science

Nonscience

Nonscience is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nonscience rather than just read about it. In short: Nonscience is a 1971 book which claims to have the longest and most complex title in publishing history. Its full title is Nonscience and the Pseudotransmogrificationalific Egocentrified Reorientational Proclivities Inherently Intracorporated In Expertistical Cerebrointellectualised Redeploymentation with Special Reference to Quasi-Notional Fashionistic Normativity, The Indoctrinationalistic Methodological Modalitie…

Key takeaways

Nonscience belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nonscience to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nonscience from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nonscience is a 1971 book which claims to have the longest and most complex title in publishing history. Its full title is Nonscience and the Pseudotransmogrificationalific Egocentrified Reorientational Proclivities Inherently Intracorporated In Expertistical Cerebrointellectualised Redeploymentation with Special Reference to Quasi-Notional Fashionistic Normativity, The Indoctrinationalistic Methodological Modalities and Scalar Socio-Economic Promulgationary Improvementalisationalism Predelineated Positotaxically Toward Individualistified Mass-Acceptance Gratificationalistic Securipermanentalisationary Professionism, or How To Rule The World, London: Wolfe Publishing (ISBN 0-7234-0449-6). The book was updated and reissued in 2020 as Nonscience Returns by the Curtis Press. Its author Brian J. Ford pokes fun at those who conceal their lack of real expertise by using long and complicated words, whilst making the serious point that many people are fooled by these so-called experts. Some consider the book prescient, thinking that modern society, where decisions are taken by unseen experts, is much as Ford predicted.

Spanish edition In the Spanish edition the title was rendered as Como se falsifica la Ciencia; la Nonciencia y las proclividades Reorientacionales egocentrificadas pseudotransmigrificacionalificas inheremente intracorporadas a la Redesplegamentacion Expertistica Cerebrointelecualizada, con especial referencia a la Normatividad Modaistica Cuasi-nocional, las Modilidades Metodologicas adoctrinamientisticas y el Perfeccionamientalismo Escelar Socioeconomico Promulgacionario predelineado Postitotaxativaments Hacia el Profesionalismo Seguripermanentalinicario Gratificionalistico Individualistificado el la Aceptacion de las Masas, o Como Regir el Mundo [translation by Oscar Muslera], Libertad y Cambio, Buenos Aires: Granica Editor.

Reviews In Britain, the book was reviewed in the following publications:

The Times Higher Education Supplement, October 22, 1971 Atticus Column, Sunday Times, October 24, 1971 Irish Press, October 30, 1971 Time Out magazine, November 12, 1971. New Statesman, November 12, 1971. Nature: 234, December 3, 1971 The Times Educational Supplement, December 3, 1971 Times Literary Supplement, January 21, 1972 Mensa Journal, January 22, 1972 The book was also featured on the BBC television show Tomorrow's World.

See also Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science

References

External links The author's website page on this book

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nonscience

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nonscience claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nonscience before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nonscience ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nonscience

In research: Nonscience appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nonscience in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nonscience is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1971 non-fiction books, Science book stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nonscience outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nonscience in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nonscience means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nonscience out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nonscience in simple terms?

Why does Nonscience matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nonscience?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nonscience.