Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by leelee_draws_pictures
Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine by Paul A. Offit
4.0
If you like science, this book will fill you with rage. Utter rage. Not because it's ill-researched or badly written, but because other people seem to not like science very much at all.
Many people who are into alternative medicine prefer to "take their health into their own hands" by taking untested "nutritional supplements" instead of actual medicine, and then they die. The argument against Big Pharma is that it's "a business," but so is the peddling of alternative medicine.
There are many chapters that pack a humongous punch (especially the one about how vitamins do nothing -- at best); but this book gets sidelined in railing against the likes of Dr. Oz, Oprah, Suzanne Somers, and Jenny McCarthy. The author's rage against celebrities is totally justified, but I would have liked more factual information on pseudosciences like acupuncture, chiropractors, enemas, and whatever other trendy alternative therapies are coming down the pipeline.
Many people who are into alternative medicine prefer to "take their health into their own hands" by taking untested "nutritional supplements" instead of actual medicine, and then they die. The argument against Big Pharma is that it's "a business," but so is the peddling of alternative medicine.
There are many chapters that pack a humongous punch (especially the one about how vitamins do nothing -- at best); but this book gets sidelined in railing against the likes of Dr. Oz, Oprah, Suzanne Somers, and Jenny McCarthy. The author's rage against celebrities is totally justified, but I would have liked more factual information on pseudosciences like acupuncture, chiropractors, enemas, and whatever other trendy alternative therapies are coming down the pipeline.