Smoke and Mirrors - Gemma Milne ***

It's a bit of a strange one, this. The subtitle is 'how hype obscures the future and how to see past it'. Hype is a real problem in science communication, and I was really looking forward to an exploration of the nature of science communication hype, where it comes from, why it happens and how to correctly interpret it. Gemma Milne starts promisingly by explaining the origins of that familiar term 'smoke and mirrors'... but then it's as if you've bought a whole different book - because Smoke and Mirrors is not primarily about hype.

Don't get me wrong, hype does come into it as a linking theme, but what we really have here is a set of well thought out polemics on issues in the science and technology field, with the main thrust being on what the issues are and what might be done about them, but with a sideline in how hype can give the wrong focus and result in us addressing the wrong problems. So, for example, the first chapter is about 'finding the true meaning of value in the world of farming'. We get a lot on making farming greener and more ethical, making it more appropriate for those whom the food system currently fails, but the hype part is really just about overemphasis on things like artificial meat and how they are interesting but won't solve the problem. In 33 pages, only a couple in total are about the hype aspect.

It's not that these discussions aren't interesting. They are all topics we ought to be thinking about and Milne explores the topics well, giving a rounded picture - so, for example, in that 'feed the world' chapter, she is supportive of a sensible approach to GM rather than EU-style knee jerk opposition - but hype gets a relatively small look-in in most cases.

As one obvious example, one of the worst types of purveyor of hype are university press offices, and I had expected to get an in-depth look at these and what they do, but they aren't really mentioned, not even getting an entry in the index. Similarly, a lot of hype comes from newspaper headlines and even science magazines have a tendency to put ridiculously hyped headlines on the covers. Again, we do get a passing mention of the tabloid newspapers' obsession with cancer cures and causes, for example, but it's not the key focus of the relevant chapter.

The topics covered apart from food production are curing cancer, the future of batteries, fusion energy, space travel, quantum computing, computer-brain interfaces, AI and astrobiology. All topics worth our attention, but the way they are dealt with is more something I'd want from a magazine article on the specific subject, individually. What there is on hype wasn't enough to usefully tie them together as a book. A good piece of writing, then, but not what I was hoping for.

Paperback:

Kindle:

Using these links earns us commission at no cost to you

Review by Brian Clegg

Comments

Rakhat-Bi Abdyssagin Five Way Interview

Rakhat-Bi Abdyssagin (born in 1999) is a distinguished composer, concert pianist, music theorist and researcher. Three of his piano CDs have been released in Germany. He started his undergraduate degree at the age of 13 in Kazakhstan, and having completed three musical doctorates in prominent Italian music institutions at the age of 20, he has mastered advanced composition techniques. In 2024 he completed a PhD in music at the University of St Andrews / Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (researching timbre-texture co-ordinate in avant- garde music), and was awarded The Silver Medal of The Worshipful Company of Musicians, London. He has held visiting affiliations at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and UCL, and has been lecturing and giving talks internationally since the age of 13. His latest book is Quantum Mechanics and Avant Garde Music . What links quantum physics and avant-garde music? The entire book is devoted to this question. To put it briefly, there are many different link...

Should we question science?

I was surprised recently by something Simon Singh put on X about Sabine Hossenfelder. I have huge admiration for Simon, but I also have a lot of respect for Sabine. She has written two excellent books and has been helpful to me with a number of physics queries - she also had a really interesting blog, and has now become particularly successful with her science videos. This is where I'm afraid she lost me as audience, as I find video a very unsatisfactory medium to take in information - but I know it has mass appeal. This meant I was concerned by Simon's tweet (or whatever we are supposed to call posts on X) saying 'The Problem With Sabine Hossenfelder: if you are a fan of SH... then this is worth watching.' He was referencing a video from 'Professor Dave Explains' - I'm not familiar with Professor Dave (aka Dave Farina, who apparently isn't a professor, which is perhaps a bit unfortunate for someone calling out fakes), but his videos are popular and he...

Everything is Predictable - Tom Chivers *****

There's a stereotype of computer users: Mac users are creative and cool, while PC users are businesslike and unimaginative. Less well-known is that the world of statistics has an equivalent division. Bayesians are the Mac users of the stats world, where frequentists are the PC people. This book sets out to show why Bayesians are not just cool, but also mostly right. Tom Chivers does an excellent job of giving us some historical background, then dives into two key aspects of the use of statistics. These are in science, where the standard approach is frequentist and Bayes only creeps into a few specific applications, such as the accuracy of medical tests, and in decision theory where Bayes is dominant. If this all sounds very dry and unexciting, it's quite the reverse. I admit, I love probability and statistics, and I am something of a closet Bayesian*), but Chivers' light and entertaining style means that what could have been the mathematical equivalent of debating angels on...

Search This Blog