Heavenly errors : misconceptions about the real nature of the universe
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-236) and index.

An astronomy professor and author of the bestselling What If the Moon Didn't Exist? takes a provocative look at popular misconceptions about the cosmos. 20 illustrations. A provocative look at popular misconceptions about the cosmos. The author presents the reader with the methods for identifying & replacing incorrect ideas & to think more like a scientist. One of the great paradoxes of modern times is that the more scientists understand the natural world, the more we discover that our everyday beliefs about it are wrong. Neil F. Comins has identified and classified, by origin and topic, over 1,700 commonly held misconceptions about the universe. He presents the reader with the tools needed to probe erroneous notions so that we can begin to question for ourselves, and to think more like scientists. Comins (University of Maine) brings his crusade to the general reader (he's written a number of textbooks aimed at correcting students' misconceptions). In addition to graciously informing us that the Sun does not emit mostly yellow light, Mercury is not the hottest planet, and the moon alone does not cause tides (etc.), he points out the bad astronomy in "Star Trek, Star Wars" and other science fiction movies, explains how pseudosciences such as astrology and UFO-ology are responsible for many errors, and provides tools to help those newly cleansed of their misperceptions to avoid acquiring new ones.