Skeptic: Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
Great American Skeptics (issue #32)
bound within
in this issue
- Great American Skeptics
-
- Ben Franklin, Scientist and Skeptic!
- The Power of Mesmerism?
- Franklin’s Scientific Tests of Mesmerism
- Why is “Spiritualism” Bad?
- The Great Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle
- Houdini vs. Spiritualism
- Mark Twain Takes Part in a Psychic Scam
- Twain vs. Phrenology
- Johnny Carson vs. a Psychic Spoon-bender
- Carson vs. a Faith Healer
- Carson’s support for the James Randi Educational Foundation
from the Introduction
- Hello!
-
I’m Daniel, the Editor of Junior Skeptic. I’d like to introduce you to my brother James Loxton, my co-writer for this issue on great American skeptics.
We chose this issue’s theme purely for fun — of course every country has its great detectives, scientists, and critical thinkers.
James and I are Canadians. All the same, it’s fascinating to think that world-famous figures from American history also helped shed light on weird paranormal mysteries!
Who were they? Let’s find out!
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.
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.
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.