''Science Made Stupid: How to Discomprehend the World Around Us'' is a 1985 book written and illustrated by Tom Weller. The winner of the 1986

Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book The Hugo Award for Best Related Work is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for primarily non-fiction works related to science fiction or fantasy, published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The Hugo Awards have bee ...

, it is a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its su ...

of a

junior high A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

-level science

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...

. Though now out of print, high-resolution scans are available online, as well as an abridged transcription, both of which have been endorsed by Weller. Highlights of the book include a satirical account of the

creationism Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism ...

vs.

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

debate and Weller's drawings of fictional prehistoric animals (e.g., the duck-billed

mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...

). The style has been compared to ''Mad'' magazine. Weller released a companion volume, ''

Culture Made Stupid ''Culture Made Stupid'' (also spelled ''Cvltvre Made Stvpid'', ) is a book written and illustrated by Tom Weller Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of pe ...

'' (also spelled ''Cvltvre Made Stvpid''), which satirizes

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

and the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at th ...

References

External links

''Science Made Stupid'' Library of Congress 84012938

''Science Made Stupid'', online with the author's permission
1985 books Satirical books Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book winning works Science textbooks {{comedy-book-stub