{"id":13974,"date":"2022-02-24T17:28:14","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T01:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/?p=13974"},"modified":"2022-03-15T14:14:18","modified_gmt":"2022-03-15T21:14:18","slug":"phil-plait-bad-astronomy-the-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2022\/02\/24\/phil-plait-bad-astronomy-the-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Plait, BAD ASTRONOMY (the book)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Subtitled, \u201cMisconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing \u2018Hoax\u2019\u201d Published in trade paperback by John Wiley & Sons, 2002.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s a book that is what I was expecting when I read Neil F. Coming\u2019s HEAVENLY ERRORS, which I reviewed here<\/a> right about a year ago. Or at least, it\u2019s closer to what I was expecting.<\/p>\n

Plait is a blogger, writer, skeptic, and TV personality whose blog was called Bad Astronomy (since discontinued, or rather relocated to the SyFyWire website, though I can\u2019t tell without creating an account whether it\u2019s still active). He popularized explanations of astronomical ideas commonly misunderstood, as well as debunking common astronomy-related misconceptions that verged on pseudoscience. His first book, here, had the same title as his blog, and seems to be written as a piece, not an assemblage of blog posts.<\/p>\n

I read this in 2015 without taking notes; I\u2019m flipping through it again in a sort of \u201cinspectional\u201d read, or browse, to document its main topics.<\/p>\n

\/\/ Aside–<\/p>\n

Looking the book up on Amazon just now shows a slightly different cover illustration \u2013 see on this page<\/a> — than the cover of the first edition from 2002<\/a>, which is what I have, and is shown above.<\/p>\n

And Amazon indicates this first edition can be bought new for $864.49. Wow. \u201cOnly 1 left in stock.\u201d<\/p>\n

This triggered me to check my database to see when and where I bought my copy, and how much I paid.<\/p>\n

I bought it on 25 March 2015 at Iliad Books in Burbank, on one of my last runs to that grand shop to sell off books as we were moving from LA to the Bay Area and I was downsizing my library. On that date I took a last few boxes of books to sell that evening, around 7pm, and while they unpacked, sorted, and evaluated my books, I wandered around the shop and found three books to purchase, or trade against the books I was selling. Their price for this book, written in pencil on the first inside page, was $7.50.<\/p>\n

A quick search on Abebooks shows new edition first edition copies (even though the wrong cover image is shown) for $20 or so.<\/p>\n

\/\/End Aside<\/p>\n

So this book covers all or most of the common misconceptions and pseudo-scientific beliefs related to astronomy.<\/p>\n

My one beef, which is why it\u2019s not my ideal book on this topic, is that it begins rather lamely. Of all of the topics a book like this might cover, it begins with a supposed controversy about whether eggs can be stood on their ends on the spring (vernal) equinox. (Answer: the date doesn\u2019t matter; they can be, anytime.) And the next chapter is about how water swirls down a toilet or sink in the northern vs. the southern hemisphere.<\/p>\n

I think these are trivial matters compared to the much more common astronomical misconceptions. These are my favorite two:<\/p>\n