Sinclairrisk

guile - craftiness; deceit; cunning hackneyed - used too often; stale from overuse; trite; clichéd harbinger - a forerunner; a precursor; to announce; to herald herculean - extremely demanding or difficult; requiring or having great courage or strength hiatus - a space where something is missing; any break in continuity homily - a sermon, especially on something in the Bible; a long, moralizing talk homogeneous - of the same kind or nature; composed of similar or identical par...

erudite - having or displaying much knowledge; learned esoteric - Intended for or understood by only a few; confidential espouse - to adopt or support a cause; to take up ethereal - very light and airy; delicate; unearthly; celestial ethnology - the branch of anthropology that deals with various races of people, their origins, distribution, characteristics, and culture eulogy - a speech or piece of writing in praise of a person or thing, especially to honor one who has recently di...

proponent - a person who supports a cause or an idea; an advocate propriety - acceptable behavior; conventional standards prosaic - matter-of-fact; ordinary; commonplace protégé - someone whose welfare or career is promoted by an influential person pseudonym - a fictitious name assumed by an author; a pen name punctilious - paying attention to the fine details of etiquette; meticulous purloin - to steal quell - to quiet; to put down or suppress by force; to put an end to something quer...

facile - easily done; performing or working with ease; adroit; not sincere or profound; superficial farcical - ridiculous; like a farce; extravagantly and exuberantly comical feign - to pretend; to make up festoon - a string of flowers, paper, etc. hung as a decoration; to decorate with such an adornment fiasco - a complete or ridiculous failure finesse - delicate skill; subtlety firmament - the expanse of the heavens; the sky fissure - a narrow split, crack, or opening; to ...

mollify - to soothe; to soften; to appease moot - debatable; arguable; unresolved mottled - marked with spots, blotches, or streaks of different colors mundane - ordinary; commonplace; of this world (rather than the heavens) munificent - extremely generous; very liberal in giving nadir - the point in the celestial sphere directly opposite the zenith; the lowest possible point nebulous - hazy; vague; unclearly defined nefarious - very wicked; infamous; having a bad reputation...

inundate - to cover by overflowing; to flood; to overwhelm (as if by a flood) inveigle - to win over with trickery or flattery; to entice; to coax with deceitful talk; to dupe iridescent - showing the colors of the rainbow in a changing pattern irrevocable - not capable of being retracted, recalled, or withdrawn; irreversible lampoon - a piece of strongly satirical writing; to ridicule or satirize litigation - a form of legal action; the carrying on of a lawsuit longevity - lon...

Test 1 - ... What is science? - The systematic study of the natural world through observation and experiment What is pseudoscience? - A claim, belief or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not follow the scientific method Induction - Reaching a general conclusion from particular observations What constitutes a red flag indicating possible pseudoscience at work - The claim will "rewrite history" The claimant wants to "prove" their hypothesis The claimant i...

What is science? - The systematic study of the natural world through observation and experiment What is pseudoscience? - A claim, belief or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not follow the scientific method The process of reaching a general conclusion from particular pieces of data - Induction Which is characteristic of pseudoscientific claims? - All answers are correct (Seeks to prove rather than test claims, Ignores alternative explanations or contrary evidence...

What is epistemology? - The study of knowledge (how we know what we know) The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions (i.e. the simplest) is usually the correct one - Occam's Razor What is science? - The systematic study of the natural world through observation and experiment What is pseudoscience? - A claim, belief or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not follow the scientific method Which are characteristics of pseudo-scientific claims? Ignore alternat...

archaeology - systematic study of past human life and culture through the recovery and examination of material remains of past human behavior material remains vs. texts - archaeology vs. history example artifacts - includes: stone tools, pottery, metals, basketry/textiles, texts features - includes: architecture, burials ecofacts - includes: modified animal bones (tools), modified plant remains (food), modified soils/sediments (agriculture, landscape) archaeological site - place w...