Fixing Bad Science
It is well known that science in movies is often not quite right. Unfortunately, there are many instances where the pervasive nature of bad science in multimedia can lead to misconceptions. Really, really bad misconceptions that leak into school and general “of course it’s true” statements.
To combat this glut of bad science that ends up sticking in the social thoughtstream is Phil Plait, creator of the Bad Astronomy blog. He spent years working at NASA and eventually found that he was tired of running across bad science and wanted to do something about it. He started by blogging and eventually he became a lecturer and author.
Here’s one of his favorite “bad science” situations – the standing an egg on end only on the equinox. Many classrooms and news agencies on the spring equinox will perform this “science” experiment where they stand an egg on its end and by doing this prove that this can only be done on the spring equinox. Phil Plait explains exactly why this actually isn’t true using science facts but the resounding proof that this isn’t true is that you can stand an egg on end on ANY day of the year! I was a believer of the spring equinox egg trick myself and so after seeing that I was very wrong about this bit of “science” decided I needed to read his book Bad Astronomy.
Bad Astronomy (the book and his blog) is full of useful information about everyday, general science knowledge that many of us just didn’t know was incorrect. Phil does an excellent job presenting the misconception and then explaining how it is wrong – but he does it in a way the doesn’t make you feel stupid for having believed the bad science in the first place. I highly recommend picking up his book and checking out his blog to see what other little bad science gems are floating in our brains.
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Sometimes…ignorance is bliss my friend