Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax" is a non-fiction book by the American astronomer Phil Plait, also known as "the Bad Astronomer". The book was released in 2002 and deals with various misunderstandings about space and astronomy, such as sound

Sound

Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...

s being audible in space (a misconception because in space, sound has no medium in which to propagate). Many ideas relating to space that are mistaken but nevertheless often portrayed in popular movies are corrected and explained. He also dedicates much of the book to debunking the idea of a Moon landing hoax and explains why astrology

Astrology

Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...

 should not be taken seriously. A part of the book describes the moon's tidal effects and explains the Coriolis effect

Coriolis effect

In physics, the Coriolis effect is a deflection of moving objects when they are viewed in a rotating reference frame. In a reference frame with clockwise rotation, the deflection is to the left of the motion of the object; in one with counter-clockwise rotation, the deflection is to the right...

, why the sky is blue, the Big Bang

Big Bang

The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...

, etc.

Many of the topics discussed in the book and arguments are also to be found on Plait's page at the Discover

Discover (magazine)

Discover is an American science magazine that publishes articles about science for a general audience. The monthly magazine was launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It was sold to Family Media, the owners of Health, in 1987. Walt Disney Company bought the magazine when Family Media went out of...

magazine blog site, but are explained in greater depth in the book. The author states that the book is intended to debunk popular myths and also to describe science in an easily comprehensible way.

The book is the first volume in the series Bad Science published by John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...

.

External links

• Plait's Bad Astronomy blog at Discover.com
  Discover (magazine)
  Discover is an American science magazine that publishes articles about science for a general audience. The monthly magazine was launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It was sold to Family Media, the owners of Health, in 1987. Walt Disney Company bought the magazine when Family Media went out of...