Skeptic: Promoting Science and Critical Thinking

What We Do

Publishing

Since 1992, the Skeptics Society has published Skeptic, a quarterly journal that examines a wide variety of social, scientific, and pseudoscientific controversies. Our contributors are top experts in their fields, making Skeptic a respected academic voice. The magazine has been called “stimulating and provocative” by Carl Sagan, “clearly superior … gutsy” by Edward O. Wilson, and “the best journal in the field” by Stephen Jay Gould.

Sent out each week to over 38,000 readers, our newsletter eSkeptic provides reviews, essays, and opinion editorials on a current happenings in science and culture.

Dr. Michael Shermer, the director of the Skeptics Society, publishes a monthly column in Scientific American called “Skeptic.” Topics he has covered include evolutionary psychology, alien abductions, prayer and healing, and alternative medicine.

Lectures & Conferences

The Skeptics Society sponsors a monthly lecture series at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA. The lectures are available for purchase in audio & video formats.

We also host scientific conferences that bring together skeptics from all across North America. Each Skeptics Society conference is focused on a specific theme, which allows us to invite a new line-up of prominent speakers to contribute their knowledge and perspective to each one. Lively conversation, debate, and collaboration are hallmarks of these events.

Education & Research

The Society is dedicated to educating the public about controversial claims. We maintain a telephone referral service and this website so that schools, the press, and the general public can access our information. We tirelessly lend our scientific viewpoint to media coverage of a wide range of issues. Check out our list of media appearances.

To further our own learning, as well as the public’s, the Skeptics Society conducts investigations and research into controversial claims. We then make our articles available in our online reading room.

At our online shop, we offer an extensive catalogue of scientific and skeptical books and audio and video recordings for purchase. Skeptics Society members receive a discount.