WHEN SCIENCE GOES WRONG: TWELVE TALES FROM THE DARK SIDE OF DISCOVERY

Book ID/图书代码： 00530008B21104

English Summary/英文概要： Mostly, we hear about science’s triumphs — the wonder drugs, the moon landings, the ever-faster computers. But for every brilliant scientific success there are a dozen miserable failures. Usually these involve no more than some wasted funds and a blank spot on somebody’s resume. Once in a while, though, a scientific experiment doesn’t just fail — it goes spectacularly wrong. And that makes for a great story.
This book is a collection of 12 such stories, told by a renowned scientist and science writer. They include the following: - The Runner’s Brain: Pathologist Rebecca Folkerth was shocked by what she found one night in 1991 while dissecting the body of 52-year-old Max Truex: parts of a foetus seemed to be growing inside his head. Truex, it turned out, had participated in a bizarre medical experiment.
- Meltdown: Before Richard L. McKinley could be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, his hands had to be cut off: they were too radioactive even for his lead-lined coffin. An experiment at a nuclear reactor in Idaho had gone awry, killing him and two others.
- The Ecstasy and the Agony: When neuroscientist George Ricaurte reported that the drug “Ecstasy” caused permanent brain damage, the news jolted politicians and party-goers alike. A year later, Ricaurte admitted his mistake: he had injected his monkeys with the wrong drug.
- The Day the Dam Broke: When the St. Francis Dam north of Los Angeles collapsed, a wall of water 140 feet high raced toward the ocean and killed hundreds of people. Even 75 years later, the geologist’s error that caused the catastrophe is apparent to anyone who visits the site.
- The Wrong Man: It took the jury just two hours to convict Josiah Sutton.
After all, a forensic scientist had testified that his DNA was a 1 in 694,000 match to the rapist’s. Sutton got a 25-year prison sentence, but he was innocent.
- The “Monster Experiment”: Could a normal child be taught to stutter?
Speech pathologist Wendell Johnson decided to find out—using children in a state orphanage. The answer was no, but some of the children were psychologically scarred for life.
When Science Goes Wrong is an absorbing account of scientific misadventures.
It does not point the finger of blame so much as it highlights the inherent risks associated with practicing science in a human context.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 紐約時報暢銷科普好書New York Times Bestseller

■病理學家Rebecca在1991年解剖52歲Max的屍體發現其腦部仍然運作成長，她懷疑Max曾歷經可怕的醫學實驗。

■Richard死後被安葬在美國阿靈頓公墓，但是下葬之前，他的雙手已經截肢。原因是Richard的雙手產生過量的輻射，而其放射性能量來源就是他曾在愛達荷州的核子反應爐做過研究實驗。

■約翰霍普金斯大學神經學家George Ricaurte以10隻猴子為對象，注射時下年輕人狂歡用的迷幻藥(搖頭丸)，結果兩隻猴子死亡，解剖發現腦部神經受損，因此懷疑迷幻藥會引發帕金森氏症，並公開對外發表。一年後他澄清此為錯誤的報告。

■Josiah Sutton被宣判有罪，須服行25年的牢獄，因為科學家從Josiah的DNA研究他犯罪的證明。結果事後發現科學家的實驗有誤，還了Josiah的清白。

作者蒐集驗證12則故事由知名科學研究學者和科普作家，探討關於科學研究的新發現、錯誤和疏失對我們生活的影響。(CL)

Awards/获奖情况：Publishing News
“...entertaining and thought provoking.”
“Spine-tingling, occasionally gruesome accounts of well-meant but disastrous scientific bungling.” Los Angeles Times
“The dark – but – fascinating – side of science….an absorbing read.”Geotimes
“Intriguing…well-told stories.” Booklist

About the Author/作者介绍： SIMON LEVAY is a British-born neuroscientist who has served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School and the Salk Institute. He is best known for his research into the biological basis of sexual orientation, and he has written or co-authored eight previous books. He lives in West Hollywood, California.
He attracted worldwide attention in 1991 with the publication of a study reporting on a difference in brain structure between heterosexual and homosexual men. This study helped trigger a spate of recent research into the biological basis of sexual orientation.
LeVay is the author or co-author of nine books. They include books in the area of his own scientific interests - The Sexual Brain (1993) and Queer Science (1996) - general-interest science books such as The Earth in Turmoil (1998) and Here Be Dragons (2000), a science-fiction novel, Albrick’s Gold (1997), and a college textbook, Human Sexuality (2003). He has also written for newspapers and periodicals such as Scientific American, Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Guardian, New Scientist, and The Advocate, as well as for the online magazine Nerve. com. He was the presenter on a 1992 television documentary, Born That Way? (Windfall Films).
LeVay currently lives in West Hollywood, California. His favorite pastime is cycling, and his oddest achievement is winning the 1963 bicycle hillclimb championship of (pancake-flat) East Anglia.
Simon LeVay是一位神經系統科學家，同時也是作家兼教授。他擁有英國劍橋大學、達利奇學院(Dulwich College)、德國格丁根大學等學位。1971年移民至美國，並在哈佛醫學院、沙克生物學研究中心、加州大學和史丹佛大學，教授相關神經科學與研究
Simon LeVay最具引人關切的研究發表，是關於1991年的同性戀腦部神經研究報告和男女大腦結構不同的問題研究結果。

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