Skeptic: Promoting Science and Critical Thinking

top navigation:

Thursday, September 14th, 2006 | ISSN 1556-5696

eSkeptic: the email newsletter of the Skeptics Society

Share this eSkeptic with friends online.
Click the + for more sharing options.

In the second eSkeptic for this week, we announce another fabulous season of lectures at Caltech. Dr. Michael Shermer kicks off the season, followed by Dr. Owen Gingerich, Dr. Richard Sloan, Dr. Sam Harris, Dr. Richard Dawkins, Dr. Bart Kosko, and Jonathan Kirsh. Also, in the new episode of Skepticality, Derek interviews Dr. Shermer about the new book as well as recaps the whirlwind weekend that was Dragon* Con 2006.


our next lecture at Caltech

Why Darwin Matters:
The Case for Evolution & Against Intelligent Design

with Dr. Michael Shermer

Sunday, September 24th, 2pm
Baxter Lecture Hall, Caltech, Pasadena, CA

Dr. Michael Shermer is the Publisher of Skeptic magazine, a columnist for Scientific American, and author of Why People Believe Weird Things, How We Believe, and The Science of Good and Evil.

Evolution happened, and the theory describing it is one of the most well founded in all of science. Then why do half of all Americans reject it? In Why Darwin Matters, Michael Shermer defuses objections to the theory by examining what evolution really is, how we know it happened, and how to test it. Shermer then discusses what science is, demonstrating clearly how and why creationism and Intelligent Design are not science. Dr. Shermer also builds a powerful case for evolution as the scientific theory that most closely parallels the Christian model of human nature and the conservative model of free market economics. Dr. Shermer was once an evangelical Christian and a creationist, and is now one of the best-known public intellectuals defending evolutionary theory, so Why Darwin Matters provides readers with an insider’s guide to the evolution-creation debate, and why science should be embraced by people of all beliefs.

mark your calendar

Science, Religion, and Politics: A Conversation

with Dr. Owen Gingerich, Dr. Richard Sloan & Dr. Sam Harris

Sunday, October 8th, 2pm–5pm

The God Delusion

with Dr. Richard Dawkins

Saturday, October 28th, 2pm

Noise: A Fuzzy Logic Perspective

with Dr. Bart Kosko

Sunday, November 12th, 2pm

A History of the End of the World:
How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible
Changed the Course of Western Civilization

with Jonathan Kirsch

Sunday, December 3rd, 2pm


New episode featuring
Dr. Michael Shermer & Dragon*Con 2006

On this week’s episode of Skepticality, Derek gets philosophical with Skeptic founder Dr. Michael Shermer about his new book, Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design. Derek & Swoopy also briefly recap the whirlwind weekend of fun that was Dragon*Con 2006 — complete with a rowdy live performance from musical skeptic George Hrab.

Listen through iTunes!

A convenient way to get Skepticality episodes is to subscribe using Apple’s iTunes music software. You can set your own preferences with iTunes, including the option to have new episodes download automatically! Subscribing to the podcast via iTunes also helps more people discover skepticism, as it moves the show even further up the iTunes ratings charts. If you have iTunes, click below to subscribe to Skepticality and get the latest episode!

SUBSCRIBE to Skepticality
within iTunes

What if I don’t already have iTunes on my computer?

If you don’t have iTunes installed on your computer, you can download the latest version for free. It‘s available for computers running Windows 2000 or XP, or Mac OS 10.3.9 and later.

GET iTunes

What if iTunes is not available for my computer?

The new episode is also available as a simple MP3 download.

DOWNLOAD the MP3 file (20mb)

Can I use an RSS feed?

For those of you who prefer to receive your Skepticality updates through your RSS aggregator or other XML reader, you can subscribe to either the dedicated Skepticality RSS feed (for Skepticality updates) or to the generic Skeptic RSS feed (which includes Skepticality updates and other items).

SUBSCRIBE to the Skepticality RSS feed

SUBSCRIBE to the Skeptic RSS feed

Leave a comment

search

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.

amazon.com

See our affiliate links page for Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, and iTunes links.

get eSkeptic
our free newsletter

Free science articles delivered to your inbox once a week.


eSkeptic is our free email newsletter. Delivered once a week to your inbox, you will receive fascinating & provocative articles, event announcements, podcasts, book reviews, and timely updates from Skeptic.

Tweets from Shermer

Facebook logo (copyright Facebook Inc.)
Myspace logo (copyright Myspace Inc.)

FREE PDF Download

Top 10 Myths About Evolution

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

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

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.

Copyright © 1992–2012 Skeptic and its contributors. For general enquiries regarding the Skeptics Society or Skeptic magazine, email skepticssociety@skeptic.com or call 1-626-794-3119. Website-related matters: webmaster@skeptic.com. Enquiries about online store orders: orders@skeptic.com. To update your subscription address: subscriptions@skeptic.com.
See our Contact Information page for more details. This website uses Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and AddThis tracking software.