Species, Serpents, Spirits and Skulls, Science at the Margins in the
Victorian Age by Sherrie Lynne Lyons
    * Pub. Date: October 2009
    * Publisher: State University of New York Press
    * Format: Hardcover, 256pp

    * ISBN-13: 9781438427973
    * ISBN: 1438427972
    
Summary

Explores the distinctions between science and pseudoscience.

Science permeates nearly every aspect of our lives, and yet, as current
debates over intelligent design, the causes of global warming, and
alternative health practices indicate, the question of how to distinguish
science from pseudoscience remains a difficult one. To address this
question, Sherrie Lynne Lyons draws on four examples from the
nineteenth-century—sea serpent investigations, spiritualism, phrenology,
and Darwin’s theory of evolution. Each attracted the interest of prominent
scientists as well as the general public, yet three remained at the edges
of scientific respectability while the fourth, evolutionary theory,
although initially regarded as scientific heresy, ultimately became the new
scientific orthodoxy. Taking a serious look at the science behind these
examples, Lyons argues that distinguishing between science and
pseudoscience, particularly in the midst of discovery, is not as easy as
the popular image of science tends to suggest. Two examples of present-day
controversies surrounding evolutionary psychology and the meaning of
fossils confirm this assertion. She concludes that although the boundaries
of what constitutes science are not always clear-cut, the very intimate
relationship between science and society, rather than being a hindrance,
contributes to the richness and diversity of scientific ideas. Taken
together, these entertaining and accessible examples illuminate important
issues concerning the theory, practice, and content of science.

Sherrie Lynne Lyons is Assistant Professor at the Center for Distance
Learning of Empire State College, State University of New York. She is
author of Thomas Henry Huxley: The Evolution of a Scientist.

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