History of pseudoscience - Misplaced Pages

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A pseudoscience is any body of knowledge purported to be scientific or supported by science but which fails to comply with the scientific method. For more information about the complexities of drawing the boundaries of pseudoscience, see the articles Pseudoscience. The history of protosciences, are covered in the main history of science.

Since pseudoscience is something that purports to be science, pseudoscience only emerged after the scientific revolution established science. Non-scientific studies that had some characteristics of science before the revolution that lead to the establishment of a scientific field are regarded as protoscience.

Since the advent of pseudoscience, numerous groups have presented non-scientific topics as science in order to gain the appearance of legitimacy through association with science. Pseudoscientific subjects widely vary, but include anything that purports to study the supernatural through science, and anything that breaks the laws of physics such as perpetual motion machines.

Astrology

See History of astrology.

Creationism

Within the history of creationism, which has a theological backgrounds, mainstream scientists identify pseudosciences including; modern geocentrism, creation science and intelligent design.

Although there were earlier precedents of various pseudoscientific anti-evolutionary ideas, creation science as a social movement emerged during the 1960s in the United States. It later foundered on the 1987 SCOTUS decision Edwards vs Aguillard that banned the teaching of creationism in schools for violating the establishment clause of the United States constitution.

As a result of Edwards vs Aguillard, intelligent design (ID) emerged during the 1990s. Intelligent design is the idea that life shows scientific evidence of being designed, without specifying the identity of the designer. Opponents see this as a big tent strategy, designed to attack evolutionary biology, and the intelligent design movement has links to Christian fundamentalist groups.

Astrology

Creationism

See also