The Quackometer

I am sort of doing a 'book tour' at the moment - without a book...

The late eighteenth century was a very creative time for inventing new forms of quackery and many became quite wealthy on the back on their invention. Of these creations, it is perhaps only homeopathy that has survived virtually unchanged into the 21st century. The majority of alternative medicines available today have been invented and developed within living memory, despite claims of their origins in antiquity.

What makes an alternative medicine successful? Why should homeopathy survive when the very popular tractors of Perkins have long since been forgotten? Could you have predicted this in 1800? Today, we have a new industry of quack devices protecting us from mobile phones. Should you invest in such enterprises?

In this talk, Andy will look at the factors that make pseudo-medicines thrive and why consumers and practitioners latch onto them. What implications are there for regulation and protecting the public from delusional or fraudulent claims.

I also hope to bring along a few historical and modern quack devices to see just how far we are advancing.

Lescar Hotel

Sharrow Vale,

303 Sharrow Vale Road,

Sheffield,

S11 8ZF

Square Bar

5-9 Hotel Street

Leicester

LE1 5AW

The Maypole

20a Portugal Place

CB5 8AF

with Simon Singh (author of Trick or Treatment, and many other science best-sellers), Andy Lewis (Quackometer) and others. A skeptical look at alternative medicine, and no doubt the ongoing court case involving Simon Singh will be discussed too.

Conway Hall,

25 Red Lion Square, Holborn,

London WC1R 4RL – Main Hall.

details