The Return of Pathological Science Accompanied by a Pinch of Replication

No discussion of irreproducible science would be complete without at least a brief consideration of what happens when scientists go a step or two beyond questionable research practice (QRP)-driven research. So, continuing the metaphor of scientific journeys, Robert Park’s iconic book title, Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud, encapsulates the interdisciplinary examples of what Irving Langmuir (a Nobel Prize recipient in chemistry) termed pathological science more than 65 years ago. The chapter discusses more recent examples of this phenomenon in some detail from both the physical sciences (cold fusion) and their sociobehavioral counterparts (the Daryl Bem psi episode). The latter (undoubtedly a virtual mentee of Joseph Banks Rhine whose exploits were exposed by Professor Langmuir) is given more prominence here because of its influence on the genesis of reproducibility crisis itself.

New Life for "Cold Fusion"

The take-away from this discussion is that research on nuclear reactions occurring at ordinary temperatures at certain metals in electrolysis in heavy water, which has been widely denigrated for three decades as “pathological science”, has now been recognized as a respectable topic for further research.

Some notes on the pedagogical value of historical pathological science examples from Chemistry and Physics, and related sciences

ResumoOs dados biográficos sobre cientistas, e em particular de químicos e físicos, podem ser usados como elemento motivador dos estudantes e público assim como um instrumento humanizador da ciência e demonstrativo da forma como esta funciona na prática. A dimensão humana da ciência emerge naturalmente da análise de apontamentos biográficos que enfatizem os dilemas e os sucessos e fracassos dos cientistas. Os episódios históricos e as atitudes e acções dos cientistas mostram como funciona a ciência e dão aos estudantes e público a possibilidade de reflectirem sobre a ciência e a sua humanidade, assim como de desenvolverem a capacidade de desconfiar do anacronismo, da pseudo-ciência, da ciência patológica e da fraude científica, para melhor apreciarem e entenderem o desenvolvimento da ciência. Começando com uma breve revisão dos sintomas e critérios propostos na literatura para distinguir desvios anormais, neste trabalho são analisados alguns casos de produção de ciência patológica nos campos da química e da física, procurando, a partir destes, evidenciar caminhos pedagógicos que fomentem o espírito crítico dos estudantes e do público. Palavras-chave: Biografias de cientistas, estratégias pedagógicas, humanidade da ciência, pseudo-ciência, ciência patológica. Abstract Biographical data about scientists, and in particular about chemists and physicists, can be used for engaging students and the public, humanizing the science image, and for demonstrating how it works in the practice. The human dimension of science emerges naturally from the analysis of biographical aspects that emphasize the dilemmas and the successes and failures of scientists. The historical episodes and the attitudes and actions of scientists show how science works and offer students and public the opportunity to reflect about science and its humanity, as well as to develop the capacity to distrust anachronism, pseudo-science, pathological science, and scientific fraud in order to better appreciate and understand the action and development of science. Starting with a brief review of the symptoms and criteria proposed in the literature to distinguish deviations from normal science, this work analyzes some cases of production of pathological science, focusing on chemistry and physics, seeking pedagogical paths that foster the critical spirit of students and the public.Keywords: Biographies of scientists, pedagogical strategies, the humanity of science, pseudo-science, pathological science.

Element 87—Francium

One of the most remarkable things about element 87 is the number of times that people claimed to have discovered it after it was predicted by Mendeleev in 1871 and given the provisional name of eka-caesium . It was recognized early on that the periodic table more or less fizzles out after element 83, or bismuth. All subsequent elements are radioactive and therefore unstable, with a few exceptions like uranium and thorium. But this fact did not deter a number of scientists from searching for element 87 among natural sources and in many cases from claiming to have isolated it. For example, Druce and Loring in England thought they had identified the element by using the classic method developed by Moseley for measuring the K α and K β lines of any element’s X-ray spectrum. But it was not to be. In the 1930s, it was the turn of Professor Fred Allison from the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University). Allison developed what he called a magneto-optical method for detecting elements and compounds based on a supposed time lag in the development of the Faraday effect, whereby the application of a magnetic field causes a beam of polarized light passing through a liquid solution to be rotated. Allison mistakenly thought that every element gave a particular time lag, which he claimed was observed with the naked eye, and that this effect could be used to identify each substance. He boldly claimed in a number of journal articles, and even a special feature in Time Magazine, that he had observed elements 87 and also 85, both of which were still missing at the time. Literally hundreds of papers were published on this effect, including a number of studies arguing that it was spurious. But these days the Allison effect is often featured in accounts of pathological science, alongside the claims for N-rays and cold fusion.