My first book “Bad Science” is out today in the US and Canada, and there are some talks coming up in Canada and the US next week. Clicking on the covers below will take you to the Amazon page.
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The talks should be fun, I’m passing through:
Montreal
Trottier Symposium in McGill on October 18:
www.mcgill.ca/science/trottier-symposium/october18/
(Also passing through Toronto, but no public events there I’m afraid.)
New York
I’m talking at Barnes and Noble, Upper East Side, October 20, 7:00 pm.
150 East 86th Street, New York, NY 10028
Free entry, and there’ll probably be nobody there, so we can hang out and play Go or something.
Maine
Lastly I’m off to the Poptech nerdfest in Maine October 23:
www.poptech.org/blog/announcing_the_poptech_2010_speakers_and_performers
Do let me know if there’s anything or anyone interesting I should check out in those places, I think I’ll be mostly doing media stuff and finishing the new book on my laptop in darkened rooms, but distractions are always welcome. Having done about a zillion free public talks in the UK over the past 5 years I’m sad there are no more public events, hopefully I’ll get the time to make it back to the US and Canada another time.
Here’s the US edition, click for Amazon.
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And here’s the Canadian edition, click for Amazon.
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I’ll be very interested to see how all this goes in America. About half the web traffic to this blog is from the US, and the book really surprised me in the UK (250,000 copies so far and Christmas number one in the non-fiction charts, call me Cliff Richard). I doubt it will be a huge splash in America – how English am I? – but if I’m honest, I write and tweet and talk mainly as a motivator to find and consume more interesting stuff for myself, so what I’m really hoping for, as I get to know these countries better, is more US and Canadian tips, stories, and food for thought.
Send me stuff!
Trodamus said,
October 13, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Well. I was going to purchase this from amazon.co.uk, but now I can just have my family get it for me for christmas without any excess instructions.
You’re quite charismatic, Ben. Any word on whether you might do a talk show or two while you’re here? The Daily Show or Letterman seem like shoe-ins, especially since John Stewart tends to have an interest in this sort of ontological inertia.
However, being a Chicago native that hasn’t been to New York or much of anywhere in Canada, I can’t give much advice on the cities you’ll be visiting, save for which city to plan a last-minute trip to once you’re sick of them (uh…Chicago, for example).
Jason Loxton said,
October 14, 2010 at 7:13 pm
About freaking time!
P.s. When and where will you be in Canada?
StanBlakey said,
October 15, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Hi, Can you get your publisher to make the Kindle version available in Canada.
It is bad enough that we pay about twice as Americans for the same book. But keeping the Kindle version out of Canada is just rude.
I bought the book from amazon.co.uk but would love to have it with me when travelling.
If it is not too late and you haven’t already done so you should get in touch with this guy – www.cbc.ca/whitecoat/
physicsmum said,
October 16, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Okay Ben, I have ordered your book, Canadian edition, and look forward to reading it!
Seconding StanBlakey – Dr. Goldman does some interesting stuff, enjoy hearing him on CBC.
Next time you get across the pond, do come and visit us in the beautiful Canadian Rockies!! Banff is a great place for a conference 🙂
sandy t said,
October 18, 2010 at 10:21 pm
Sadly, I’m on the wrong side of Canada to see you. Do please come out West next time!
I bought the English edition of the book as soon as it came out. Is there any substantive difference, or is it just a new cover?
wraillantclark said,
October 19, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Thank you to you and to the other presenters for an awesome presentation last night here in Montréal. I was very touched and engaged, and I believe many other people in the audience were too. Bon courage !
William Raillant-Clark
rwrc.tumblr.com
wraillantclark said,
October 20, 2010 at 8:02 pm
I forgot to mention that your readers can check out the Montreal presentation here bcooltv.mcgill.ca/Viewer1/?RecordingID=55117 Dr. Goldacre’s presentation starts at the 1 hour 27 minute mark, but if you have time, I recommend sitting through the whole thing.
met said,
October 21, 2010 at 10:20 am
Enjoyed last night’s event in NY. I’d dragged my girlfriend along (she was a bit dubious) but she was won over enough to buy her own copy of the book.
Will the tradition of signed copies disappear once everyone’s buying kindle/nook editions? Or will you have to wrap the file with your own PGP signing key.
joe22c said,
October 24, 2010 at 3:10 am
You were in CANADA?! You were at MCGILL?!
NOOOOOOO! I’m at Queen’s (only 1-2 hours away) and I would have murdered people just to see you give a talk!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :'(
Unfortunately I was bogged down by midterms, assignments, and my thesis proposal oral presentation and hadn’t been checking this site for a while.
Sigh; that’s what I get I suppose 🙁
I’m checking out the webcast on McGill’s webpage right now though.
homer said,
October 25, 2010 at 5:10 pm
Love this book. Couldn’t put it down. You have to come the western states someday.
Akilan Tiburtius said,
November 10, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Yes, please don’t forget to pass through Western Canada: Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton.
actioncat said,
November 18, 2010 at 7:22 pm
Hi Ben,
Please come to Vancouver. Your book made US and Canada already a better place.
We need to talk. World needs you.
I am Turkish and will make you big over there@
Love and peace
E.
Jess said,
November 22, 2010 at 3:11 am
Ben,
I live in a modest town in Australia so little chance of ever seeing you, unfortunately. But you are welcome if you’d like to drop by – it’s sunny here.
I bought your book recently and loved it. However there were two things about it which actually did hurt my fee-fees: your constant jabs at humanities graduates (I am one – a linguist – and my discipline is definitely evidence-based, with little patience for bullshit. I’m certainly less gullible than my friends with engineering, teaching, and animal science degrees, so the jibes irk me), and your apparent assumption that your readers are male (e.g. telling me to look at my sperm under a microscope… um ok thanks but I don’t make any actually!). There were a few other instances where it seemed as if you assumed I was male, or used gender stereotypes, but I don’t want to trawl through right now. It’s just, like, I’m reading this kickass book that is filling me up with really good examples and figures to give to people so that I can be more confident in conversations about alternative medicine, vaccination etc, and then BAM you make a joke at my expense because my discipline is a humanities, or I realize that you think I’m a dude and I am reminded that I’m not one of the clever science men. I just really want to be included, not excluded, because this is one of the communities with which I indentify. I want other women to feel belonging rather than otherness in the science/popscience and debunking worlds. It would only take a very few changes to your wording to be completely inclusive of women and for me to be able to read your book through without feeling like, on some level, that it was not written for me.
Uh sorry for the rant, you just seem to be the kind of person who would be able to take on feedback like this, and I didn’t know where else to write to you.
I totally loved your book otherwise and will be buying it for friends this Christmas.
Jess.