A Scientist in Wonderland: A Memoir of Searching for Truth and Finding Trouble - Softcover

"[T]his ferociously frank autobiography... [is] a clarion call for medical ethics."--Barbara Kiser "Nature "

"If you want a true measure of the man, buy Edzard Ernst's memoir A Scientist in Wonderland, which the Imprint Academic press have just released. It would be worth reading [even] if the professor had never been the victim of a royal vendetta."--Nick Cohen "The Spectator "

"It should be required reading for everyone interested in medicine without exception."--Pan Pantziarka "AntiCancer.org.uk ""

"In his new book, A Scientist In Wonderland: A Memoir Of Searching For Truth And Finding Trouble, no one from the world of alternative medicine is safe from Professor Edzard Ernst's firing line."--Katherine Keogh "Mail Online "

"Ernst isn't just an academic - he's also an accomplished writer and skilled communicator. He puts over some quite complex ideas without resorting to jargon and I felt informed without ever struggling to understand, despite being a non-scientist. I was pulled into the story of his life and read most of the book in one sitting... I was impressed by what Ernst had to say and the way in which he said it."--Sue Magee "The Bookbag "

"This engaging book is a memoir by a medical researcher whose passion for discovering the truth about untested therapies eventually forced him out of his job [This] highly readable book concentrates on fact rather than emotion. It should be required reading for anyone interested in medical research."--Andrews Haynes "The Pharmaceutical Journal ""

"The writing in A Scientist in Wonderland is clear and engaging. It combines good storytelling with important insights about medicine, science, and analytic thinking. Despite all the troubles Ernst encountered, I found his story to be inspirational. I enthusiastically recommend the book to scientists, health professionals, and laypersons who like to see nonsense and mendacity exposed to the light of reason."--William M. London "James Randi Educational Foundation "

"Edzard Ernst is one of those rare people who dare to question their own beliefs, look at the evidence without bias, and change their minds In addition to being a memoir, Dr. Ernst's book is a paean to science He shows how misguided ideas, poor reasoning, and inaccurate publicity have contributed to the spread of alternative medicine This is a well-written, entertaining book that anyone would enjoy reading and that advocates of alternative medicine should read: they might learn a thing or two about science, critical thinking, honesty, and the importance of truth."--Harriet Hall "Science-Based Medicine ""

"A Scientist in Wonderland is a rather droll, quick read [and] it's an effective antidote to New Age nonsense, pseudo-science and old-fashioned quackery."--Robbie Millen "The Times ""

"[F]or all its trenchant arguments about evidence-based science, the second half of A Scientist in Wonderland remains a very human memoir, and Ernst's account of the increasingly personal nature of the attacks he faced when speaking to CAM practitioners and advocacy groups is disturbing Ben Goldacre's 2012 book Bad Pharma created a storm via its exposure of the pharmaceutical industry s unhealthy links with mainstream medicine. Ernst s book deserves to do the same for the quackery trading under the name of complementary and alternative medicine."--Helen Bynum "Times Higher Education ""

This is the story of my life as a doctor and a scientist. Despite a youthful ambition to become a jazz musician, I eventually studied medicine and became a medical research scientist, taking up appointments in Germany, Austria and finally in England. My reverence for the pursuit of truth through the application of scientific methods, coupled with a growing interest in the history of medicine during the Nazi era, did not always endear me to my professional colleagues. At the time I was appointed to the world's first chair in alternative medicine, this was an area of health care that had never been studied systematically, and was almost entirely dominated by outspokenly evangelic promoters and enthusiasts — among them, famously, HRH Prince Charles — many of whom exhibited an overtly hostile, anti-scientific attitude towards the objective study of their favoured therapies. Clashes were inevitable, but the sheer ferocity with which advocates of alternative medicine would go in order to protect their field from scrutiny came as a profound surprise. This memoir provides a unique insight into the cutthroat politics of academic life and offers a sobering reflection on the damage already done by pseudoscience in the field of medicine.