Why people believe weird things : pseudoscience, superstition, and other confusions of our time / Michael Shermer ; foreword by Stephen Jay Gould.

New York : W.H. Freeman, 1997.

xii, 306 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

I. Science and skepticism. I am therefore I think : a skeptic's manifesto -- The most precious thing we have : the difference between science and pseudoscience -- How thinking goes wrong : twenty-five fallacies that lead us to believe weird things. II. Pseudoscience and superstition. Deviations : the normal, the paranormal, and Edgar Cayce -- Through the invisible : near-death experiences and the quest for immortality -- Abducted! : encounters with aliens -- Epidemics of accusations : medieval and modern witch crazes -- The unlikeliest cult : Ayn Rand, objectivism, and the cult of personality. III. Evolution and creationism. In the beginning : an evening with Duane T. Gish -- Confronting creationists : twenty-five creationist arguments, twenty-five evolutionist answers -- Science defended, science defined : evolutionism and creationism at the Supreme Court

IV. History and pseudohistory. Doing Donahue : history, censorship, and free speech -- Who says the Holocaust never happened, and why do they say it? : an overview of a movement -- How we know the Holocaust happened : debunking the deniers -- Pigeonholes and continuums : an African-Greek-German-American looks at race. V. Hope springs eternal. Dr. Tipler meets Dr. Pangloss : can science find the best of all possible worlds? -- Why do people believe weird things?

Includes bibliographical references (p. 279-293) and index