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For 16 days — from now through December 5, 2020 — enjoy 40% off new digital subscriptions to Skeptic magazine at PocketMags.com. Subscribe now and download the current issue instantly. Three more digital issues will follow as they are released (in December 2020, March 2021, and June 2021).
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All offers on this page are valid from November 20–December 5, 2020. To get the 40% discount on digital subscriptions, they must be purchased at PocketMags.com. Questions about digital subscriptions? Email [email protected].
16-DAY MEGA SALE: NOW THROUGH DEC 5
25% off everything in our online store
It’s our biggest sale ever! For 16 days — from now through December 5, 2020 — SAVE 25% on everything at Shop Skeptic, including: print subscriptions, print back issues, books, DVDs & CDs, Junior Skeptic PDFs, hoodies, t-shirts, and Skeptic lapel pins.
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NOW THROUGH DEC 5 2020
Save 25% on print subscriptions & back issues
Stephen Jay Gould called Skeptic magazine “The best journal in the field.” The definitive skeptical journal, Skeptic magazine makes a perfect gift that lasts all year (we publish 4 issues, 1 approximately every 3 months). Promoting science and critical thinking, our in-depth articles explore and inform. As the leading international publication in the realm of skeptical inquiry, it serves as an educational tool for those seeking a sound scientific viewpoint. Buy it. Read it. Share it. Help us make the world a more rational place by defending the role of science in society! Subscribe to the print edition now and save 25%!
Skeptic magazine examines extraordinary claims, and serves as an educational tool for those seeking a sound scientific viewpoint. Don’t miss this opportunity to complete your collection by getting the back issues you’re missing in your library. Order a back issue for a friend and introduce them to skepticism! Some back issues have completely sold out in print format and will not be printed again. Most of our back issues are available in digital format via PocketMags.com (currently not on sale).
THE MAGIC OF REALITY
How Do We Know What’s Really True?
For years people have wanted the renowned evolutionary biologist to write a book for kids on evolution. He has done that — and much more — with this highly engaging and well-illustrated work that will also enlighten adults who read it. Filled with clever thought experiments and jaw-dropping facts, The Magic of Reality explains a stunningly wide range of natural phenomena. This is a page-turning detective story that not only mines all the sciences for its clues but primes the reader to think like a scientist as well.
THE SKEPTIC’S DICTIONARY
A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions
The definitive short-answer debunking of nearly everything skeptical. Nearly 400 definitions, arguments, and essays on topics ranging from acupuncture to zombies. Detailed information on all things supernatural, occult, paranormal, and pseudoscientific, including: alternative medicine; cryptozoology; extraterrestrials and UFOs; frauds and hoaxes; junk science; logic and perception; New Age energy; psychics. An invaluable reference.
TEST YOUR SCIENCE IQ
Can Ouija boards attract spirits? Is a new Ice Age coming? Do genuine haunted houses exist? What was the worst earthquake ever? Is there antimatter in our galaxy?
If you’ve ever wondered where to find fast answers to questions such as these about our sometimes baffling world, now you can quickly locate the best information science has to offer in these enjoyable pages. Hundreds of addictive questions and answers covering both science and pseudoscience. Clear, well written, yet sophisticated enough for adults. Very strong on why science is important. Fascinating and fun for ages 12 to adult. The perfect book to start your junior skeptic on when trying to teach your child how science works and why it is so important to understanding the world.
FLAVOR OF THE MONTH
Why Smart People Fall for Fads
Sociologist Joel Best dissects the dangerous hula hoops of business, medicine, science and education in this exposition on institutional fads. According to Best, American attitudes toward progress (colored by optimism, competitiveness, a belief in positive change and a fear of being seen as old-fashioned) serve as kindling to the fire of the next big cure, technological revolution, business management secret or teaching method. Best delineates stages of the fad life-cycle (“emerging,” “surging,” then finally “purging”) and identifies conditions and players essential to creating a successful fad (a problem needs a solution, which is then proposed by originators and pushed by promoters).
UFOS, CHEMTRAILS, AND ALIENS
What Science Says
In this double-award-winning book, Donald R. Prothero and Tim Callahan explore why demonstrably false beliefs thrive despite decades of education and scientific debunking. Employing the ground rules of science and the standards of scientific evidence, Prothero and Callahan discuss a wide range of topics including the reliability of eyewitness testimony, psychological research into why people want to believe in aliens and UFOs, and the role conspiratorial thinking plays in UFO culture. Winner of the 2017 Robert P. Balles Award in Critical Thinking, and Winner of the 2018 Independent Publisher Book Award.
AUTOGRAPHED 1st EDITION HARDCOVER
Giving the Devil His Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist
AUTOGRAPHED HARDCOVER
Reg. $24.95. NOW $18.71
Who is the “Devil”? And what is he due? The devil is anyone who disagrees with you. And what he is due is the right to speak his mind. He must have this for your own safety’s sake, because his freedom is inextricably tied to your own. If he can be censored, why shouldn’t you be censored? If we put barriers up to silence “unpleasant” ideas, what’s to stop the silencing of any discussion? This book is a full-throated defense of free speech and open inquiry in politics, science, and culture by the New York Times bestselling author and skeptic Michael Shermer. The new collection of essays and articles takes the devil by the horns by tackling five key themes: free thought and free speech, politics and society, scientific humanism, religion, and the ideas of controversial intellectuals. For our own sake, we must give the devil his due.
JUNIOR SKEPTIC BACK ISSUES
Download select issues in PDF
Reg. $1.99 ea. NOW $1.49 ea.
Created in 1998 by Skeptics Society co-founders Pat Linse and Michael Shermer, and helmed since 2002 by national award-winning children’s science book author Daniel Loxton, Junior Skeptic boasts lively illustrations, in-depth ideas, and deep research. Each 10-page story offers a simple but thorough primer on a fringe claim, scientific mystery, or critical thinking theme, all told in Junior Skeptic’s engaging, easygoing signature style.
Here are our 8 most popular issues of the 32 currently available:
Junior Skeptic 33: Cold Reading
In this issue, you’ll discover the work of Ian Rowland, an expert on “cold reading” — sneaky techniques for convincing complete strangers that you know all about them. As a performer on stage, Ian Rowland creates the illusion that he has psychic powers like “telepathy.” Learn how someone who is not psychic can pretend to be so using a set of psychological strategies. Rowland always admits that he uses trickery on stage. Unfortunately, some people use cold reading techniques to take advantage of others. How do they do it — and how can we keep from being fooled? Let’s find out!
Junior Skeptic 67: Perpetual Motion
In this issue of Junior Skeptic, we’d like you to imagine two impossible, magical machines: The first machine runs forever. You may picture a complex tangle of gears and wheels, or something as simple as a spinning top, but imagine that it never runs down — once started it just keeps going without ever needing more energy. Now imagine a second machine. This one may require fuel or energy to run, but somehow, through some fantastic process, it generates more energy than it consumes. We aren’t the first to imagine these two types of “perpetual motion” machines. Inventors have dreamed of such devices for centuries. How has their search unfolded? Let’s find out!
Junior Skeptic 58: Haunted Houses
In this issue of Junior Skeptic, we’ll summon our courage, light a candle, and venture inside the ancient horror of haunted houses. Imagine walking dark hallways, peering into abandoned rooms. We strain to recognize unfamiliar shapes in the shadows. A cold draft stirs the cobwebs; outside, wind moans through the trees. We climb creaking stairs up into the unknown. Ahead of us, we — wait, did you hear something? Were those…footsteps? Our skin prickles with fear and tension. Breathless, trembling, we call into the darkness, “Is somebody there?” Let’s find out!
Junior Skeptic 37: Top 10 Busted Myths
Welcome to a whirlwind tour of busted paranormal myths! In this issue of Junior Skeptic, we’ll review a few topics from previous issues, and take a peek at some we’ll explore in greater detail in the future. For now, I hope you’ll enjoy the ride: 10 myths in 10 pages! From Roswell to homeopathy, dowsing to ghost orb photography, this issue explores some of the worst paranormal cases of all time!
Junior Skeptic 63: Chemtrails
We’ve all heard the story of Chicken Little — a fanciful tale about panic and jumping to conclusions (“The sky is falling!”). But how would it feel to truly believe that the sky is out to get you? For believers in one strange conspiracy theory, it’s scary to see a blue sky crossed by wispy white contrail lines from passing jet planes. They claim some of those contrails are not clouds or exhaust from jet engines as they appear, but sinister “chemtrails.” Supposedly, an evil government conspiracy uses jet planes to secretly spread poison across skies worldwide. Is there any possibility this paranoid claim could be true? Let’s find out!
Junior Skeptic 47: Alien Invaders!
In this issue of Junior Skeptic, we look at the topic of alien invasions. Where did we get our ideas about being attacked from “outside” — from other lands, or from outer space? How has this idea been expressed in stories? How do exotic species here on Earth “invade” new regions? Can life forms from one planet really invade another? Let’s find out! And remember: space slugs are our friends!
Junior Skeptic 6: Halloween
In this issue of Junior Skeptic, Pat Linse looks at what’s behind Halloween traditions, and what purpose ghosts serve. Learn some tricks psychics use when they seem to talk to the dead and how to detect ghostly fingerprints. How does Halloween fun help us learn to deal with fear? Let’s find out!
Junior Skeptic 11: The Moon Landing “Hoax”
Was the moon landing a hoax created with Hollywood special effects? Did the Fox TV show really present both sides of the argument? Did anyone use a telescope to watch the apollo spacecraft go to the moon? Neil Armstrong’s first step onto the moon represented one of humanity’s all-time greatest achievements. Yet, there are those who claim they can prove it never happened.
In total, there are 32 issues of Junior Skeptic currently available in PDF (two of which are free to download!). We will be making more Junior Skeptic PDFs available for sale in 2021.
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QUICK READS FOR $3.75 EACH!
16- & 28-page booklets on baloney detection, climate change, and debating creationists
The Baloney Detection Kit
Designed to hone your critical thinking skills, includes suggestions on what questions to ask, what traps to avoid, specific examples of how the scientific method is used to test pseudoscience and paranormal claims, 25 fallacies of thinking, a list of highly-recommended skeptical books, a how-to guide for developing a class in critical thinking, and more… This booklet has 16 pages.
A Skeptic’s Guide to Global Climate Change
Distinguish climate change skepticism from climate change denialism; get 25 answers to classic climate denier arguments; examine a summary of the scientific evidence and climate data and discover what’s behind the debate on climate change; find out why scientists think climate is changing and how we know global warming is real and human caused. This booklet has 28 pages.
How to Debate a Creationist
Perfect for anyone who wants to know how to converse with a creationist. It contains 25 creationist arguments and 25 evolutionist answers (some philosophical and some scientific); describes what the theory of evolution is and isn’t and explains why creationism is not science; provides an in-depth understanding of Intelligent Design, its pitfalls and logical fallacies, and much more. This booklet has 28 pages.
MORE IN STORE!
Shop our entire online selection and save 25% now through December 5, 2019
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