Throughout our history, humans have been
captivated by mythic beasts and legendary creatures. Tales of Bigfoot, the
Yeti, and the Loch Ness monster are part of our collective experience. Now
comes a book from two dedicated investigators that explores and elucidates the
fascinating world of cryptozoology. Daniel Loxton and Donald R. Prothero have written an
entertaining, educational, and definitive text on cryptids, presenting the
arguments both for and against their existence and systematically challenging the
pseudoscience that perpetuates their myths. (Amazon)
Reviewed
by Laura Madsen, veterinarian, mom and writer
ABOMINABLE SCIENCE! (with the exclamation point) was written by a skeptical science writer
and a vertebrate paleontologist. They present a comprehensive, unbiased look at
the field of cryptozoology and some of the most famous cryptids: Sasquatch,
Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster, sea serpents, and Mokele Mbembe, the supposed
“African brontosaurus.” The “abominable” term in the title refers both to the
nickname for the Yeti, the “Abominable Snowman,” as well as to the occasionally
abominable pseudoscience used to propel the hunt for cryptids.
In the
process of presenting the history, legends, hoaxes, cultural milieu, and
evidence for the existence of cryptids, the book also explains the scientific
method, how scientists think, and the foibles of human perceptions and brains
that make us so likely to believe weird things.
The book
also discusses a peculiar overlap between cryptozoology and creationism:
apparently the “Young Earth” creationists (i.e., people who believe the Earth
was created 6,000 years ago) feel that to discover a living, breathing
plesiosaur (Nessie) or sauropod (Mokele Mbembe) would disprove evolution in one
fell swoop. Huh? Coelacanths, sharks, horseshoes crabs, cycads and ginkgos have
all been around since before the dinosaurs but all their continued existence
“proves” is that they are supremely adapted to their respective ecological
niches. (Incidentally, one creationist-funded expedition to Africa in 2001
allegedly discovered “evidence” of Bigfoot and UFO’s, but, alas, no sauropod
dinosaur.)
I am a zoologist,
and personally I think it would be really cool if a Sasquatch or a plesiosaur
were discovered. I’d volunteer to scientifically examine and autopsy the
critter. But, the evidence for any of these cryptids is pretty slim. Although
there are numerous sightings every year, Loxton and Prothero show how people,
especially people primed by watching monster movies and reading about cryptids,
can be fooled by their senses and imagine a mythical creature where none exists
(the phenomenon is termed “expectant attention”). In addition, the authors
explain that “we run into the Law of Large Numbers: given large enough numbers,
very unlikely things become inevitable. The Law of Large Numbers guarantees
that one-in-a-million miracles happen 295 times a day in America.” This means
that even if it’s only a one-in-a-million chance that a person could mistake a
group of swimming sea lions for a sea serpent (and it’s probably much better
odds than that), if a million people look at sea lions on the coast, at least
one will swear that he sees a sea serpent.
Recommended
for anyone interested in cryptozoology or science in general, or anyone
concerned about the lack of critical thinking and scientific literacy in our
society.
Market:
nonfiction
Violence:
none
Language:
none
Sensuality:
none
Adult
themes: evolution vs. creationism
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