Ben Goldacre

The tone is a bit over the top but with good reason, it is a shame that a book like this should even exist because of failure of the press to report on science.

The criticism i would direct to the author is that he almost never goes into numerical details so he does not admit some fundamental problems with scientific truth. Some times results are not black and white, and benefits or damage are acrually complex.

The praise I could not give enough is that he really takes head on so many problems with information, policy, media in health and wellness. For example debunking of anti-oxidants…
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Pretty good, does exactly what it says on the tin and is written in a pretty informal and entertaining style that makes it a breeze to read. I don't know enough about the subject to comment on stuff he's missed out or anything like that. Would say he's way too optimistic about stuff like transparency as a cure all and doesn't see how much these problems are baked into a capitalist pharmaceutical industry but ah well can't expect everything. I appreciate his suggestions about how to change things - even though they're obviously limited it's at least a start and could inspire people to do good things. More books should have stuff like that. Enjoyable interesting and also horrifying book.… (more)

At times, I found the good doctor's manner a bit overbearing and holier-than-thou. But perhaps that is simply a sign that this is not the best book to be the first one of his I read. After all, this is a collection of his weekly editorials, and so are meant to be picking the holes in other peoples' arguments or reporting.
Many of his points are spot on, and I overall agreed with most of the points made.
The concluding article "made" it for me, in that it very clearly elucidated his issues with the current methods of reporting science, and why it matters so much to him.… (more)