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The Lie Detectors: The History of an American Obsession by Ken Alder (Paperback, 2009)

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In this fascinating history of the lie detector, Ken Alder exposes some persistent truths about our culture: why we long to know the secret thoughts of our fellow citizens; why we believe in popular science; and why we embrace truthiness. For centuries people searched in vain for a way to unmask liars, seeking clues in the body's outward signs: in blushing cheeks and shifty eyes. Not until the 1920s did a cop with a PhD team up with an entrepreneurial high school student and claim to have invented a foolproof machine capable of peering directly into the human heart. Scientists repudiated the technique, and judges banned its results from criminal trials, but in a few years their polygraph had transformed police work, seized headlines, and enthralled the nation. In this book, Alder explains why America-and only America-has embraced this mechanical method of reading the human soul. Over the course of the twentieth century, the lie detector became integral to our justice system, employment markets, and national security apparatus, transforming each into a game of bluff and bluster. The lie detector device may not reliably read the human mind, but this lively account shows that the instrument's history offers a unique window into the American soul. Ken Alder is a professor of history and the Milton H. Wilson Professor in the Humanities at Northwestern University. He is the author of The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error that Transformed the World and Engineering the Revolution.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
University of Nebraska Press
ISBN-13
9780803224599
eBay Product ID (ePID)
201765671

Product Key Features

Author
Ken Alder
Publication Name
The Lie Detectors: the History of an American Obsession
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Subject
History, Criminology
Publication Year
2009
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
366 Pages

Dimensions

Item Height
228mm
Item Width
165mm
Item Weight
494g

Additional Product Features

Title_Author
Ken Alder
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States

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The Lie Detectors: The History of an American Obsession by Ken Alder (Paperback, 2009)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

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Additional Product Features

Best Selling in Textbooks

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