Aids is not caused by HIV. Coal and oil are not fossil fuels. Radiation exposure is good for you. These ideas make headlines, but most educated people scoff at them. Yet some of science’s most important concepts form gravity to evolution have surfaced from the pool of crazy ideas. Here, a well-known physicist with an affinity for odd ideas applies his open mind to nine controversial propositions on topical subjects. Some, it turns out, are considerably lower on ...