Skeptic: Promoting Science and Critical Thinking

2004 January–June

June 11th

The New York Sun reports fraud and deceit in Columbia University’s study into the power of prayer. Jason Rosenhouse reviews three books addressing Intelligent Design: The Design Revolution by William Dembski, God, the Devil and Darwin by Niall Shanks, and Darwinism, Design, and Public Education by John A. Campbell and Stephen Meyer.

June 4th

Steven Korenstein reviews environmental disaster film The Day After Tomorrow.

June 1st

Bruce Grant reviews Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design by Barbara Forrest and Paul R. Gross. Paul Harris exposes the scandal behind a Columbia University Study purporting to scientifically prove the power of prayer.

May 25th

Michael Shermer reviews the environmental disaster film The Day After Tomorrow. Ivan W. Kelly takes on Percy Seymour’s new theory of astrology.

May 17th

The Sunday Times science editor Jonathan Leake writes about Percy Seymour’s new theory of astrology. David Hackett Fischer explores the origins of “Debunking.” Also, letters on Roman Catholic atheism and Freeman Dyson’s endorsement of the paranormal.

May 10th

Michael Shermer recounts his evening debating Kent Hovind, a Young Earth Creationist and Defender of the Faith.

May 4th

Michael Shermer responds to Freeman Dyson’s assertion that there are valid reasons to believe in the paranormal. Curtis Cameron exposes the errors in ABC’s Primetime Thursday.

April 26th

Jason Colavito examines alternative archaeology in his article, Charioteer of the Gods: H.P. Lovecraft and the Invention of the Ancient Astronauts. Richard Dawkins offers advice to young science writers.

April 19th

Tim Callahan reviews God Against the Gods: The History of War Between Monotheism and Ploytheism by Jonathan Kirsch. Brent Norman investigates the IRS’s investigation of Young Earth Creationist Kent Hovind.

April 12th

Daniel Loxton reviews The Making of Bigfoot: The Inside Story by Greg Long; a Georgia judge sends evolution lawsuit to trial.

April 5th

Dennis Cass reviews Penn & Teller’s Bullshit!. Michael Shermer reviews Knocking on Heaven’s Door: American Religion in the Age of Counterculture, by Mark Oppenheimer. David Voron explores the idea of a secular Passover Haggadah.

March 25th

A reader repsonds to Michael Shermer’s The Science of Good and Evil. Wayne Lutz reviews The Holy Land, by Dr. Robert Zubrin. Sallie Hofmeister finds feng shui is infiltrating corporate America.

March 18th

Don Lattin reviews Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Two short articles look at homophobia in Tennessee and superstitions in Glasgow. Michael Shermer discusses the origins of evil and The Science of Good and Evil receives a positive review.

March 11th

Michael Shermer recommends some good reading to counter Intelligent Design creationism. Tim Callahan reviews Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.

February 23rd

Tim Callahan explores the question, “Who really killed Jesus,” an inquiry inspired by Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ.

February 12th

Michael Shermer explores his theory of the evolution of morality in relation to George W. Bush in his opinion editorial “The Divinity of Politics: Throughout History, Leaders Have Claimed a Supernatural Link.”

January 30th

William Harwood reviews A Devil’s Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love by Richard Dawkins. Also, an Evolution/Creationism controversy erupts in Georgia — article by Andrew Jacobs.

January 23rd

Tim Callahan reviews Doubt: A History by Jennifer Michael Hecht.

January 12th

Logan Hill interviews Michael Shermer in the New York Post. Craig Waterman reviews Stephen D. Unwin’s The Probability of God: A Simple Calculation That Proves The Ultimate Truth.

January 8th

Sandy Szwarc looks into pseudoscience on the farm in her article “Mad Cows and Irrational Hysterics.”