The Quackometer
Experiments and Thoughts on Quackery,
Health Beliefs and Pseudoscience
Welcome to the Quackometer
WHAT IS THE QUACKOMETER ALL ABOUT?
Spotting these web sites appears to be easy when you know what to look out for. If it is that easy, can the process be automated? The quackometer project intends to find out.
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recent quackometer blog entries...
The Best Books of 2008
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:53:00 +0000
This year has seen a fantastic number of books about quackery, scepticism, complementary and alternative medicine and its effects on society. As part of my review of the year, I thought I would look back at some of the best new books. The year started of really rather well with the publishing of Rose Shapiro's Suckers: How Alternative Medicine Makes Fools of Us All. It is the book that rather
Mistletoe and Cancer
Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:30:00 +0000
Merry Christmas! Last Christmas, we looked at the quackery surrounding myrrh. This year, it is time for me to have little whine about mistletoe. Christmas would not be the same without a little cheeky kiss under this herb - usually with someone you really ought not to. But, its role at Christmas undoubtedly stretches back in time to more paganistic practices. According to Pliny the Elder, it
An Academic Responds to the Homeopathy Challenge
Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:56:00 +0000
After two weeks of silence from ten UK academic homeopaths, I get a response to my recent challenge. The challenge was simple: can any of the Universities offering a BSc in Homeopathy tell six different homeopathic pills apart if they do not know which is which to start with. Several emails to them and not a single response from any of the academics. However, last week I got an email from
A Charm of Powerful Trouble
Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:26:00 +0000
Today Prince Charles visited the Nelson's Homeopathic Pharmacy manufacturing laboratories in London. He was supposed to be turning up with his wife, Camilla, but unfortunately she has not been taking her magic sugar pills and was too ill to inspect the identical tubs of white sugar pills. It looks like Charles and his spin off commercial enterprises, "Duchy Originals" is getting into bed with
Academic Quackometrics
Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:46:00 +0000
Hey! The Quackometer is back on line and so many of you have been using it. I've seen a few problems but just need some time to fix them. Work. Christmas rush and all that. But while the quackometer was down, I came across some academics who were taking the Quackometer rather seriously. Yin Aphinyanaphongsa and Constantin Aliferis of the Vanderbilt University Nashville have written a paper
Homeopathy University Challenge
Is the Popularity of Homeopathy Collapsing?
Chiropractic Folly and the Nature of Evidence
The Society of Homeopaths Have Nothing to Lose by Winging It
The World Health Organisation Traditional Medicine Hoax
Manchester TV Station fined £15,000 for broadcasting dangerous homeopathic nonsense.
About Me
The Quackometer has been developed by Andy Lewis. If you wish to get in contact then please read the FAQ and then email me. Details in the About section.
The $100 Challenge
With minimum cost, homeopaths could do a simple test that would start to shut me up about the implausibility of homeopathy.
It is now
56 weeks
without anyone taking the test.
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