List of controversial non-fiction books

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Categories: Controversial books

This is a list of controversial non-fiction books aimed at the general reader which discuss controversial issues, or are (or were at the time of writing) controversial for other reasons. For controversial fictional books, see list of banned books. Additional books may be found at Controversial books.

This list is alphabetical by topic, and books should be ordered by publication date within topics

Criteria for inclusion:

  • This list is intended to be selective, not exhaustive.
  • The standard for books written in the last 40 years is necessarily weaker than that for older books, as there is no way of knowing whether these books will be as highly regarded (or reviled) in the decades to come. Their topical nature makes them important, and so they should be included here.
  • verifiable references for the existence and size of the controversy must be provided

Contents

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Agriculture

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Anthropology

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Artificial intelligence and the nature of consciousness

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Astronomy

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Business and bureaucracy

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Cosmology

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Drug culture

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Environmentalism

Malthus promoted a view of the lower classes as being an economic burden rather than a resource, and predicted that their population growth could lead to catastrophic food shortages. This adversely affected British social legislation at the time, but also prompted the first census, inspired movements promoting contraception, and contributed to both Darwin and Wallace's formulation of a theory of natural selection.
This book popularized environmentalism by exposing to the public the dangers of chemical pesticides, and accusing the chemical industry of unethical behavior. This led to a subsequent ban of the pesticide DDT, however some claim that this ban is responsible for a worldwide resurgence in malaria and millions of human deaths.
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Evolution

Darwin put forth a theory of natural selection, which contradicted the doctrine of "created kinds" which was derived from a literal reading of the Book of Genesis.

Morgan's Aquatic ape hypothesis challenges the theory that early humans evolved on the savannah, and argues that several human charachteristics which are uncommon to mammals can be better explained by a semi-aquatic environment. The book is popular among feminists because it emphasizes the role of reproductive traits in human evolution.

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Feminist theory

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Futurology

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Globalization

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History

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Media

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Philosophy of science

Popper refuted the classical observationalist-inductivist account of science, and put forth falsifiability as a criterion of demarcation for proper scientific theories.

Kuhn reformulated the conception of scientific progress, resisting the formalization of a "scientific method", arguing instead that scientific theories are accepted and rejected based on their expalanatory power within their historical context. He coined the term "paradigm shift" to describe this process. Postmodernists interpret the book as undermining the scientific establishment, but Kuhn himself was a firm believer in scientific progress.

Feyerabend advocated theoretical anarchism, arguing that many instances of scientific progress have violated established criterion for "good science". Falsificationism and consistency he claims, as well as any methodology, will limit science, and thus "anything goes" is the best ideology.

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Politics

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Psychiatry

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Race and intelligence

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Religion

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Sociology

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See also