Science fiction posing as science fact. The thiotimoline saga -- Beyond thiotimoline -- A venerable tradition -- The relativity of wrong. How science works -- Science-fictional hypotheses -- Not even wrong? -- The Pauli effect -- The art of technobabble. The lingo of the sciences -- Damned lies and statistics -- Publish or perish -- Automatic paper generators -- Spoofs in science journals. Spoof papers -- Spoof journals -- The Ig Nobel Prize -- A touch of humor -- April fool. A day when nobody believes anything -- The ArXiv spoofs -- A joke too far? -- Making a point. Scientific writing, the lazy way -- Predatory journals -- Science wars -- Fake news -- Thinking outside the box. Science fact poising as science fiction? -- Thought experiments -- Different physics -- The spectrum of fake psychics -- Appendix: science for crackpots.
Summary:
People are used to seeing "fake physics" in science fiction - concepts like faster-than-light travel, antigravity and time travel to name a few. The fiction label ought to be a giveaway, but some SF writers - especially those with a background in professional science - are so adept at "technobabble" that it can be difficult to work out what is fake and what is real. To confuse matters further, Isaac Asimov's 1948 piece about the fictitious time-travelling substance thiotimoline was written, not as a short story, but in the form of a spoof research paper. The boundaries between fact and fiction can also be blurred by physicists themselves - sometimes unintentionally, sometimes with tongue-in-cheek, sometimes to satirize perceived weaknesses in research practices. Examples range from hoaxes aimed at exposing poor editorial standards in academic publications, through "thought experiments" that sound like the plot of a sci-fi movie to April Fools' jokes. Even the latter may carry a serious message, whether about the sociology of science or poking fun at legitimate but far-out scientific hypotheses.This entertaining book is a joyous romp exploring the whole spectrum of fake physics - from science to fiction and back again
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