Skeptic: Examining Extraordinary Claims and Promoting Science
Skeptic Magazine, Volume 5 Number 1
Table of Contents
Articles
-
The Return of
Ancient Astronauts -
Zecharia Sitchin Rekindles
an Old Pseudoscience
- Dumbth News
- The Legacy of Salem
-
Demonology for an
Age of Science
- SWIFT — The Newsletter of the James Randi Educational Foundation
- James Randi’s 1996 Pigasus Awards; Test of Dowsing in Germany, by Robert König, Jürgen Moll, and Armadeo Sarma; The Human Magnets, by Massimo Polidoro; Predicting the Past, by Bob Park
Forum
- An Open Letter from Steve Allen to Heber Jentzsch, President, Church of Scientology; The Sagan Addiction; Sagan and Asteroid Impact Clarifications; Rekindled Scientism; In Black and White; Randi’s 10 Astrology Answers to 10 Embarrassing Questions; The End of Science or Science Education?; Punctuated End of Science; Forbidden Hidden History; Lepper Responds; Bad Rap on Mesmer
- Can History Be a Science?
- Are Skeptics Laterborns?; Birth Order Not Scientific; Rushton a Radical?; Sulloway Responds
- Julian Simon Interview
- A Triumph of Journalism; Skeptics’ Statist Slant; Privatize Everything; Miele Responds; Appalled by Lack of Skepticism; Hat and Horns — “It’s a Jersey Thing”; A More Appropriate Prop?
- The PC Debate Continues
- Playing the Victim Card; Industrial PC; PC Strangeness; Siano’s Own PC: By Glenn Ricketts; Siano Responds; I’m No Co-Conspirator, by Norman Levitt; Siano Responds; Siano Fudged More Than a Bit, by William Irons
Reviews
- Coincidence & Synchronicity
-
Synchronicity, Science, and Soul-Making: Understanding Jungian Synchronicity through Physics, Buddhism and Philosophy, by Victor Mansfield
- Spotting Fakes
-
Detecting Forgery: Forensic Investigations of Documents,
by Joe Nickell
News
- What’s the Harm in Believing in UFOs & Pseudoscience? — Heaven’s Gate Cult Mass Suicide Answers the Question; The Mysterious History of the Hale-Bopp UFO “Companion”; Polls Show Americans Are Still Deeply Spiritual; Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report Show that Otherworldliness is Alive and Well in America; UFOs and the Ghostdance; Alien Autopsy “Manhunt”; World Will Not End 2012; Alien Autopsy “Manhunt”; Alien Abduction Insurance Payout a Hoax; NBC’s Asteroid Sweeps Ratings; Sagan Memorial, Correction, and Coppola Lawsuit; Roswell Proponent Recants; Australian Creationist Lawsuit; Anti-Evolution Legislation; King + Ray = Conspiracy; Supreme Court Environmental Decision; AAAS Warns of Environmental Doom, Overpopulation
Special Section
- Souled Out or Souled Short?
-
An Introduction to the Debate Between Ecologists and Economists on How Many People the Earth Can or Should Support Goes Beyond Our Knowledge of Nature and Directly to the Nature of Knowledge and the Nature of Humankind
-
World Scientists’
Warning to Humanity - An Ethical Statement Sponsored by the Union of Concerned Scientists
- Living Without Limits: An Interview with Julian Simon
-
An Economist Explains What’s Wrong with the Environmental Doomsayers, the Union of Concerned Scientists … and Skeptic Magazine!
- No One is Immune
-
A Risk Assessment Approach to Worldwide Population Stabilization
- Counterscience & Conservation
-
The Not-So-Wise Use Movement
-
The Myth of
the Beautiful People -
Why The Grass is Always Greener in the Other Century
Books in Brief
- Weird Water & Fuzzy Logic, by Martin Gardner; But Seriously … Steve Allen Speaks His Mind, by Steve Allen; Extraterrestrial Intelligence, by Jean Heidmann; Scams From the Great Beyond: How to Make Easy Money Off of ESP, Astrology, UFOs, Crop Circles, Cattle Mutilations, Alien Abductions, Atlantis, Channeling, and Other New Age Nonsense, by Peter Huston; Astrology: What’s Really in the Stars, by J.V. Stewart, M.D.; Omens of Millennium: The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams, and Resurrection, by Harold Bloom; The Quotable Einstein, edited by Alice Calaprice; Tools of Critical Thinking: Metathoughts for Psychology, by David A. Levy; Darwin. Multimedia CD, created by Pete Goldie; Sperm Wars: The Science of Sex, by Robin Baker; The Mismeasure of Man, by Stephen Jay Gould, revised and expanded
- Environment Section
- How Many People Can the Earth Support?, by Joel E. Cohen; The End of the World, by John Leslie; Rain of Iron and Ice: The Very Real Threat of Comet and Asteroid Bombardment, by John S. Lewis; Yellow Fever, Black Goddess: The Coevolution of People and Plagues, by Christopher Wills; Eco-Facts & Eco-Fiction, by William H. Baarschers; Green Backlash: Global Subversion of the Environment Movement, by Andrew Rowell; Environmental Strategy and Sustainable Development: The Corporate Challenge for the 21st Century, by Richard Welford
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The Believing Brain
(now in paperback)
Get the autographed paperback
In this, his magnum opus, Dr. Michael Shermer presents his comprehensive theory on how beliefs are born, formed, nourished, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished. Sam Harris calls The Believing Brain “a wonderfully lucid, accessible, and wide-ranging account of the boundary between justified and unjustified belief.” Leonard Mlodinow calls it “a tour de force integrating neuroscience and the social sciences.”
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.