons behind the majority of other physicists rejecting it. If you've read this book and are familiar with the topic, please let me know.

Part IV: Medical Matters

Chapter 8: Reflexology: To Stop a Toothache, Squeeze a Toe!

This chapter is devoted to reflexology, a supposed medical practice that heals any ailment in the body by relieving pressure at certain points in your foot. Gardner talks briefly about the history of reflexology, tying it in with other fake medical practices such as acupuncture and acupressure, traditionally associated with Chinese medicine. Reflexology, as well as a number of the other medical frauds mentioned in this chapter have never been shown to have any benefit, but that apparently hasn't ket many publishers from printing books on the subject, or magazines selling products to people. This reminds me of something someone has said, but I can't pin down who said it (and I may not have it exactly the same) but, "as long as there are people willing to buy snake oil, there will be snake oil salesmen."

Chapter 9: Urine Therapy

This chapter talks about the belief that bodily products (saliva, excrement, and urine) have healing effects. Gardner discusses a little time talking about the various forms of saliva use (from humans and other animals), but primarily focuses on urine "therapy." Gardner examines the claims of Martha M. Christy, who has a popular book on the "benefits" of urine therapy. After listing a number of afflictions, maladies, ailments, and illnesses, and discussing how she tried just about every treatment possible for any of them, she champions the notion of urine therapy she has found. Gardner hands down the recipe, which is as follows:

Add a drop of urine into a 1/6th ounce of distilled water in a sterile bottle.
Cap it, shake vigorously 50 times.
Add one drop of this solution into another 1/6th ounces of distilled water.
Shake as before, 50 times.
Add one drop of this new solution into a 1/6th ounce of 80-90 proof vodka.
Apply this final solution to the tongue every three hours until symsptoms disappear.

Well, one thing seems certain; Mrs. Christy enjoys vodka!

Part V: Psychology

Chapter 10: Freud's Flawed Theory of Dreams

This chapter is about the various theories regarding dreams invented by Sigmund Freud. Since time immemorable, people have looked to dreams as some kind of mysterious foreboding vision of things to come, or as some kind of secret message that needs to be deciphered. This notion still persists to this day, and a modern version of it was developed by Freud. In dreams, everything had a meaning, and for Freud, most of them were sexual. Gardner spends considerable time listing the various incarnations of interpretations, so theres no point in redoing them here. I think the best point Gardner makes is when he shows that Freud himself tells us that dreams can mean just about anything. It's this notion that dreams can mean anything which suggests they really don't say anything at all.

Chapter 11: Post-Freudian Dream Theory

Freud wasn't the only person of the modern era to suggest dreams have a hidden meaning or message for people. Fortunately, this meant that dreams were an area of research, and much has been discovered about them. While they don't seem to be the source of mysterious messages from the beyond, getting the right kind of sleep with enough dream time seems to be medically beneficial. Gardner discusses some of the benefits to dreams that have been discovered in this chapter.

Chapter 12: Jean Houston

This chapter seems to be an attack on the New Age movement, but more about a particular person that is part of it, and her name is Jean Houston. Gardner starts off the chapter talking about Houston's exploits with HIllary CLinton, and "channeling." This essay seems more of a critique of Houston's claimed credentials, and it seems that she has had many claims that simply weren't valid, which really turns into a credibility issue. Of course, true believers are willing to overlook such things as credentials if someone tells them what they want to hear...

Part VI: Social Science

Chapter 13: Is Cannibalism a Myth?

This chapter discusses the widely held belief that many cultures may have at one time included cannibalism as part of its history. A growing concept within the anthropology community is that, since there has never been any conclusive evidence to suggest that there ever was cannibalism in many cultures, perhaps it isn't wise to suggest that there has been. This has been suggested by William Arens, an anthropologist at SUNY Stony Brook. It would seem that since there is little evidence to support cannibalism in many cultures, it wouldn't generally be accepted within a scientific community, but Arens suggestion has met with staunch opposition.

Chapter 14: Alan Sokal's Hilarious Hoax

I think the purpose of this chapter isn't so much to expose pseudoscience or a dubious claim as much as it is at pointing out when what can happen if you don't check your sources. In a magazine called "Social Text" (this is the online version), Alan Sokal submitted a paper called "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity." Sokal, a physicist at New York University was playing a joke, and Social Text ran the article unknowingly. Because of Sokal's hoax, Social Text looked very foolish, because they hadn't gone and checked out the paper with another physicist, and Gardner (among others) suggests that the paper was printed because of Sokal's credentials, and because the paper looked like it said something meaningful.

Chapter 15: The Internet: A World Brain?

The dubious claim in this chapter seemed somewhat vague to me, but the closest I could tell was the belief that some hold that H. G. Wells was some kind of prophet. While he did conjure up notion of many interesting things that can now be found in our modern world, such as atomic bombs, and in this chapter the Internet itself. Gardner lists a host of "misses" made by Wells, which is a way to keep Wells "predictions" more human. Yeah, he seems to have predicted a lot of things, but he didn't predict a lot of other things. Seems we are quick to find someone that we can hold on to as a prophet.

Chapter 16: Carlos Castaneda and New Age Anthropology

This chapter is about Carlos Castaneda, a man of dubious background. Not much is known about the history of Carlos, as Gardner points out, because it is hard to tell what about him is real and what is not. The biggest problem surrounding Castaneda is that he was given a PhD in anthropology from UCLA, despite that his thesis, suposedly from an experience with a man named Don Juan, who turns out to have been a figment of Castaneda's imagination.despite that he had made the whole thing up, there are still people writing theses with regards to Castaneda's "New Age" anthropology.

Part VII: UFOs

Chapter 17: Claiborne Pell, Senator from Outer Space

This chapter is about former senator of Rhode Island, Claiborne Pell. Pell, as Gardner shows us, has had much involvement with both psychics and UFO buffs, and hasheaded or been part of many private and government programs to study the paranormal. I'm (again) unclear on the purpose of this chapter: is it about Pell, or is it about how much the government and the populace spend on researching quackery?

Chapter 18: Courtney Brown's Preposterous Farsight

It seems as if there is no end to people who believe in remote-sensing, alien contact, and other aspects to the paranormal. Yet another one of these believers is Courtney Brown, who has written a book detailing his experiences with remote-sensing, which has taken him to the past, the future, and across the galaxy. It also seems to have taken him into the pocketbooks of willing believers.

Chapter 19: Heavens Gate: the UFO Cult of Bo and Peep

Gardner discusses the beliefs and actions taken by the Heavens Gate cult, a group of people who commited mass suicide in March 1997. He details the history of its founders, Marshall Herff Applewhite (eventually known as "Do") Bonnie Lu Trousdale Nettles (later to be known as "Ti"). I think the moral of this story is seeing how extreme wacky ideas can go.

Part VIII: More Fringe Science

Chapter 20: Thomas Edison, Paranormalist

Thomas Edison was famous for lots of things: electric lights, the phonograph, etc. Considered by many to be one of the most intelligent people of the 20th Century, it might come as a surprise that even Edison had been fooled by the claims of magicians and slight-of-hand artists, in that they could perform paranormal deeds. Apparently intelligence isn't a shield from gullibility.

Chapter 21: What's Going On at Temple University?

In this chapter, Gardner discusses why an otherwise reputable university would choose to be the center of pseudoscience studies. While the intents of the university authorities seem to be in the right place (saying that the freedom for study was a way to lend integrity to science as a whole) it seems to have turned into a refuge for quackery science.

Part IX: Religion

Chapter 22: Isaac Newton, Alchemist and Fundamentalist

This chapter seems to be somewhat of a warning against hero worship, really than anything else. Isaac Newton was of course one of the most influential scientists of any age, and it seems to me that Gardner points out here that while he was a brilliant scientist, he had his negative aspects as well. While he invented calculus, recognised gravity, and described the rainbow, he also dabbled in alchemy (the notion that there was a way to make gold from any substance) and was a biblical literalist. Of course, neither of these changed that he was full of thought.

Chapter 23: Farrakhan, Cabala, Baha'i and 19

This chapter examines religious numerology, or gematria. Many religions have adopted it, looking to having various religious texts have double hidden meanings when numbers are assigned to certain letters. Using these numbers, supposedly some message of sigificance is revealed, and as it turns out 19 is a particularly significant number for various related faiths.

Chapter 24: The Numerology of Dr. Khalifa

This chapter further explores the mystical number 19, as interpreted and discovered by Dr. Rashad Khalifa. Khalifa applies a similar style to the Quran as kabbalists do to the Torah, in that he uses numbers associated with words in the Quran to prove its holiness. Gardner details Khalifa's finds, and then towards the end details some other instances where the number 19 can be found, but have no meaning at all.

Chapter 25: The Religious Views of Stephen Jay Gould and Darwin

Although Gardner mentions Stephen Jay Gould in the title of this chapter, not much is spent talking about him. He does bring forth Gould's notion of NOMA (Non-Overlapping MAgisteria), an idea that science and religion need not necessarily be separate or polar. What Gardner does spend a lot of time with is Darwin's beliefs. Much of this chapter is devoted to writings and letters by Darwin to various other people, setting up the foundation for his religious state of mind.

Chapter 26: The Wandering Jew

Throughout the history of Christianity, various groups have foretold of biblical prophecy detailing when the world would end. Some might believe that this is a relatively recent phenomena, but it has been around since very close to the time of Jesus, especially since there is a verse suggesting the end of the world would come within a generation of people living along with Jesus. Clearly the world has not ended and has lasted for almost 200 years since this supposed declaration of the Bible was put to paper. There have been as many explanations for the failed return as there have been groups declaring when it would occur. One of the most prevalent beliefs is that of the Wandering Jew. This character is supposedly said to roam the ends of the Earth until the coming of Christ (and that this is the person referred to in biblical text). No one knows who this Wanderer is, exactly, but many have speculated, and Gardner goes into some detail about the various groups that have mentioned him/her.

Chapter 27: The Second Coming

Tying in with the previous chapter, just how many times is Jesus supposed to return? Gardner examines the many various claims of end-times ministers and religious groups that claim a specific time for the return of Jesus, some of whom continue giving specific dates when the first one fails. My only objection is that shouldn't it be called the Third Coming? Wasn't the Resurrection his second appearance on Earth?

Part X: The Last Word

Chapter 28: Science and the Unknowable

This last chapter discusses the various points of view on whether or not science (and scientists) can ever know everything there is to know. This seems more of a philosophical question than anything, and Gardner brings for a few different ways to look at how we know what we know, and if we can know all there is to know.

Summary

This is a good book for just about anyone. Gardner doesn't write over ones head (yeah, I didn't know about some topics, but that's because of my ignorance of the subject, not due to his lack of trying to explain what they are), and really provides, in my opinion at least, a good way to see how to think critically. Gardner has a great sense of style, and just enough wit to make any of these topics interesting. He leaves you with the immpression that he has researched each concept very thoroughly, and might even be able to write an entire book on quite a few of the individual topics (and given that he's such a prolific writer, probably has). I recommend this book for the sheer enjoyment of the read, to see how far some people are really willing to go to preserve their beliefs.