Skeptic: Examining Extraordinary Claims and Promoting Science
-
discover skepticism
-
learn about
our society
Meet Michael Shermer
Founding publisher, Michael Shermer
Dr. Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, the Executive Director of the Skeptics Society, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, the host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech, and Adjunct Professor at Claremont Graduate University and Chapman University.
Dr. Shermer’s latest book is The Believing Brain. His other books include: The Mind of the Market (on evolutionary economics), Why Darwin Matters: Evolution and the Case Against Intelligent Design (about evolution, how we know it happened, and how to test it), Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown (about how the mind works and how thinking goes wrong), and The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Share Care, and Follow the Golden Rule (on the evolutionary origins of morality and how to be good without God). He wrote a biography, In Darwin’s Shadow (about the life and science of the co-discoverer of natural selection, Alfred Russel Wallace). He also wrote The Borderlands of Science (about the fuzzy land between science and pseudoscience), and Denying History (on Holocaust denial and other forms of pseudo history). His book How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God, presents his theory on the origins of religion and why people believe in God. He is also the author of Why People Believe Weird Things (on pseudoscience, superstitions, and other confusions of our time). He also wrote The Soul of Science (a brief statement of belief on science, the soul, and the afterlife, from a scientist’s perspective) and co-edited (with Pat Linse, the co-founder of Skeptic magazine) The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience (an analysis of the most prominent controversies made in the name of science).
Dr. Shermer received his B.A. in psychology from Pepperdine University, M.A. in experimental psychology from California State University, Fullerton, and his Ph.D. in the history of science from Claremont Graduate University (1991). He was a college professor for 20 years (1979–1998), teaching psychology, evolution, and the history of science at Occidental College (1989–1998), California State University Los Angeles, and Glendale College. Since his creation of the Skeptics Society, Skeptic magazine, and the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech, he has appeared on such shows as The Colbert Report, 20/20, Dateline, Charlie Rose, Larry King Live, Tom Snyder, Donahue, Oprah, Leeza, Unsolved Mysteries (but, proudly, never Jerry Springer!), and other shows as a skeptic of weird and extraordinary claims, as well as interviews in countless documentaries aired on PBS, A&E, Discovery, The History Channel, The Science Channel, and The Learning Channel. Shermer was the co-host and co-producer of the 13-hour Family Channel television series, Exploring the Unknown.
- Download Michael Shermer’s Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
- INVITE Michael Shermer to speak
- CONTACT Michael at mshermer@skeptic.com
- VISIT www.michaelshermer.com.
get eSkeptic
our free newsletter
Science in your inbox every Wednesday!
eSkeptic is our free email newsletter. Delivered once a week, you’ll receive fascinating articles, announcements, podcasts, book reviews, and more…
Watch Live Broadcasts from Caltech for free!
Lectures Live Streamed from Caltech
Can’t make it to Caltech for a Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture? Watch the live stream of our lectures for free online, right here, broadcast live from Caltech!
Popular Articles
on skeptic.com
Here are the articles that people have been sharing over the last few days.
Help the
Skeptics Society
at no cost to you!
Planning on shopping at Amazon.com? Start your shopping by clicking the button below, and the Skeptics Society will receive a commission. Your prices for all Amazon products will remain exactly the same, yet you’ll provide essential financial support for the work of the nonprofit Skeptics Society.
See our affiliate links page for Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, and iTunes links.
The Believing Brain
(now in paperback)
Get the autographed paperback
In this, his magnum opus, Dr. Michael Shermer presents his comprehensive theory on how beliefs are born, formed, nourished, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished. Sam Harris calls The Believing Brain “a wonderfully lucid, accessible, and wide-ranging account of the boundary between justified and unjustified belief.” Leonard Mlodinow calls it “a tour de force integrating neuroscience and the social sciences.”
FREE PDF Download
Top 10 Myths About Evolution (and how we know it really happened)
This concise pamphlet provides answers to common objections to evolution, such as: If humans came from apes, why aren’t apes evolving into humans?; Only an intelligent designer could have made something as complex as an eye; The second law of thermo-dynamics proves that evolution is impossible; Evolution can’t account for morality; and more…
FREE PDF Download
Top 10 Things You Should Know About Alternative Medicine
Harriet Hall, MD (aka the SkepDoc), shares her wit and wisdom about alternative medicine including: chiropractic, the placebo effect, homeopathy, acupuncture, and the questionable benefits of organic food, detoxification, and ‘natural’ remedies.
FREE PDF Download
Learn to be a Psychic in 10
Easy Lessons
Psychic readings and fortunetelling are an ancient art — a combination of acting and psychological manipulation. While some psychics are known to cheat and acquire information ahead of time, these ten tips focus on what is known as “cold reading” — reading someone “cold” without any prior knowledge about them.