[TowerTalk] Bad science - Other Great books

[Richard G. Spindler]

Well, MAYBE it is off topic, but isn't there a large dose of pseudo-science
in the antenna and tower lore?

Steve could comment a lot better on this than I, surely, but not everything
we almost universally believe in this area is factually based.  I think the
reason is that antennas and particularly antenna systems, get really complex
really fast, and we go, often as not, with our gut feelings.  And then there
is the yagi/quad controversy with dedicated adherents on both sides, and no
lack of passion.

The corollary to all of this is the public's misperception of degree of
risk.  There is an excellent book on that, but I am at work and don't have
access to it at the moment.  The environmental business, however, is part
and parcel of that, and risks are often wildly exaggerated for a political
purpose.  I notice currently that a new commission sez we docs are killing
all our patients.  Errors certainly are made, but in my experience nothing
like what is being quoted, and I suspect statistics from a small sample are
being applied universally.  Besides which, if I make an error and the
patient suffers harm, there is a trial lawyer who will rise from the
adjacent muck to call me to justice, motivated almost entirely by what is
good and right and in the interest of the victim.

Doc/N9AM

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed - K0iL <k0il@mitec.net>
To: 'EUGENE SMAR' <SPELUNK.SUENO@prodigy.net>; Tower Talk reflector (E-mail)
<towertalk@contesting.com>; 'mgilmer@gnlp.com' <mgilmer@gnlp.com>
Date: Thursday, December 09, 1999 23:30
Subject: RE: [TowerTalk] Bad science - Other Great books


>
>My apologizes for this off topic book list, but these are REALLY good books
>on this subject/thread.
>
>This one's hard to find (I had to order it):
>"Science Under Siege" by Michael Fumento (1993/in paperback) Quill
>publishing
>Subtitled: "How the Environmental Misinformation Campaign Is Affecting Our
>Laws, Taxes, and Our Daily Life."   Topics covered: Alar, cancer testing,
>epidemiology, Dioxin, Love Canal, & Electric and Magnetic Fields among
>others...
>
>The other is "Why People Believe Weird Things" by Michael Shermer
>subtitled: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time
>
>I'm now reading DX-Aku which is full of silly superstition, but I'm
>enjoying it anyway!
>(There, a ham radio reference! -- All is well....)
>
>73,
>de ed -K0iL
>
>EUGENE  SMAR [SMTP:SPELUNK.SUENO@prodigy.net] wrote:
>> Read The Demon-Haunted World, by Carl Sagan, for an excellent treatment
>of
>> pseudo-science and its practitioners.
>> 73 de
>> Gene Smar  AD3F
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Gilmer, Mike <mgilmer@gnlp.com>
>> >WA9ALS - John [SMTP:jfleming@shelbynet.net] wrote:
>> >Some days I don't even try anymore - you just can't
>> >> tell people something they believe in is wrong.
>> >A lot of this kind of sentiment is fueled by the predisposition many
>have
>> to
>> >believing in conspiracy theories.  Because so many now-debunked myths
>(e.g.
>> >the Pearl Harbor sneak attack or that radiation from high-tension lines
>> >causes birth defects) are started by established "authorities" (for
>their
>> >own personal/political/business gains) it's easier for all wacky ideas
>to
>> be taken seriously and serious science to be ignored.
>> >Mike
>> >n2mg@contesting.com
>
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