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Intro -- A Note on the Text -- Introduction -- The Conversation -- I. A Counterculture Hero -- II. An Ideal Case -- III. The Lysenko Lesson -- IV. A Freudian Cosmology -- V. Enter Einstein -- VI. Responses and Reactions -- VII. Digging In -- VIII. Science vs. Pseudoscience -- IX. Fringe Benefits -- X. Learning From History -- XI. Anthropic Digression -- XII. Better Science? -- Continuing the Conversation.

This book is based on an in-depth conversation with Michael Gordin, Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Princeton University. This conversation provides a detailed analysis of the phenomenon of pseudoscience and examines as a specific example the strange case of Immanuel Velikovsky, author of the bestselling book "Worlds in Collision" that managed to provocatively combine unbridled scientific speculation with ancient myth, as a way of probing the often-problematic boundary between science and pseudoscience.By all accounts, Velikovsky was a decidedly curious character. The notorious Russian-born doctor-turned psychoanalyst-turned astronomer-historian-autodidact not only had a flair for writing and boatloads of charisma and energy, he also was on record for making a couple of concrete predictions of his radical new theory of the solar system that turned out, much to the dismay of the authorities of the day, to actually be correct. This carefully-edited book includes a detailed introduction, questions for discussion at the end of each chapter and connections with other books in the Ideas Roadshow Conversations series.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2021. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.