
Skeptic Magazine, Volume 3 Number 2
Table of Contents
Bell Curve Issue Preview
-
For Whom the
Bell Curve Tolls
-
An interview with the author of The Bell Curve, Charles Murray. On IQ, Race, Class, Gould, Gardner, and the Clintons
by Frank Miele
Articles
-
’Twas Brillig…
-
The Great Astrology Brouhaha: The Internet Becomes a Weapon of Change
by James Randi
-
Should the Bible
be Taken Literally?
-
by Betty McCollister
-
Do Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence?
-
A Reappraisal of a Classic Skeptics’ Axiom by Theodore Schick, Jr.
-
A Gentlemanly Arrangement
-
Alfred Russel Wallace, Charles Darwin, and the Resolution of a Scientific Priority Dispute: The story of how the co-discoverers of natural selection resolved a scientific priority dispute offers deep insight into the nature of discovery and history by Michael Shermer
-
The Question All
Skeptics are Asking
-
Why Did God Make Rice Cakes?
by Bernard Leikind
Special Section:
The AIDS Heresies
-
Does HIV Really Cause AIDS?
-
A Case Study in Skepticism Taken Too Far
by Steven B. Harris
-
AIDS Part I
-
The Skeptics and Their Claims
-
AIDS Part II
-
How Skepticism Went Astray
-
AIDS Part III
-
Lessons on How Science Works
News
-
-
“Cool Moss Clinton”; Randi 1 — Geller 0; Scholastic Magazine Haunted by Nostradamus; Janos Was No Janus: So Long to a Skeptical Friend; California Has its Faults; No Satanic Abuse; Repressed Memory Suit Dismissed; South African Witchcraze; No Social Security For UFOs; Mystery Fumes Not Mass Hysteria; Psychic Cats; Ig Nobel Peace Prize; California Cloudbusting; The Madness of King George (& the American Public); A Trip to Waco; Why Ask Why; Corporate Religion.
Forum
-
-
Suicide Astrology; Am I Crazy? Seeking Answers — 20 Questions; Abducted by Santa; A Psychic Test for Skeptics; A Skeptical Test of Graphoanalysis; Lucky Chicken Crap; The Great Atheism — Agnosticism Debate; Skeptical Religion; Challenging Drees — Religion is Not a Deterrent; Understanding the Total Human Experience — Drees Responds; Randi is Wrong; Reality is Right — Randi Responds; The Skeptics Dogmatic Society — Raso Needs Revising; Tending Garden and Health — Raso Responds; Curing Homeopathy; Satire — A Powerful Weapon; Sloppy Thinking Media
-
Forum Challenge
-
Who Really Discovered Punctuated Equilibrium? A Skeptical Critique of Stephen Jay Gould, by Bruce Sobol; The Mismeasure of Gould — On the Perils of Striking Out, by Michael Shermer
-
Pseudohistory forum
-
Revising the Founding Fathers; Afrocentric Skepticism or Credulity?; Holocaust Poll Still Distorted; The Greeks Stole Philosophy?; Plane Crashes and Gas Chambers; The John Birch Society & Holocaust Revisionists — Common Methods & Mistakes; Greetings from the Aryan Nations; Speaking Volumes About Revisionism; Don’t Forget the Gypsies
Reviews
-
The Fall of The Soviet Union & the Changing Game of Biblical Prophecy
-
Hal Lindsey’s “Planet Earth — 2000 A.D.: Will Mankind Survive?”
reviewed by Tim Callahan
-
Culture Wars
-
Skeptics, Parapsychologists & New Agers — Has the “good guys v. bad guys” rhetoric hindered the quest for truth? A review of Science in the New Age, by David Hess
reviewed by Brian Siano
Books in Brief
-
-
Skeptoon: An Illustrated Look at Some New Age Beliefs; and Magic Minds, Miraculous Moments, by Harry Edwards; How To Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age, by Theodore Schick, and Lewis Vaughn; Telling the Truth About History, by Joyce Appleby, Lynn Hunt, and Margaret Jacob; Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by its Most Brilliant Teacher, recordings of Richard Feynman in the Classroom; The Pleasures and Perils of Genius: Mostly Mozart, ed. by Peter Ostwald and Leonard Zegans; Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek, by Joel Engel; Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space, by Carl Sagan
Science in your inbox every Wednesday!
eSkeptic is our free email newsletter, delivered once a week. In it, you’ll receive: fascinating articles, announcements, podcasts, book reviews, and more…
Popular Articles
on skeptic.com
Here are the articles that people have been sharing over the last few days.
Shop at Amazon using our affiliate links, and the Skeptics Society will receive a small commission from your purchase.
Science Based Medicine vs. Alternative Medicine
Understanding the difference could save your life! In this superb 10-part video lecture series, Harriet Hall, M.D., contrasts science-based medicine with so-called “complementary and alternative” methods. The lectures each range from 32 to 45 minutes.
The Top Ten Strangest Beliefs
Michael Shermer has compiled a list of the top 10 strangest beliefs that he has encountered in his quarter century as a professional skeptic.
Who believes them? Why? How can you tell if they’re true?
What is a conspiracy theory, why do people believe in them, and why do they tend to proliferate? Why does belief in one conspiracy correlate to belief in others? What are the triggers of belief, and how does group identity factor into it? How can one tell the difference between a true conspiracy and a false one?
The Science Behind Why People See Ghosts
Do you know someone who has had a mind altering experience? If so, you know how compelling they can be. They are one of the foundations of widespread belief in the paranormal. But as skeptics are well aware, accepting them as reality can be dangerous…
Top 10 Myths About Evolution (and how we know it really happened)
If humans came from apes, why aren’t apes evolving into humans? Find out in this pamphlet!
Learn to do Psychic “Cold Reading” in 10
Easy Lessons
Psychic readings and fortunetelling are an ancient art — a combination of acting and psychological manipulation.