Skeptic: Extraordinary Claims, Revolutionary Ideas, and the Promotion of Science

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Dr. John Demos

The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-Hunting in the Western World

  • Event Date: Sunday, October 19, 2008 at 2:00 pm
  • Location: Baxter Lecture Hall
  • Speaker: Dr. John Demos
  • Tickets: First come first served at the door. Sorry, no advance ticket sales for this lecture. Seating is limited. $8 Skeptics Society members & Caltech/JPL Community;
    $10 General Public.

The term “witch-hunt” is used today to describe everything from political scandals to school board shake-ups. Long before the Salem witch trials, women and men were rounded up by neighbors, accused of committing horrific crimes using supernatural powers, scrutinized by priests and juries, and promptly executed. The belief in witchcraft — and the deep fear of evil it instilled in communities — led to a cycle of accusation, anger, and purging that has occurred repeatedly in the West for centuries. (more…)

Origins — the Big Questions

Origins — the Big Questions
our 2008 conference at Caltech

  • Event Date: Saturday, October 4, 2008 at 8:45 am

Origins

  1. Dr. Leonard Susskind: The Origin of the Universe
  2. Dr. Paul Davies: The Origin of the “Fine-Tuned” Laws of Nature
  3. Dr. Sean Carroll: The Origin of Time and Time’s Arrow
  4. Dr. Donald Prothero: The Origin of Life and the Cambrian Explosion
  5. Dr. Christof Koch: The Origin of Brains, Minds, & Consciousness

(more…)