All posts by CJGrace

Is Science Objective or a Belief System?

Bogus Science of Eugenics described in a 1918 medical bookThe idea of what constitutes science is can change dramatically from one time period to another. I love antiquarian books and came across a heading in an old medical volume I have from 1918, The People’s Common Sense Medical Advisor by R. V. Pierce, MD, that read, “The Science of Eugenics.” This so-called academic discipline to improve the genetic quality of human populations was founded in 1883 by the renowned British heredity scientist, Sir Francis Galton. He headed the first University department of Eugenics at University College, London Continue reading Is Science Objective or a Belief System?

Prince William Has My Son’s Tie

Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, in 2012. Sadly, he’s not wearing my son’s tie. Photo courtesy of Punting Cambridge, Wikimedia Commons.

Friday February 25, 2011: HRH Prince William and his soon-to-be bride Kate Middleton were visiting their alma mater, St. Andrews University in Scotland, the third-oldest university in the English-speaking world. Continue reading Prince William Has My Son’s Tie

Was Melania Telegraph Story Fair and Balanced?

Melania Trump speaking at the International Women of Courage 2018 Awards Ceremony. Will history remember her as a woman of courage?

“One wonders how so many falsehoods could be crammed into a single article.” tweeted Brit Hume of Fox News. Added President Trump, “This is a very big deal in Europe. Fake News is the Enemy of the People!” The offending article was “The Mystery of Melania” that appeared in the January 19, 2019 issue of The Telegraph in Britain. Yet the story for which Mrs. Trump’s lawyers in Britain extracted an apology and substantial damages was excerpted from a book that has been available in the United States since October 2018. Continue reading Was Melania Telegraph Story Fair and Balanced?

Personality Assessments: Accurate or Absurd?

Personality testing from the past: 18th century Swiss theologian and physiognomist Johann Kaspar Lavater depicts the four types of temperament deduced from facial structure.

I’ve always been skeptical of systems that claim to deduce a person’s character from questionnaires or physical attributes. At the worst extreme were the bogus sciences of phrenology, where the shape and size of your skull was believed to reveal your mental abilities, and physiognomy, which claimed that your personality could be determined by your outer appearance, specifically your face. Continue reading Personality Assessments: Accurate or Absurd?