Pathological Science

In 1897, the Indiana House of Representatives unanimously passed a measure that redefined—inaccurately—the calculation of the value of π, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Little did they know that you couldn’t build a bridge or skyscraper using their value. Fortunately, the bill died in the Senate.

This historical anecdote might elicit a sardonic chuckle from scientists, but non-experts are increasingly being exposed to this kind of nonsense—what Chemistry Nobel Laureat…