Bad This Bad That Bad Ben Goldacre

I was ignorant on the ways of Goldacres Guardians columns until the day I read, perhaps in one of the great blogs I advertise down below on the left, that Goldacres was a Guru in search of the truth. After reading a very brief mention to his writing ability I decided to search for his books. Firstly, I found his picture and immediately got startled by an Einstein-figurine that through times has been vindicating that crazy hairdos do not have to linearly belong to crazy people. Somehow still yet inebriated by my secular iconoclast soul I decided to give this author a chance... and what an amazing surprise I was hit with. Probably, for most of the Brits I work with, Goldacre is a must since they were like sixteen. How surprised did they sound when I revealed that this writer, doctor, columnist, man of a thousand jobs, was new to me and I had yet to let him captivate me if he was to stand a chance of belonging to my personal library.

I dont care how surprised my colleagues sounded, or the extent of their irony. How can people who have no idea who Saramago was, Pessoa, Miguel Torga, Eca de Queiroz, or the most contemporary, Sophia de Mello Breyner, Lobo Antunes and Agustina Bessa-Luis, claim ignorance on anything. OK, now Im being rough, but you understand my point guys, somehow I had to advertise the great writers from my country who more than deserve to be read by all of you. Well, lets move forward! Reading is knowledge and regardless of when it hit you, it is always welcome. And I must say that even though it might sound a tad arrogant, Ben Goldacre knows his way with words, facts and arguments that cement his intrepid ideas. Intrepid because he messes with a secret-shaped mud, revolves the ground that hides the truth and exposes the facts based on other even more real facts. Nevertheless, and even though he assumes that his exposures might direct people to over-criticism of science and pharma, it is very easy to drift reasoning and assume passion if one is not careful and blindly think that if in the populace theres a black sheep, all sheep are thus, black.

I recently purchased two great books from Ben Goldacres collection, one is a best-seller, the other is a continuum of his investigatory attitude towards dismantling the monsters we all applaud without even blinking.  I must exacerbate that I am not anti-pharma, or even anti-science (how could I?), not at all. I love pharma, I love science, they are necessary domains that complement each other and replenish the world with progress. What I hate in fact is ignorance, as I do not consider it bliss. And I pity people who love being ignorant. Goldacre is not a guru, I have no patience for gurus. Goldacre is a guy who investigates pretty well, exposes it in a very simple, funny, pungent way, and then, after youve been served, you are left craving more... Truth!

Title: "Bad Science"

Author: Ben Goldacre

Label: Fourth Estate

Year: First published in Great Britain in 2008

Price: £4.30 on Amazon (sold by World of Books Ltd)

Public review: 4.4 stars

Public comment:

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Title: "Bad Pharma"
Author: Ben Goldacre
Label: Fourth Estate
Year: First published in Great Britain in 2012
Price: £6.54 on Amazon (sold by SuperBookDeals)
Public review: 4.5 stars
Public comment:

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New Year New Label New Books

2014 started nearly a month ago but the Christmas Spirit is here to stay, so imbued of that holy magnificent giving-away spirit I decide to keep offering me stuff that I really desired for. Note that I never mentioned "need for", even though it is stuff so good that its inherent quality make these items utterly necessary.

I talk you guys about BOOKS. One of my passions. I read on the way to work and I read on the way home. Sometimes, most of the times actually, I skip taking the bus that would shorten my trip to work to some direct/boring 8 minutes in a  bad traffic day, and I delight myself with a good reading in a 30 minutes walk that makes me wish for more. 

I enjoy the fresh air and also the very interesting things I put my eyes on.

Recently Ive been reading 8 books at a time. Odd? No. I get bored very easily if the intensity of the literature in kind of roller-coasting through my retinas. But then I thought it would be great to start a book label here in the blog, literature concerning science obviously, but not that boring tedious amalgam of heavy weight wording with loads of definitions, concepts and formulas. This is to be interesting above all; interesting and enticing. 

For starters, let me introduce you one of the four books I just purchased through Amazon, on some very indulging prices. Some are used but who really cares?, as long as I can read the words and see the images properly, Im game!

Title: "Forensics"

Author: Richard Platt

Label: Kingfisher Knowledge

Year: First published in 2005

Price: £2.15, used but in a very good state

Public review stars: 4 stars

Public comment: 

Starting quote from book:

Link: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uEZrWdQt5ZUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

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UPDATE ON THE 06TH OF FEBRUARY AFTER READING HALF OF THE BOOK:
OK, its quite acceptable as you learn new things. But its a very general approach to forensics. Nice for kids or people who have no knowledge at all on forensics and thrive on it. If youre a student on your GCSEs and need a career enlightenment, this book "might" help you slightly on your decision making. I would rate it for "teenagers" and people with no knowledge of science whatsoever.
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I will come back soon to you guys with info on the other three I bought. Just let me handle primordial things better because being a dad, doing a PhD and writing up is a tough challenge :D

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