It’s really rather annoying when a non-fiction book received for review is not only useful, but readable. And not merely readable, but enjoyable, even entertaining.

Last night, I thought I’d have a quick look at Science Fictions, to get the lie of the land, so to speak, before settling down to read the one and a half novels I need to have finished by Monday. Next thing I knew, I’d read the introductory material and three chapters.

You would think the subject matter would be dry, abstruse and a good thing to have on your bedside table if you happen to be an insomniac. Nothing could be further from the truth., The author writes well, and manages to inject humour into his prose as well.

I haven’t read enough to be able to write a full review, but I will say this. I’ve been concerned for some time that so-called evidence-based practice might be based on pretty flimsy evidence. I have a feeling that this book may confirm such fears to be justified. From the portion I’ve read so far, it seems that a depressing number of research studies are either difficult to replicate or hard to reproduce, and scientific journals don’t always carry out as much due diligence as one would hope.

The final chapter, on how to read scientific reports, is probably reason enough on its own to obtain this book. But as I say, I’ll reserve judgement for now. Look out for a final review on the ICT & Computing in education website, and in Teach Secondary magazine.