Bad Science (Goldacre book)
Bad Science is a book by Ben Goldacre, criticising mainstream media reporting on health and science issues. It was published by Fourth Estate in September 2008. It has been positively reviewed by the "British Medical Journal" and the "Daily Telegraph" and has reached the Top 10 bestseller list for Amazon Books. It was shortlisted for the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize. Bad Science or BadScience is also the title of Goldacre's column in "The Guardian" and his website. Contents. Each chapter deals with a specific aspect of bad science, often to illustrate a wider point. For  example, the chapter on homeopathy becomes the point where he explains the placebo effect, regression to the mean (that is, the natural cycle of the disease), placebo-controlled trials (including the need for randomisation and double blinding), meta-analyses like the Cochrane Collaboration and publication bias. The subjects of each chapter (numbers reflect later editions) are: The hardback and first paperback editions did not include an index. Several indexes were prepared by bloggers, including one prepared by Oliblog. The latest paperback issue includes a full index.