"Am I Making Myself Clear? A Scientist's Guide to Talking to the Public"
by Cornelia Dean, Harvard University Press: 2009. 288 pp.
"I've never read a better, more thorough guide to science communication in all its forms." (Nature)

"The Intelligibility of Nature. How Science Makes Sense of the World"
by Peter Dear, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2006. 254 pp
"Written for a nonspecialist audience, Peter Dear's The Intelligibility of Science argues that such prescriptive debates within science are integral to its development. The classic story of Newton provides the early turning point in Dear's concise and ambitious essay. Ranging from Aristotle and Lavoisier to Maxwell and Darwin and from Descartes to Einstein and Bohr, Dear portrays the development of modern science through the shifting accounts of what it means to make nature intelligible. Dear (a historian of science at Cornell University) distinguishes science as natural philosophy, an account of what the world really is and how it works, from science as an instrumental tool, a collection of techniques useful for making predictions about the world and for changing it." Science, 7 Sep 07.

"Scientific Perspectivism"
by Ronald N. Giere, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2006. 168 pp.
Giere's book makes a serious case for constructivism, but those with strong objectivist inclinations will not be moved. Review: Science.

"Theories on the Scrap Heap. Scientists and Philosophers on the Falsification, Rejection, and Replacement of Theories"
by John Losee University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 2005. 216 pp.
"Theories on the Scrap Heap provides a lucid, nicely consolidated introduction to the appraisal of scientific theories." (review). This book is very relevant for the evaluation of the theory of evolution and for the critics of evolution.

Conjectures and Refutations, fifth edition.
by Karl Popper (1989)
"Try to learn what people are discussing nowadays in science. Find out where difficulties arise and take interest in disagreements. These are the questions which you should take up." (page 129).

Against Method, third impr
by Paul Feyerabend (1976)
"The first step in our criticism of customary concepts is to step outside the circle and either to invent a new conceptual system or import such a system from outside science, from religion, from mythology." (page 68)

Unended Quest. An Intellectual Autobiography, Fontana paperback.
by Karl Popper (1976)
Popper and Feyerabend gave me, as a traditional trained biologist, the reasons to pay attention to criticism of evolution.
"For years I found that people had great difficulty in admitting that theories are, logically considered, the same as hypotheses. The prevailing view was that hypotheses are as yet unproved theories, and that theories are proved or established hypotheses. And even those who admitted the hypothetical character of all theories still believed that they needed some justification; that, if they could not be shown to be true, their truth had to be highly probable. The decisive point in all this, the hypothetical character of all scientific theories, was to my mind a fairly commonplace consequence of the Einsteinian revolution, which had shown that not even the most successfully tested theory, such as Newton's, should be regarded as more than a hypothesis, an approximation to the truth." (page 81)

"Evolution. The History of an Idea" (revised edition)
by Peter Bowler (1989); and (2003: third, revised expanded edition).
This book contains a short and balanced treament of creationism (second edition Chapter 12, p354-364) in which creationist claims are taken seriously and their value and implications are discussed in a patient and very reasonable way. It is balanced because he criticises evolutionists as well as creationists. This chapter sets a standard for dealing with with the Creation-Evolution Controversy:

• Existing scientific theories cannot solve all the problems confronting them
• but alternative theories face even greater difficulties
• Evolutionists cannot be expected to answer all the questions put to them
• Scientists who claim that evolution theory solved all the problems give a misrepresentation of science to the public
• Creationists need to present elaborated theories for detailed scientific scrutiny
• but it is difficult to see how their theories can be elaborated in enough detail if they depend on miracles
• For pedagogical reasons one needs to concentrate on the strong points of existing theories

Margaret Wertheim Walker (2011) 'Physics on the Fringe: Smoke Rings, Circlons, and Alternative Theories of Everything', 336 pp.
"Why listen to outsider physicists? They may not be Albert Einstein or Paul Dirac. Their ideas aren't going to be taught at universities such as Princeton and Harvard. But their theories are a store of imaginative thinking about how our Universe might be constructed. This is an important cultural phenomenon – like studying the diaries of foot soldiers alongside those of generals. Some of the works, especially Carter's, are also aesthetic achievements. Most of all, they give us a window on to the role of science in our lives. These people want to be at home in the Universe. They believe that science can provide us with an understanding of the cosmos, but feel alienated by mainstream theories. (...) Today's cosmological explanations have become incomprehensible to many people. This is one reason why religious fundamentalism has become reactive to science. If mainstream science ceases to provide us with an accessible picture of our world, it is not surprising that some folks begin to look elsewhere." (From: Nature, 479, 40 (03 November 2011)

Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway (2010) 'Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming', Bloomsbury, New York, 2010.
The website of the book. Reviews:

1. Science: "Because it is so thorough in disclosing how major policy decisions have been delayed or distorted, Merchants of Doubt deserves a wide readership". "There are many reasons why the United States has failed to act on global warming, but at least one is the confusion raised by Bill Nierenberg, Fred Seitz, and Fred Singer.".
2. Nature
3. American Scientist: "Oreskes and Conway's book is the most powerful exploration to date of how climate-change denialists managed to infiltrate high ranks of the Republican establishment and to block the translation of scientific facts into intelligent action". "if science gets in your way, you can always make up some of your own.".
4. Free chapter 6 "The Denial of Global Warming" at the NCSE website (12 Jul 2011).

Greg Critser (2010) 'Eternity Soup: Inside the Quest to End Aging', Harmony, 256 pp.
Review: Nature.

Mike Hulme (2009) 'Why We Disagree About Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2009. 432 pp
Review: Science

James Hoggan, Richard Littlemore (2009) "Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming", Greystone Books: 2009. 224 pp.
Review: Nature.

Ronald H. Fritze (2009) "Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-Religions" Reaktion Books Hardcover 272 pp.
Info. Dutch: "Zo maken pseudohistorici liever gebruik van de lacunes in de kennis om hun claims te ondersteunen, dan dat ze historisch feitenmateriaal in zijn geheel beschouwen" (nrc)

Seth Kalichman (2009) "Denying AIDS: Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, and Human Tragedy, Springer: 2009. 205 pp.
"Kalichman dismisses denialists' attempts to portray themselves as intellectually honourable dissidents who question accepted wisdom. He draws clear distinctions between dissidence and denialism; the latter, he says, is merely a destructive attempt to undermine the science." Review: Nature 459, 168 (14 May 2009).

David Michaels (2008) "Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health", Oxford University Press.
Website.

Lawrence Solomon (2008) 'The Deniers: The World Renowned Scientists Who Stood Up Against Global Warming Hysteria, Political Persecution, and Fraud **And those who are too fearful to do so' Upd Exp edition (Hardcover)

Paul A. Offit (2008) Autism's False Prophets. Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure.
Columbia University Press, New York, 2008. 322 pp.
Reviewed in: Science 12 December 2008: Vol. 322. no. 5908, pp. 1635 - 1636.

Daniel Lee Kleinman et al (eds) (2008) 'Controversies in Science and Technology: From Maize to Menopause (Science and Technology in Society) (v. 1) (Paperback)
- 'Controversies in Science & Technology Volume 2: From Climate to Chromosomes'. (Hardcover)

Martín López Corredoira & Carlos Castro Perelman (Editors) (2008) "Against the Tide. A Critical Review by Scientists of How Physics and Astronomy Get Done.", Universal Publishers, 265 pages.
"Nobody should have a monopoly of the truth in this universe. The censorship and suppression of challenging ideas against the tide of mainstream research, the blacklisting of scientists, for instance, is neither the best way to do and filter science, nor to promote progress in the human knowledge.". info and sample. Free download pdf.

Seth Shulman (2006) Undermining Science: Suppression and Distortion in the Bush Administration, 202 pp, Berkeley: University of California Press.
Review: ISIS: The subject of Seth Shulman's book is the overt manipulation and abuse of science under the administration of George W. Bush. Topics: Stem-cell research, denial of global climate change and refusal of the Kyoto Protocol, contraception, sexual abstinence, prescription drug protocols, Endangered Species Act (eye-opening chapter).

  Michael Brooks (2005) 13 things that do not make sense. New Scientist magazine, 19 March 2005. (free)
Stubborn facts and observations in medicine, cosmology, astronomy, and physics that should not exist according to orthodox scientific theories (evolution is not in the list). Lesson: unexplained facts exist in the exact sciences.

Robert Ehrlich (2003) "Eight preposterous propositions" Princeton University Press.
Scientists approach a controversial theory from the opposite perspective of lawyers. Lawyers are paid to make the best case possible for their client, a person they may believe to be guilty. Scientists on the other hand, are more like jury members. They judge a theory by fairly weighing all the evidence on each side. But unlike a jury, which has to make up its mind once and for all, scientists must continue to remain open-minded to contrary evidence even after they have accepted a theory as being probably true (page 2).
The book has been favorably reviewed by Walter Gratzer "A healthy draught of scepticism", Nature 426, 766-767 18 Dec 2003.

Robert Ehrlich (2001) "Nine Crazy Ideas in Science" Princeton University Press.
This book contains a list which is very useful for evaluating a number of unorthodox ideas in biology and evolution. Nine unorthodox theories are presented in nine chapters. I enjoyed the chapter 'AIDS is not caused by HIV' (Peter Duesberg's theory; Ehrlich is somewhat biased against the theory) and 'The solar system has two suns' (meteorite impacts and extinctions). The Introduction contains a useful checklist with 10 questions to determine whether a crazy idea might be true. No chapter about creationism, but the book is very useful for learning to evaluate unorthodox ideas.

1. Is the idea nutty?
2. Who proposed the idea?
3. How attached is the proposer to the idea?
4. Does the proposer use statistics in an honest way?
5. Does the proposer have an agenda?
6. How many free parameters does the theory contain?
7. How well is the idea backed up by references to other work?
8. Does the new idea try to explain too much or too little?
9. How open are proposers about their data and methods?
10. How well does the idea agree with common sense?

Peter H. Duesberg (1996) "Inventing the AIDS virus", Regnery Publishing, paperback, 722 pages.
Peter Duesberg, the most important critic of the HIV/AIDS hypothesis, explains why it has not been proven that HIV is the cause of AIDS. AIDS will never be the same after reading this book. The well documented story of a scientific controversy by one of its main critics. The clash between orthodoxy and a growing number of dissenters. The core of the book is chapter 6 in which Duesberg shows why HIV fails all three postulates of Koch. Therefore, HIV cannot be the cause of AIDS. The perfect correlation between HIV and AIDS is inevitable because HIV is part of the defintion of AIDS. I am unable to assess his bias, but see Robert Ehrlich's Nine Crazy Ideas in Science.
There is a site aimed at debunking claims denying that HIV is the cause of AIDS: AIDSTruth.org. There are obvious parallels with evolution denial. See: Science 15 June 2007 Vol. 316. no. 5831, p. 1554.
Intelligent Design theorist Michael Behe states: "the human immunodeficiency virus HIV, the virus that causes AIDS" (The Edge of Evolution, page 137). There are more books: The Origin, Persistence and Failings of HIV/AIDS Theory by Henry H. Bauer (2007).

Arthur Strahler (1987) "Science and Earth History. The Evolution/Creation Controversy." Prometheus Books.
A 552 page encyclopaedic work about the evolution/creation controversy.

www Aquatic Ape Hypothesis and Elaine Morgan (wiki article).
A controversial theory about human evolution not accepted by mainstream science.
"The appeal of the theory has been explained in several ways:

1. The theory appears to offer absolute answers while orthodox science is qualified and reserved, a situation which has great appeal to students and the public
2. Unusual ideas challenge the authority of science and scientists, which appeals to antiscience sentiments
3. The AAH as developed by Morgan has a strong feminist component, which particularly appeals to a specific, feminist audience
4. The AAH can be explained simply and easily, lacking the myriad details and complicated theorizing involved in dealing with primary sources and materials
5. The AAH uses negative arguments, pointing to the flaws and gaps in conventional theories; though the criticisms of mainstream science and theories can be legitimate, in this case, as with Creationism and AIDS denialism the flaws in one theory do not automatically prove a proposed alternative is true
6. The consensus views of conventional anthropology are complicated, require specialized knowledge and qualified answers, and the investment of considerable time to understand."

www How to be Anti-Darwinian
A useful page with a classification system of Darwin critics, based upon which part of neo-Darwinism is rejected.

www James A Shapiro, (The University of Chicago) A Third Way (Alternatives to Creationism and Darwinism)": "I will focus on a growing convergence between biology and information science which offers the potential for scientific investigation of possible intelligent cellular action in evolution.".
A 21st Century View of evolution.

• Donald R. Forsdyke (2011) Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Springer, hardback, 509 pages, second edition. [review copy received]
• Lynn Margulis, Celeste A. Asikainen, Wolfgang E. Krumbein (2011) Chimeras and Consciousness. Evolution of the Sensory Self. (Info).
• Fred Grinnell (2009) Everyday Practice of Science: Where Intuition and Passion Meet Objectivity and Logic (Oxford University Press, 2009) (review).
• Warwick Collins (2009) A Silent Gene Theory of Evolution. The University of Buckingham Press (12 Feb 2009). info.
• Albert Low (2008) The Origin of Human Nature. A Zen Buddhist Looks at Evolution. info.
• Pankaj Vallabh (2006) Conserve to survive. info.
• Cameron Smith, Charles Sullivan (2006) The Top 10 Myths About Evolution (info)
• Handbook of the Biology of Aging, Academic Press, USA, 2006
• Robert B. Laughlin (2005) A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down
• Denyse O'Leary (2004) By Design or by Chance?: The Growing Controversy On the Origins of Life in the Universe. Augsburg Fortress. [review copy Jun 2005]
• Mary-Jane West-Eberhard (2004) Developmental Plasticity and Evolution.
• Kim Sterelny (2003) Thought in a Hostile World: The Evolution of Human Cognition, Blackwell Publishing Professional
• Tibor Gánti (2003) Chemoton Theory Vol. 1, Theoretical Foundation of Fluid Mashineries Vol. 2. Theory of Living Systems. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
• Lenny Moss (2003) What Genes Can't Do.
• David Swift (2002) Evolution Under the Microscope: A Scientific Critique of the Theory of Evolution. Leighton Academic Press, UK. [review copy]
• Jonathan Wells (2002) Icons of Evolution
• Günther Witzany (2000) Life: The Communicative Structure. A New Philosophy of Biology. info, info.
• Michael Crawford and David Marsh (2000) Nutrition and Evolution : Food in Evolution and the Future. Keats Pub.
• Fred Heeren (2000) Show Me God: What the message from space is telling us about God.
• Rodney D. Holder (1999) Nothing But Atoms & Molecules? Probing the limits of Science. Starnine. [review copy]
• Craw, Grehan, Heads (1999) Panbiogeography: tracking the history of life, Oxford University Press.
• Gerald Schroeder (1997) The Science of God: The convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom.
• Del Ratzch (1996) The Battle of Beginnings: Why Neither Side is Winning the Creation-Evolution Debate.
• Depew and Weber (1995). Darwinism Evolving, MIT Press.
• Ronald L. Numbers (1993) The Creationists. (review).
• James Graham (1992) Cancer Selection, Aculeus Press.
• Marvin L. Lubenow (1992) Bones of contention - A Creationist Assessment of human fossil.
• Donald Williamson (1992) Larvae and Evolution. Toward a New Zoology Kluwer Academic Publ.
• Robert Wesson (1991) Beyond Natural Selection MIT press, Bradford Books
• Heribert Nilsson (1953) Synthetische Artbildung I,II. With a 107 page Summary (in English) pp.1139-1246.
• John A Hewitt The Architecture of Thought: A New Look at Human Evolution. (info)
• S. Gould, The Theory of options.
• Alan Hayward Creation and Evolution: the facts and the fallacies.
• Hugh Ross Creation and Time: a biblical and scientific perspective on the creation-date controversy
• Douglas Dewar The Transformist Illusion (reprint)
• Robert Stewart (?) God, Democracy and Evolution. (info)
• Máximo Sandín Synthetic theory: crisis and revolution