| Current mood: |  thoughtful |
| Current music: | Ludovico Einaudi - Le Onde |
This Means War
On a whim a few months ago, I picked up a book called Bad Science. It's by a chap named Ben Goldacre who has a weekly column of the same name in The Manchester Grauniad. To all intents and purposes, it's a detailed and intelligent rant about the way that science is reported in the media. I'd just like to share with you, in a way that will hopefully not get me sued, some of my favourite moments.
From the chapter 'Pill Solves Complex Social Problem' (wherein the author discusses the nonsensical notion that pills can solve all our problems): "Glossy magazines told stories about couples with relationship problems, who went to their GP, and the GP didn't understand their problem ... Then they went to the specialist, and he didn't help either. But then they went to a private clinic. They did blood tests, hormone profiles, esoteric imaging studies of clitoral bloodflow, and they understood: the solution was in a pill, but that was only half the story. It was a mechanical problem. Rarely was there a mention of any other factors: that she was feeling tired from overwork, or he was exhausted from being a new father, and finding it hard to come to terms with the fact that his wife was now the mother of his children, and no longer the vixen he first snogged on the floor of the student union building to the sound of 'Don't You Want Me Baby?' by the Human League in 1983: no. Because we don't want to talk about these issues, any more than we want to talk about social inequality, the disintegration of local communities, the breakdown of the family, the impact of employment uncertainty, changing expectations and notions of personhood ..."
Sorry, got a bit real there. The second one is from the chapter Health Scares. Our man is talking about the difference between MRSA bacteria and bacilli (er, other bacteria... hey, I'm a mathematician, not a doctor!) due to various cases of mistaken identity getting blown out of proportion in the papers: "MRSA looks like a ball. Bacilli look like a rod. You can tell the difference between them using 100x magnification - the 'Edu Science Microscope Set' at Toys 'R' Us for £9.99 will do the job very well (if you buy one, with the straightest face in the world, I recommend looking at your sperm: it's quite a soulful moment)."
I first read that one on the train back from Manchester. I didn't dare laugh for fear of someone then asking me what I was laughing at... imagine the horror.
The book comes highly recommended. It's saddening, maddening and brilliant in equal measures. Plus also funny!
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