Reviews for Intermediate algebra

The average rating for Intermediate algebra based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-03-19 00:00:00 Carolina Scardine I estimate 1/3 of the physics explained in 'Voodoo Science' was over my pay grade, but the rest is certainly clear as glass. I recommend everyone read this, even if you pick up only the outline of why some recent 20th-century 'discoveries' are either scams or don't work. Don't waste time beating up on yourself if some of Park's explanations are too hard to understand - Congress and some scientists are also often easily tricked by sales pitches full of pseudo-science and excited but ignorant mainstream media chatter. Dr. Robert Park's book is invaluable because such a sophisticated scoffer of scientific discoveries and claims keeps scientists and inventors aware they must follow established research methodologies if they wish to remain legitimate in the long view. However, a sideways conclusion I got is even discredited experiments still can find support and infusions of cash by hopeful investors. Park does not include notes or a bibliography (astonishing!), although there is an index. I believe in the substance of his book anyway because the events he writes about were also current events that I followed through the decades. I can vouch for his recollections and statements of the TV news stories and magazine coverage, but not the physics particulars which show why these science 'marvels' were a fail. Park's book has a cranky-rant undertone as well (a bit annoying, actually), but considering his peeve is falsified science results or experiments whose results cannot be duplicated, his accumulated lifetime of respected credentials and education serve him well in his argumentation and debate. From page 39: "The success and credibility of science are anchored in the willingness of scientists to obey two rules: 1. Expose new ideas and results to independent testing and replication by other scientists. 2. Abandon or modify accepted facts or theories in the light of more complete or reliable experimental evidence." He debunks the discoveries of: several cold fusion scientists coherent consciousness field of transcendental meditation ESP Vitamin O water memory CigArrest magnetic deficiency syndrome Thera:P magnetic therapy (only $39.95!) biofield therapeutics the value of the International Space Station (!!!!!!) various eternal motion and energy machines various causes of cancer - (NOT) electricity, microwaves, or magnetic energies Roswell Ronald Reagan and the Strategic Defense Initiative Deepak Chopra and quantum healing while offering scientific explanations why crackpot science gains traction among believers in spite of lack of proof: neuroscience placebo effect Park is fussily pedantic and he obviously despises any ideas which wander outside of the rigid box of known physics which we know to be running behind all the universe. There is no discussion of black holes or Time or other horrible theories where the maths appear to lead. Thankfully. Although I think him sort of a humorless martinet, I am sure his fact-based logic, based on proven, reproducible experiments, is spot on.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-10-22 00:00:00 Ryan Van Dyck This highly readable book is an excellent discussion of how the lack of scientific literacy in America affects all of us. Physicist Robert Park begins this wide survey of bad science with a discussion of how the media is helping to confuse Americans by regularly covering stories of exciting, but highly improbable, scientific claims. In a detailed discussion of the cold fusion disaster of 1989, he then goes on to look at basic human nature and how wishful thinking on the part of a scientist can lead from self-delusion to fraud with remarkable speed. Though Park discusses some of the usual suspects such as homeopathy, astrology, and Deepak Chopra's quantum stretches, he also spends a lot of time looking at more conventional scientific issues such as the manned space program. Park eloquently explains how politics, national pride and emotion have contributed to the wasting billions of dollars on a program that is'from a scientific standpoint'totally not worth it. The chapter that I enjoyed the most is the one in which Park did a detailed breakdown of the EMF scare that began when a seriously flawed study showed a correlation between rates of childhood leukemia and the proximity of power lines. Park explains how that one flawed study, combined with an overzealous reporter trying to sell books, kept that fear alive for decades, causing great suffering to both parents and those with houses near suspect power lines, not to mention the diversion of enormous amounts of money to numerous follow up studies that ultimately showed that there was absolutely no connection. Despite the findings of solid science on the EMF-cancer connection, the fear may well have been kept alive by hungry lawyers looking for the next big tort payday had it not been for some positive developments in how the courts relate to matters of science. Strong precedent has now been set requiring any science testimony admitted to an argument to be based on sound, accepted principles and not simply on some fringe scientists' willingness to say that anything might cause cancer in exchange for a paycheck. Despite this very positive step, Park's book makes it clear that the public's lack of basic scientific literacy allows people to be exploited and manipulated in unacceptable ways. Though parts of the book go into more scientific detail than I generally find interesting, Park's argument is so compelling I made a point of re-reading these sections, making sure I understood them, so that I hopefully will no longer be part of the problem.