The Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience (2000), edited by Dr William F. Williams, "identifies, defines and explains terms and concepts related to the world of "almost science". It includes over 2000 entries, covering phenomena, people, events, topics, places and associations.

Criteria for inclusion

Williams describes the criteria for inclusion:
Entries in the Encyclopedia do not necessarily note to which criteria an entry belongs.

Examples

The book includes a wide range of entries, including Astrology

Astrology

Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...

, Flat Earth Society

Flat Earth Society

The Flat Earth Society is an organization that seeks to further the belief that the Earth is flat instead of an oblate spheroid. The modern organization was founded by Englishman Samuel Shenton in 1956 and was later led by Charles K...

, Phrenology

Phrenology

Phrenology is a pseudoscience primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules...

 and UFOlogy

Ufology

Ufology is a neologism coined to describe the collective efforts of those who study reports and associated evidence of unidentified flying objects . UFOs have been subject to various investigations over the years by governments, independent groups, and scientists...

.

Contributors

Advisors and Consultants
Jerome Clark

Jerome Clark

Jerome Clark is an American researcher and writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other anomalous phenomena; he is also a songwriter of some note....

, Board of Directors, J. Allen Hynek

J. Allen Hynek

Dr. Josef Allen Hynek was a United States astronomer, professor, and ufologist. He is perhaps best remembered for his UFO research. Hynek acted as scientific adviser to UFO studies undertaken by the U.S. Air Force under three consecutive names: Project Sign , Project Grudge , and Project Blue Book...

 Center for UFO Studies, Chicago; Dr J. Gordon Melton

J. Gordon Melton

John Gordon Melton is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently a research specialist in religion and New Religious Movements with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara...

, Research Specialist, Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara; Dr Carl Mitcham

Carl Mitcham

Carl Mitcham is a philosopher of technology. Born in 1941, Mitcham is currently Professor of Liberal Arts and International Studies at the Colorado School of Mines and a professor at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee....

, Professor of Philosophy and of Science, Technology and Society, Pennsylvania State University; Dr Marcello Truzzi

Marcello Truzzi

Marcello Truzzi was a professor of sociology at New College of Florida and later at Eastern Michigan University, founding co-chairman of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal , a founder of the Society for Scientific Exploration, and director for the Center for...

, Director Center for Scientific Anomalies Research and Professor of Sociology, Easter Michigan University.

Contributors
Dr Daniel W. Conway, Dr Lisle W. Dalton, Dr R. G. Alex Dolby, Dr R. Shannon Duval, Honor C. Farrell, Jeff Frazier, Dr John E. McMillan, Dr J Gordon Melton, Terry O'Neill, Kenneth R. Shepherd, Steven Utley, Joyce Williams, Dr William F. Williams.

About the editor

William F. Williams was formerly visiting Professor at the Department of Science, Technology, and Society at Pennsylvania State University

Pennsylvania State University

The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...

, and was the William Weiss Fellow in Engineering from 1992 to 1993. He is also a Life Fellow at the University of Leeds

University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...

, England. His publications include Are Science and Technology Neutral? (Butterworth), and he has served as editor in chief of the Science in a Social Context series (also for Butterworth). Williams resides in England.

Reviews

The Skeptical Inquirer

Skeptical Inquirer

The Skeptical Inquirer is a bimonthly American magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry with the subtitle: The magazine for science and reason....

s review of the book claims that, ".. errors, major and minor, can be found throughout.", "It reads more like a collection of opinions", "[needs to] contain material that is both correct and objective. Unfortunately, this tome fails on both counts."