Nathan Zohner
publication date: Sunday, June 11, 2023 (part of June 2023)
category: Hoaxes
clue: This Idaho teenager wasn't the first to warn people of the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide, but he was the first to get a pseudoscience term named after him.
explanation: In 1997, Zohner was a 14-year-old student who conducted a science-fair experiment into gullibility by convincing 43 of his 50 classmates to ban water by calling it "dihydrogen monoxide" and listing its potential dangers. His results became well-known as a mockery of pseudoscience, leading to the term "zohnerism," the use of true facts to mislead people to a false conclusion. more…
intended difficulty: medium
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, and Richard Slominsky