Snake Oil Science: The Truth About Complementary and Alternative Medicine. By R. Barker Bausell. “The ailing millions who spend their money on unorthodox medical treatments may differ in their preferences for powders vs. needles vs. the sound of cracking bones, but they do share a single mantra: “I don’t care what the studies say; it works for me.”

The studies — at least the good ones — say that none of these treatments work the miracles often claimed for them. And in this contradiction lies the genesis of R. Barker Bausell’s readable, entertaining and immensely educational book, which undertakes to explain exactly why treatments that science says do not work that well are still able — even likely — to work for you.” (New York Times)

“Welcome to the first annual Wired News rundown of the year’s 10 most important scientific breakthroughs. 2007 was an amazing year for science. Unlike recent years, there were no high-profile cases of scientific fraud — none that went uncovered, anyway. Journal publishers took extra care, requiring scientists to duplicate results in an effort to avoid scientific, not to mention public relations, fiascoes. And while those are entertaining, we’ll take solid science over Sturm und Drang any day. Here we count down the top 10 scientific discoveries that rocked our Wired world the hardest this year.”

“This year’s death penalty bombshells — a de facto national moratorium, a state abolition and the smallest number of executions in more than a decade — have masked what may be the most significant and lasting development. For the first time in the modern history of the death penalty, more than 60 percent of all American executions took place in Texas.” (New York Times)