1.
James Randi
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James Randi is a Canadian-American retired stage magician and a scientific skeptic who has extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. Randi is the co-founder of Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation, Randi retired from practicing magic aged 60, and from the JREF aged 87. Although often referred to as a debunker, Randi has said he dislikes the terms connotations and he has written about paranormal phenomena, skepticism, and the history of magic. He was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and was featured on the television program Penn & Teller. The paranormal challenge was terminated by the JREF in 2015. The foundation continues to make grants to groups that encourage critical thinking. Randi was born on August 7,1928 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and he has a younger brother and sister. He took up magic after seeing Harry Blackstone Sr. and reading conjuring books while spending 13 months in a body cast following a bicycle accident and he confounded doctors who expected he would never walk again. Randi often skipped classes and, at 17, dropped out of school to perform as a conjurer in a carnival roadshow. He practised as a mentalist in local nightclubs and at Torontos Canadian National Exhibition, in his thirties, Randi worked in the UK, Europe, and Philippine nightclubs and all across Japan. He witnessed many tricks that were presented as being supernatural, One of his earliest reported experiences is that of seeing an evangelist using a version of the one-ahead technique to convince churchgoers of his divine powers. Though defining himself as a conjuror, Randi began a career as a stage magician. Initially, he presented himself under his name, Randall Zwinge. Early in his career, he performed numerous acts from jail cells. In 1967–68, Randi hosted The Amazing Randi Show on New York radio station WOR, Randi, in turn, spoke at Moseleys 1967 Fourth Congress of Scientific Ufologists in New York City, stating, Lets not fool ourselves. There are some garden variety liars involved in all this, but in among all the trash and nonsense perpetrated in the name of Ufology, I think there is a small grain of truth. Randi also hosted television specials and went on several world tours. As The Amazing Randi he appeared regularly on the New York-based childrens television series Wonderama from 1959 to 1967 and he also auditioned for a revival of the 1950s childrens show The Magic Clown in 1970, which showed briefly in Detroit and in Kenya, but was never picked up
2.
Falls Church, Virginia
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Falls Church is an independent city in the U. S. state of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,332, the estimated population in 2015 was 13,892. Falls Church is included in the Washington metropolitan area, Falls Church has the lowest level of poverty of any independent city or county in the United States. Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Anglican parish, in 1948, it was incorporated as the City of Falls Church, an independent city with county-level governance status. It is also referred to as Falls Church City, for statistical purposes, the U. S. Department of Commerces Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the City of Falls Church with Fairfax City and Fairfax County. It was part of the Anacostan chiefdom, centered on the lower Anacostia River near present-day Washington, the Anacostans were organized under the Piscataway paramount chiefdom that was not part of the Powhatan alliance, which by the 1630s claimed to have had thirteen successive rulers. Either the Tauxenent or Doegs had shifted politically from Powhatans alliance to Iroquois alliances, the earliest known settlement within the current city limits of Falls Church was on the south side of present-day N. Washington Street at its intersection with Columbia Street. Just east of Falls Church, on Wilson Boulevard, is Powhatan Springs, todays Broad Street and Great Falls Street follow long-established trade and communication routes. In the late 17th century, especially after Bacons Rebellion in 1676, According to local tradition 1699 was inscribed on one of the chimneys of the Big Chimneys house and tavern. That 1699 inscription is often taken to be the first European settlement in the immediate vicinity, the house site is now Big Chimneys Park on West Annandale Road north of South Maple. By 1757, the building was referred to as The Falls Church, George Mason became a vestryman in 1748, as did his neighbor George Washington in 1763. Before designing the Fairfax County Courthouse James Wren designed a church in the city in 1769 to replace the wooden one. Also in 1769 the new Falls Church became the seat of the newly formed Fairfax Parish with the portion of the former parish nearer Masons and Washingtons residences becoming Pohick Church. However, following the Revolution, the Commonwealth of Virginia disestablished the Anglican Church as a government monopoly with tax support, many ministers left due to British loyalties. Remaining ministers formed the Episcopal Church, in 1789, The Falls Church was abandoned, and the Wren-designed building was re-occupied by an Episcopal congregation in 1836 which continues to this day. Nearly a decade later in 1843, Episcopalians founded Truro Church in Fairfax City, methodism came to the area in 1776 with religious services held at Church Hill, a home about a mile east of the Falls Church near Seven Corners. A chapel known as Adams Chapel or Fairfax Chapel had been built on later became Oakwood Cemetery by 1779. The Methodist chapel was replaced by a structure in 1819
3.
Magic (illusion)
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Magic is one of the oldest performing arts in the world in which audiences are entertained by staged tricks or illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means. These feats are called magic tricks, effects, or illusions, the term magic etymologically derives from the Greek word mageia. In ancient times, Greeks and Persians had been at war for centuries, ritual acts of Persian priests came to be known as mageia, and then magika—which eventually came to mean any foreign, unorthodox, or illegitimate ritual practice. The first book containing explanations of magic tricks appeared in 1584, during the 17th century, many similar books were published that described magic tricks. Until the 18th century, magic shows were a source of entertainment at fairs. A founding figure of modern entertainment magic was Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, John Henry Anderson was pioneering the same transition in London in the 1840s. Towards the end of the 19th century, large magic shows permanently staged at big theatre venues became the norm, as a form of entertainment, magic easily moved from theatrical venues to television magic specials. Performances that modern observers would recognize as conjuring have been practiced throughout history, for many recorded centuries, magicians were associated with the devil and the occult. During the 19th and 20th centuries, many stage magicians even capitalized on this notion in their advertisements. The same level of ingenuity that was used to produce famous ancient deceptions such as the Trojan Horse would also have used for entertainment. They were also used by the practitioners of various religions and cults from ancient times onwards to frighten uneducated people into obedience or turn them into adherents, however, the profession of the illusionist gained strength only in the 18th century, and has enjoyed several popular vogues since. Opinions vary among magicians on how to categorize a given effect, Magicians may pull a rabbit from an empty hat, make something seem to disappear, or transform a red silk handkerchief into a green silk handkerchief. Magicians may also destroy something, like cutting a head off, other illusions include making something appear to defy gravity, making a solid object appear to pass through another object, or appearing to predict the choice of a spectator. Many magical routines use combinations of effects, one of the earliest books on the subject is Gantzionys work of 1489, Natural and Unnatural Magic, which describes and explains old-time tricks. Among the tricks discussed were sleight-of-hand manipulations with rope, paper, at the time, fear and belief in witchcraft was widespread and the book tried to demonstrate that these fears were misplaced. All obtainable copies were burned on the accession of James I in 1603 and it began to reappear in print in 1651. In the early 18th century, as belief in witchcraft was waning, a notable figure in this transition was the English showman, Isaac Fawkes, who began to promote his act in advertisements from the 1720s – he even claimed to have performed for King George II. He throws up a Pack of Cards, and causes them to be living birds flying about the room and he causes living Beasts, Birds, and other Creatures to appear upon the Table
4.
Skeptical movement
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The skeptical movement is a modern social movement promoting the idea of scientific skepticism. The process followed is referred to as skeptical inquiry. Medical quackery was also targeted by such as the Dutch Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij. The Belgian Comité Para has been deemed the oldest broad mandate skeptical organization, using that organization as a template, in 1976, Paul Kurtz and Marcello Truzzi founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry in Amherst, New York. The North American skeptical organization, which provides journals and publications, Scientific skepticism is different from philosophical skepticism, which questions our ability to claim any knowledge about the nature of the world and how we perceive it. Methodological skepticism, a process of being skeptical about the truth of ones beliefs, is similar. The New Skepticism described by Paul Kurtz is scientific skepticism, for example, Robert K. Merton asserts that all ideas must be tested and are subject to rigorous, structured community scrutiny. According to Hammer, the forebears of the modern skeptical movement are rather to be found among the many writers throughout history who have argued against beliefs they did not share. Skepticism values method over any particular conclusion, Skepticism is a provisional approach to claims. It is the application of reason to any and all ideas—no sacred cows allowed, in other words, skepticism is a method, not a position. With regard to the social movement, Loxton refers to other movements already promoting humanism, atheism, rationalism, science education. He saw the demand for the new movement of people called skeptics — being based on a lack of interest by the scientific community to address paranormal. In line with Kendrick Frazier, he describes the movement as a surrogate in that area for institutional science, the movement in so far set up a distinct field of study and provided an organizational structure, while long-standing genre of individual skeptical activities lacked such a community and background. However, skeptical organizations do typically tend to have education and promotion among their goals. Scientific skeptics maintain that empirical investigation of reality leads to the truth, Scientific skeptics attempt to evaluate claims based on verifiability and falsifiability and discourage accepting claims on faith or anecdotal evidence. Skeptics often focus their criticism on claims they consider to be implausible, Skepticism in general may be deemed part of the scientific method, for instance an experimental result is not regarded as established until it can be shown to be repeatable independently. Some leaders of the movement, including Harris, Hitchens, Dawkins, the movement has had issues with sexism. It was raised in a 1985 skeptic newsletter by Mary Coulman and this became known as Elevatorgate, based on Watsons discussion about being propositioned in a hotel elevator in the early morning after a skeptic event
5.
Paranormal
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A paranormal phenomenon is different from hypothetical concepts such as dark matter and dark energy. Unlike paranormal phenomena, these concepts are based on empirical observations. The most notable paranormal beliefs include those that pertain to ghosts, extraterrestrial life, unidentified flying objects, psychic abilities or extrasensory perception, the term paranormal has existed in the English language since at least 1920. The word consists of two parts, para and normal, the definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world around us is normal and anything that is above, beyond, or contrary to that is para. On the classification of paranormal subjects, Terence Hines in his book Pseudoscience, what sets the paranormal apart from other pseudosciences is a reliance on explanations for alleged phenomena that are well outside the bounds of established science. Thus, paranormal phenomena include extrasensory perception, telekinesis, ghosts, poltergeists, life after death, reincarnation, faith healing, human auras, the explanations for these allied phenomena are phrased in vague terms of psychic forces, human energy fields, and so on. This is in contrast to many pseudoscientific explanations for other nonparanormal phenomena, in traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is a manifestation of the spirit or soul of a person. Alternative theories expand on that idea and include belief in the ghosts of deceased animals, sometimes the term ghost is used synonymously with any spirit or demon, however in popular usage the term typically refers to a deceased persons spirit. The belief in ghosts as souls of the departed is closely tied to the concept of animism, as the 19th-century anthropologist George Frazer explained in his classic work, The Golden Bough, souls were seen as the creature within that animated the body. Although the evidence for ghosts is largely anecdotal, the belief in ghosts throughout history has remained widespread, the possibility of extraterrestrial life is not, by itself, a paranormal subject. Many scientists are engaged in the search for unicellular life within the solar system, carrying out studies on the surface of Mars. Projects such as SETI are conducting a search for radio activity that would show evidence of intelligent life outside the solar system. Scientific theories of how life developed on Earth allow for the possibility that life developed on other planets as well, the paranormal aspect of extraterrestrial life centers largely around the belief in unidentified flying objects and the phenomena said to be associated with them. Early in the history of UFO culture, believers divided themselves into two camps, the first held a rather conservative view of the phenomena, interpreting them as unexplained occurrences that merited serious study. They began calling themselves ufologists in the 1950s and felt that logical analysis of sighting reports would validate the notion of extraterrestrial visitation, the second camp consisted of individuals who coupled ideas of extraterrestrial visitation with beliefs from existing quasi-religious movements. These individuals typically were enthusiasts of occultism and the paranormal, many had backgrounds as active Theosophists, Spiritualists, or were followers of other esoteric doctrines. In contemporary times, many of these beliefs have coalesced into New Age spiritual movements, both secular and spiritual believers describe UFOs as having abilities beyond what are considered possible according to known aerodynamic constraints and physical laws. The transitory events surrounding many UFO sightings also limits the opportunity for repeat testing required by the scientific method, acceptance of UFO theories by the larger scientific community is further hindered by the many possible hoaxes associated with UFO culture
6.
Randomized controlled trial
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A randomized controlled trial is a type of scientific experiment which aims to reduce bias when testing a new treatment. The people participating in the trial are randomly allocated to either the group receiving the treatment under investigation or to a group receiving treatment as the control. The RCT is often considered the standard for a clinical trial. RCTs are often used to test the efficacy or effectiveness of various types of intervention and may provide information about adverse effects. Random assignment of intervention is done after subjects have been assessed for eligibility and recruited, random allocation in real trials is complex, but conceptually the process is like tossing a coin. After randomization, the two groups of subjects are followed in exactly the way and the only differences between them is the care they receive. For example, in terms of procedures, tests, outpatient visits, the most important advantage of proper randomization is that it minimizes allocation bias, balancing both known and unknown prognostic factors, in the assignment of treatments. The term randomized trials omits mention of controls and can describe studies that compare multiple treatment groups with each other, not all randomized clinical trials are randomized controlled trials. The first reported clinical trial was conducted by James Lind in 1747 to identify treatment for scurvy, randomized experiments appeared in psychology, where they were introduced by Charles Sanders Peirce, and in education. Later, randomized experiments appeared in agriculture, due to Jerzy Neyman, fishers experimental research and his writings popularized randomized experiments. The first published RCT in medicine appeared in the 1948 paper entitled Streptomycin treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, one of the authors of that paper was Austin Bradford Hill, who is credited as having conceived the modern RCT. By the late 20th century, RCTs were recognized as the method for rational therapeutics in medicine. As of 2004, more than 150,000 RCTs were in the Cochrane Library, randomization is the process of assigning trial subjects to treatment or control groups using an element of chance to determine the assignments in order to reduce the bias. Although the principle of clinical equipoise common to clinical trials has been applied to RCTs, for one, it has been argued that equipoise itself is insufficient to justify RCTs. For another, collective equipoise can conflict with a lack of personal equipoise, further research is necessary to determine the prevalence of and ways to address this therapeutic misconception. The RCT method may also create cultural effects that have not been well understood, for example, patients with terminal illness may join trials in the hope of being cured, even when treatments are unlikely to be successful. However, trial registration may still occur late or not at all, Medical journals have been slow in adapting policies requiring mandatory clinical trial registration as a prerequisite for publication. One way to classify RCTs is by study design, crossover – over time, each participant receives an intervention in a random sequence
7.
One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge
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A version of the challenge was first issued in 1964, and over a thousand people applied to take it, but none were successful. The challenge was terminated in 2015, James Randi developed the idea for the challenge during a radio panel discussion when a parapsychologist challenged him to put money where mouth is. In 1964, Randi started offering $1,000, then $10,000 prizes, later, Lexington Broadcasting wanted Randi to do a show called the $100,000 Psychic Prize, so they added $90,000 to the original $10,000 raised by Randi. Finally, in 1996, one of his friends, Internet pioneer Rick Adams, the prize is sometimes referred to in the media as the Randi Prize. By April 1,2007, only those with an existing media profile. On January 4,2008, it was announced that the prize would be discontinued on March 6,2010 in order to free the money for other uses, in the meantime, claimants were welcome to vie for it. One of the reasons offered for its discontinuation is the unwillingness of higher-profile claimants to apply, however, at The Amaz. ng Meeting 7, it was announced that the $1 Million Challenge prize would not expire in 2010. As an April Fools prank on April 1,2008, at the MIT Media Lab, on March 8,2011, the JREF announced that qualifications were being altered to open the challenge to more applicants. Since the challenge was first created by Randi in 1964, about a people have applied. Randi has said that few unsuccessful applicants ever seriously consider that their failure to perform might be due to the nonexistence of the power they believe they possess, in January 2015, James Randi announced that he was officially retiring and stepping down from his position with the JREF. In 2015 the James Randi paranormal challenge was officially terminated, the official challenge rules stipulated that the participant must agree, in writing, to the conditions and criteria of their test. Claims that cannot be tested experimentally are not eligible for the Challenge, claimants were able to influence all aspects of the testing procedure and participants during the initial negotiation phase of the challenge. Applications for any challenges that might cause injury or death were not accepted. To ensure that the experimental conditions themselves did not negatively affect a claimants ability to perform, failure to display a 100% success rate in the open test would cause their immediate disqualification. However, claimants were usually able to perform successfully during the open test, claimants agreed to readily observable success criteria prior to the test, results were unambiguous and clearly indicated whether or not the criteria have been met. The discussions between the JREF and applicants were at one time posted on a discussion board for all to see. Since the resignation of Randis assistant, Mr, in 1979, Randi tested four people in Italy for dowsing ability. The prize at the time was $10,000, the conditions were that a 10 meter by 10 meter test area would be used
8.
Delaware
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Delaware is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic and/or Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, to the northeast by New Jersey, the state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, an English nobleman and Virginias first colonial governor. Delaware occupies the portion of the Delmarva Peninsula and is the second smallest, the sixth least populous. Delaware is divided into three counties, the lowest number of counties of any state, from north to south, the three counties are New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. While the southern two counties have historically been agricultural, New Castle County has been more industrialized. Before its coastline was explored by Europeans in the 16th century, Delaware was inhabited by groups of Native Americans, including the Lenape in the north. It was initially colonized by Dutch traders at Zwaanendael, near the present town of Lewes, Delaware was one of the 13 colonies participating in the American Revolution. On December 7,1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, the Delaware Indians, a name used by Europeans for Lenape people indigenous to the Delaware Valley, also derive their name from the same source. The surname de La Warr comes from Sussex and is of Anglo-Norman origin and it came probably from a Norman lieu-dit La Guerre. This toponymic could derive from the Latin word ager, from the Breton gwern or from the Late Latin varectum, the toponyms Gara, Gare, Gaire also appear in old texts cited by Lucien Musset, where the word gara means gore. It could also be linked with a patronymic from the Old Norse verr, Delaware is 96 miles long and ranges from 9 miles to 35 miles across, totaling 1,954 square miles, making it the second-smallest state in the United States after Rhode Island. Delaware is bounded to the north by Pennsylvania, to the east by the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean, small portions of Delaware are also situated on the eastern side of the Delaware River sharing land boundaries with New Jersey. The state of Delaware, together with the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland, the definition of the northern boundary of the state is unusual. Most of the boundary between Delaware and Pennsylvania was originally defined by an arc extending 12 miles from the cupola of the courthouse in the city of New Castle and this boundary is often referred to as the Twelve-Mile Circle. This is the only nominally circular state boundary in the United States, to the west, a portion of the arc extends past the easternmost edge of Maryland. The remaining western border runs slightly east of due south from its intersection with the arc, the Wedge of land between the northwest part of the arc and the Maryland border was claimed by both Delaware and Pennsylvania until 1921, when Delawares claim was confirmed. Delaware is on a plain, with the lowest mean elevation of any state in the nation. Its highest elevation, located at Ebright Azimuth, near Concord High School, the northernmost part of the state is part of the Piedmont Plateau with hills and rolling surfaces
9.
Johnny Carson
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John William Johnny Carson was an American talk show host and comedian, best known for his 30 years as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Carson received six Emmy Awards, the Television Academys 1980 Governors Award, and he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987. Carson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 and received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1993, although his show was already successful by the end of the 1960s, during the 1970s Carson became an American icon and remained so even after his retirement in 1992. He adopted a casual, conversational approach with extensive interaction with guests, former late-night host and friend David Letterman cited Carsons influence. John William Carson was born on October 23,1925, in Corning, Iowa, to Homer Lloyd Kit Carson, a company manager, and Ruth Carson. He grew up in the towns of Avoca, Clarinda. There, Carson grew up and began developing his talent for entertaining, at the age of 12, Carson found a book on magic at a friends house and immediately purchased a mail-order magicians kit. After the purchase of the kit, Carson practiced his entertainment skills on family members with card tricks and he was known for following his family members around saying, Pick a card, any card. Carsons mother sewed him a cape, and his first performance was staged in front of the local Kiwanis Club and he debuted as The Great Carsoni at age 14 and was paid $3 a show. Soon, many performances at local picnics and country fairs followed. After graduating from school, Carson had his first encounter with Hollywood. He hitchhiked to Hollywood, where he was arrested and fined $50 for impersonating a midshipman, Johnny embarked on an adventure, one so laden with implications about his future, that some have wondered if the escapade might not actually be a legend. Carson joined the United States Navy on June 8,1943, commissioned an ensign late in the war, Carson was assigned to the USS Pennsylvania in the Pacific. While in the Navy, Carson posted a 10–0 amateur boxing record and he was en route to the combat zone aboard a troop ship when the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war. Carson served as a officer in charge of decoding encrypted messages. He said that the point of his military career was performing a magic trick for United States Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal. In a conversation with Forrestal, the Secretary asked Carson if he planned to stay in the navy after the war, in response, Carson said no and told him he wanted to be a magician. Forrestal asked him to perform, and Carson responded with a card trick, Carson made the discovery that he could entertain and amuse someone as cranky and sophisticated as Forrestal
10.
Phil Plait
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Philip Cary Plait, also known as The Bad Astronomer, is an American astronomer, skeptic, writer and popular science blogger. Plait has worked as part of the Hubble Space Telescope team, images and spectra of astronomical objects and he has written two books, Bad Astronomy and Death from the Skies. He has also appeared in science documentaries, including Phil Plaits Bad Universe on the Discovery Channel. From August 2008 through 2009, he served as President of the James Randi Educational Foundation, additionally, he wrote and hosted episodes of Crash Course Astronomy, which aired its last episode in 2016. Plait grew up in the Washington, D. C. area and he has said he became interested in astronomy when his father brought home a telescope when Plait was 5 years old or so. According to Plait, he aimed it at Saturn that night, one look, and that was it. In 1995, he published observations of a ring of material around a supernova. Plaits work with Grady, et al. resulted in the presentation of images of isolated stellar objects from the Hubble Space Telescope. These results have been used in studies into the properties and structure of dim, young, moderate-size stars, called Herbig Ae/Be stars. After his research contributions, Plait shifted focus to concentrate on educational outreach and he went on to perform web-based public outreach for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and other NASA-funded missions while at Sonoma State University from 2000 to 2007. In 2001, he coauthored a paper on increasing accessibility of astronomy education resources and his first book, Bad Astronomy, Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing Hoax deals with much the same subject matter as his website. His second book, Death from the Skies, describes ways astronomical events could wipe out life on Earth and was released in October 2008, Plaits work has also appeared in the Encyclopædia Britannica Yearbook of Science and the Future and Astronomy magazine. He is also a frequent guest on the SETI Institutes weekly science radio show Big Picture Science, Plait left the JREF as President to focus on a television project, Phil Plaits Bad Universe on the Discovery Channel. The three-part documentary series first aired in the United States on August 29,2010 but was not picked up as a series and he has appeared in numerous science documentaries and programs including How the Universe Works. Plait began publishing explanatory Internet postings on science in 1993, five years later, Plait established Badastronomy. It received an amount of traffic after Plait criticized a Fox Network special accusing NASA of faking the Apollo missions. Astronomer Michelle Thaller has described Badastronomy. com, as well as Plaits book and essays called Bad Astronomy, in 2005, Plait started the Bad Astronomy blog. In July 2008, it moved to a new host, Discover Magazine, while it is primarily an astronomy blog, Plait also posts about skepticism, pseudoscience, antiscience topics, with occasional personal and political posts
11.
D. J. Grothe
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Douglas James D. J. Grothe is an American writer and public speaker who talks about issues at the nexus of science, critical thinking, secularism, religion and the paranormal. As an active skeptic, he has served in roles for both the Center for Inquiry and the James Randi Educational Foundation. He has hosted the show and podcast For Good Reason and is particularly interested in the psychology of belief. His writing has been published by both Skeptical Inquirer magazine and The Huffington Post and he also co-edited On the Beauty of Science, about the worldview and lifes work of Nobel Laureate Herbert Hauptman. Grothe currently serves as a member of The Institute for Science. Using his experience as a magician, Grothe lectures about the intersection of magic. This second group was affiliated with The Center for Inquiry, Grothe was a member of the Center for Inquiry for ten years. From 2005 until 2009 he hosted Point of Inquiry, the official podcast of the organization and he traveled extensively to lecture on subjects such as ethics, religious-political extremism, church-state separation, skepticism and science advocacy. In 2009, while serving as president and director of outreach programs. Grothe succeeded Phil Plait as president of the James Randi Educational Foundation, from January 2010 until December 2011 Grothe hosted For Good Reason, a podcast associated with the JREF. Grothe, Nobodys Fool - by Jeanette Cooperman James Randi Educational Foundation
12.
The Amazing Meeting
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The Amaz. ng Meeting was an annual conference that focuses on science, skepticism, and critical thinking. The conference started in 2003 and was sponsored by the James Randi Educational Foundation or, perennial speakers included Penn & Teller, Phil Plait, Michael Shermer and James “The Amazing” Randi. Speakers at the conference were selected from a variety of disciplines including scientific educators, magicians. TAM was first held in 2003, when the CSICOP conferences entered a seven-year hiatus in 2005, TAM quickly filled the gap and grew out to become the largest U. S. skeptical conference. The Skeptics Society and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry were co-sponsors of the event, people attended the conference for a variety of reasons. The Daily Beast reported that some saw themselves as waging a broad, multifront battle to drag American culture, inch by inch, away from the nonscientific and the nonlogical. Our mix of academics, comedians and writers ensures an incredible event where the public can meet like-minded people without feeling like being into science or geek stuff makes them a minority, magicians were also given a central role at the conference. Magazine The Skeptic from the Australian Skeptics gave an account of all lectures from the 2010 OZ event. Randi retired from participation in the JREF in early 2015. After this, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry chose Las Vegas as the location for CSICon 2016 to fill the void, at The Amaz. ng Meeting 7, it was announced that the $1 Million Challenge prize would not expire in 2010 as previously announced. Claimant Connie Sonne in 2009 failed to find cards in sealed envelopes using a dowsing pendulum. I dare say that even a few of the thousand assembled might have been in some way mentally rooting for Connie to win or score some significant record for her trouble. She stated to Edward that it was not time for her powers to be revealed and blamed no-one for her failures, in 2013 a man from Algeria was the Million Dollar challenger, he claimed to be able to remote view objects that were held in a sealed room. He was unable to see the objects and thus failed the challenge, applicant Fei Wang appeared before the skeptic audience July 2014 with the claim that he could send energy through his hand using a type of therapeutic touch. The organizers set up a blind test involving a volunteer selected by Wang to place their hand in a box while wearing noise canceling headphones. Wang or the control person depending on the roll of a die would insert their hand also in the box for several seconds, Swiss was selected to be the control because Wang felt that Swiss does not have the ability that is being tested. After either Wang or the Control had placed their hand in the box, Wang had to get 8 out of 9 correct in order to pass to the final Million Dollar challenge. After six volunteers, the demonstration was called off, as they were unable to select the enhanced cable over the common cable
13.
Scientist
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A scientist is a person engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge that describes and predicts the natural world. In a more restricted sense, a scientist may refer to an individual who uses the scientific method, the person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. The term scientist was coined by the theologian, philosopher and historian of science William Whewell and this article focuses on the more restricted use of the word. Scientists perform research toward a comprehensive understanding of nature, including physical, mathematical and social realms. Philosophers aim to provide an understanding of fundamental aspects of reality and experience, often pursuing inquiries with conceptual, rather than empirical. When science is done with a goal toward practical utility, it is called applied science, an applied scientist may not be designing something in particular, but rather is conducting research with the aim of developing new technologies and practical methods. When science seeks to answer questions about aspects of reality it is sometimes called natural philosophy. Science and technology have continually modified human existence through the engineering process, as a profession the scientist of today is widely recognized. Jurisprudence and mathematics are often grouped with the sciences, some of the greatest physicists have also been creative mathematicians and lawyers. There is a continuum from the most theoretical to the most empirical scientists with no distinct boundaries, in terms of personality, interests, training and professional activity, there is little difference between applied mathematicians and theoretical physicists. Scientists can be motivated in several ways, many have a desire to understand why the world is as we see it and how it came to be. They exhibit a strong curiosity about reality, other motivations are recognition by their peers and prestige, or the desire to apply scientific knowledge for the benefit of peoples health, the nations, the world, nature or industries. Scientists tend to be motivated by direct financial reward for their work than other careers. As a result, scientific researchers often accept lower average salaries when compared with other professions which require a similar amount of training. The number of scientists is vastly different from country to country, for instance, there are only 4 full-time scientists per 10,000 workers in India while this number is 79 for the United Kingdom and the United States. According to the US National Science Foundation 4.7 million people with science degrees worked in the United States in 2015, across all disciplines, the figure included twice as many men as women. Of that total, 17% worked in academia, that is, at universities and undergraduate institutions, 5% of scientists worked for the federal government and about 3. 5% were self-employed. Of the latter two groups, two-thirds were men, 59% of US scientists were employed in industry or business, and another 6% worked in non-profit positions
14.
Atheist
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Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist, in an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which, in its most general form, is the belief that at least one deity exists, the etymological root for the word atheism originated before the 5th century BCE from the ancient Greek ἄθεος, meaning without god. The term denoted a social category created by orthodox religionists into which those who did not share their religious beliefs were placed, the actual term atheism emerged first in the 16th century. With the spread of freethought, skeptical inquiry, and subsequent increase in criticism of religion, application of the term narrowed in scope, the first individuals to identify themselves using the word atheist lived in the 18th century during the Age of Enlightenment. The French Revolution, noted for its unprecedented atheism, witnessed the first major movement in history to advocate for the supremacy of human reason. Arguments for atheism range from the philosophical to social and historical approaches, although some atheists have adopted secular philosophies, there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere. Since conceptions of atheism vary, accurate estimations of current numbers of atheists are difficult, an older survey by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 2004 recorded atheists as comprising 8% of the worlds population. Other older estimates have indicated that atheists comprise 2% of the worlds population, according to these polls, Europe and East Asia are the regions with the highest rates of atheism. In 2015, 61% of people in China reported that they were atheists, the figures for a 2010 Eurobarometer survey in the European Union reported that 20% of the EU population claimed not to believe in any sort of spirit, God or life force. Atheism has been regarded as compatible with agnosticism, and has also been contrasted with it, a variety of categories have been used to distinguish the different forms of atheism. Some of the ambiguity and controversy involved in defining atheism arises from difficulty in reaching a consensus for the definitions of words like deity, the plurality of wildly different conceptions of God and deities leads to differing ideas regarding atheisms applicability. The ancient Romans accused Christians of being atheists for not worshiping the pagan deities, gradually, this view fell into disfavor as theism came to be understood as encompassing belief in any divinity. Definitions of atheism also vary in the degree of consideration a person must put to the idea of gods to be considered an atheist, Atheism has sometimes been defined to include the simple absence of belief that any deities exist. This broad definition would include newborns and other people who have not been exposed to theistic ideas, as far back as 1772, Baron dHolbach said that All children are born Atheists, they have no idea of God. Similarly, George H. Smith suggested that, The man who is unacquainted with theism is an atheist because he does not believe in a god. This category would include the child with the conceptual capacity to grasp the issues involved. The fact that this child does not believe in god qualifies him as an atheist, ernest Nagel contradicts Smiths definition of atheism as merely absence of theism, acknowledging only explicit atheism as true atheism
15.
Richard Dawkins
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Clinton Richard Dawkins FRS FRSL is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author. He is a fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxfords Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008. Dawkins first came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, in 2006, he founded the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. Dawkins is an atheist, and is known for his criticism of creationism. In The Blind Watchmaker, he argues against the watchmaker analogy, instead, he describes evolutionary processes as analogous to a blind watchmaker in that reproduction, mutation, and selection are unguided by any designer. In The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and he opposes the teaching of creationism in schools. Dawkins was born in Nairobi, then in British Kenya, on 26 March 1941 and he is the son of Jean Mary Vyvyan and Clinton John Dawkins, who was an agricultural civil servant in the British Colonial Service in Nyasaland. His father was called up into the Kings African Rifles during World War II and returned to England in 1949 and his father had inherited a country estate, Over Norton Park in Oxfordshire, which he farmed commercially. Dawkins considers himself English and lives in Oxford, England, both his parents were interested in natural sciences, and they answered Dawkinss questions in scientific terms. Dawkins describes his childhood as a normal Anglican upbringing, and that left me with nothing. From 1954 to 1959 Dawkins attended Oundle School in Northamptonshire, an English public school with a distinct Church of England flavour, while at Oundle Dawkins read Bertrand Russells Why I Am Not a Christian for the first time. He studied zoology at Balliol College, Oxford, graduating in 1962, while there and he continued as a research student under Tinbergens supervision, receiving his MA and DPhil degrees by 1966, and remained a research assistant for another year. Tinbergen was a pioneer in the study of behaviour, particularly in the areas of instinct, learning and choice. From 1967 to 1969, he was an assistant professor of zoology at the University of California, during this period, the students and faculty at UC Berkeley were largely opposed to the ongoing Vietnam War, and Dawkins became involved in the anti-war demonstrations and activities. He returned to the University of Oxford in 1970 as a lecturer, in 1990, he became a reader in zoology. He held that professorship from 1995 until 2008, since 1970, he has been a fellow of New College, Oxford and he is now an emeritus fellow. In 1991, he gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for Children on Growing Up in the Universe and he has also edited several journals, and has acted as editorial advisor to the Encarta Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia of Evolution. He is listed as an editor and a columnist of the Council for Secular Humanisms Free Inquiry magazine
16.
Penn & Teller
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Penn & Teller are American magicians and entertainers who have performed together since the late 1970s, noted for their ongoing act which combines elements of comedy with magic. The duo, having featured in numerous stage and television shows. Penn Jillette serves as the orator and raconteur. Besides magic, the pair has become associated with the advocacy of atheism, scientific skepticism, Penn Jillette and Teller were introduced to one another by Wier Chrisemer, and performed their first show together at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival on 19 August 1975. From the late 1970s through 1981, Penn, Teller, Chrisemer helped to develop some bits that continued, most notably Tellers Shadows trick, which involves a single red rose. The group disbanded in 1981 after Chrisemer quit show business, leaving Penn Jillette, by 1985, Penn & Teller were receiving positive reviews for their Off Broadway show and Emmy Award-winning PBS special, Penn & Teller Go Public. In 1987, they began the first of two successful Broadway runs, the same year, they appeared as three-card Monte scam artists in the music video for Its Tricky by Run-DMC. Penn & Teller had national tours throughout the 1990s, gaining critical praise and they appeared in the music video for Katy Perrys 2009 single Waking Up in Vegas, in which they are thrown out of a hotel room by Perry. Their Showtime network television show Bullshit, took a skeptical look at psychics, religion, the pseudoscientific, conspiracy theories, and the paranormal. It has featured critical segments on gun control, astrology, Feng Shui, environmental issues, PETA, weight loss, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and they have also described themselves as teetotalers. Their book, Penn & Tellers How to Play in Traffic, explains that they avoid alcohol, drugs, and caffeine, though they do appear to smoke cigarettes in some videos. The pair have written books about magic, including Penn & Tellers Cruel Tricks For Dear Friends, Penn & Tellers How to Play with Your Food. Since 2001, Penn & Teller have performed six nights a week in Las Vegas at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino. Penn Jillette hosted a weekday talk show on Infinity Broadcastings Free FM radio network from January 3,2006, to March 2,2007. He also hosted the game show Identity, which debuted on December 18,2006 and their television series Penn & Teller Tell a Lie premiered on the Discovery Channel on October 5,2011. Penn & Teller have also shown support for the Brights movement and are now listed on the movements homepage under the Enthusiastic Brights section. Penn Jillette has told interviewer Larry King and Seth Meyers that a big part of the duos success and they respect each other as business partners and enjoy working together, but have little in common besides magic. As a result of their different lifestyles and interests, they rarely socialize or interact when not working
17.
Michael Shermer
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The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members. Shermer also engages in debates on topics pertaining to pseudoscience and religion in which he emphasizes scientific skepticism, Shermer is also the producer and co-host of the 13-hour Fox Family television series Exploring the Unknown. Since April 2001, he has been a monthly columnist for Scientific American magazine with his Skeptic column and he is also a scientific advisor to the American Council on Science and Health. Shermer was once a fundamentalist Christian, but ceased to believe in the existence of God during his graduate studies and he accepts the labels agnostic, nontheist, atheist and others. He has expressed reservations about such labels for his lack of belief in a God, however, as he sees them being used in the service of pigeonholing and he also describes himself as an advocate for humanist philosophy as well as the science of morality. Michael Brant Shermer was born on September 8,1954 and he was born an only child, and raised in Southern California, specifically the La Cañada area in the foothills surrounding Los Angeles. His father died of an attack in 1986, and his mother of brain cancer in 2000. Shermer began his year of high school in 1971, when the evangelical movement in the United States was beginning to gain popularity. One night at the behest of his best friend George, whose parents were Christian, for the next seven years he evangelized door-to-door as part of his profoundly held beliefs. Shermer enjoyed the social aspects of religion, and particularly relished its theological debates and his stepfather was a hunter who took Shermer and their hunting dogs with him on hunting excursions half a dozen times a year, shooting game such as doves, ducks, and quail with shotguns. They ate everything they killed, for which Shermers stepfather also displayed culinary skills, growing up, Shermer owned a BB gun, then a pellet gun, then a 20-gauge shotgun, and then a 12-gauge shotgun. Shermer graduated from Crescenta Valley High School in 1972, desiring serious theological training, he enrolled at Pepperdine University with the intent of becoming a theologian. He initially majored in Christian theology, in addition to taking courses on the Bible, Shermer studied the writings of C. S. Lewis, and he attended chapel twice a week, which was required for all students. He completed his B. A. in psychology at Pepperdine in 1976 and these discussions, along with his studies in cultural anthropology, led him to question his religious beliefs. From this, Shermer came to conclude it obvious that God was made in our likeness, by midway through his graduate training, he removed the Christian silver ichthys medallion that he had been wearing around his neck for years. He completed his M. A. degree from the California State University in psychology in 1978, the final step in Shermers abandoning religion came when his college sweetheart, Maureen, was in an automobile accident that broke her back and rendered her paralyzed from the waist down. Shermer relates, When I saw her at the Long Beach Medical Center ER, there, in the ER, day after dreary day, night after sleepless night, I took a knee and bowed my head and asked God to heal Maureens broken back. I cried out to God to overlook my doubts in the name of Maureen, at that time and in that place, I was once again a believer
18.
Adam Savage
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His model work has appeared in major films, including Star Wars, Episode II – Attack of the Clones and The Matrix Reloaded. He is a prominent member of the skeptic community and he lives in San Francisco with his twin sons and his wife, Julia. Born in New York City, Savage was raised in Sleepy Hollow in Westchester County and he graduated from Sleepy Hollow High School in 1985. His grandfather, Cushman Haagensen, was a surgeon who pioneered in breast-cancer surgery and his father, Whitney Lee Savage, was a painter, filmmaker and animator known for his work on Sesame Street, and has a permanent exhibit in the Avampato Discovery Museum. Whitney Lee was also known for directing the 1968 underground short film and he was the second youngest of 6 children, with the 4 older children coming from his parents previous marriages. He has 2 older brothers,2 older sisters and 1 younger sister and his sister Kate Savage is also an artist. As a teenager in Sleepy Hollow, he visited the local bike shop to have flat tires fixed. The shop showed him how to do the repairs himself, from this experience, Savage said, I realized you could take a bike apart and put it back together and it wasnt that hard. Ive been building and putting bicycles together since then. Savage began acting as a child, and has had five years of acting school, then MythBusters came along and it was the perfect marriage of two things, performance and special effects. On November 25,2011, Savage received a doctorate from the University of Twente for his role in the popularization of science. Savage has worked as an animator, graphic designer, carpenter, projectionist, film developer, television presenter, set designer, toy designer, and gallery owner. He worked as a model maker on the films Galaxy Quest, Bicentennial Man, Star Wars, Episode II – Attack of the Clones, The Matrix Reloaded, and Space Cowboys, among others. He made an appearance along with Jamie Hyneman on CSI, Crime Scene Investigation on the May 1,2008. In the making of material for The Matrix Revolutions, he appears in his role as an effects artist and discusses some of the miniature effects used. He previously taught advanced model making in the department of Industrial Design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, Savage has become a regular presenter at magician James Randis annual skeptics conference, The Amaz. ng Meeting, since first appearing in January 2006. Savage credits his introduction to the community to Michael Shermer. He also appeared in the UK, giving a talk at the first Amazing Meeting London from October 3–4,2009, hosted at the Mermaid Conference Centre, Blackfriars. Savage was a performer at the three w00tstock v1. x shows in 2009, and appeared in four w00tstock v2. x shows in 2010
19.
Harriet A. Hall
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Harriet A. Hall is an American retired family physician, former U. S. Air Force flight surgeon and skeptic who writes about alternative medicine and quackery for Skeptic and Skeptical Inquirer. Hall received her B. A. and M. D. from the University of Washington and she was only the second woman to do her internship in the Air Force and was the first female graduate of the Air Force family practice residency at Eglin Air Force Base. Hall says she was a skeptic for quite some time, only reading the literature. She met Wallace Sampson at the Skeptics Toolbox workshop in Oregon and he convinced her to write an article for the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine testing so-called Vitamin O products she had seen advertised in the mail. She then began writing articles for Skeptical Inquirer, when she spoke to Michael Shermer at The Amazing Meeting about the book The God Code, he encouraged her to write a review of it for Skeptic Magazine. She wrote other articles for publication, and since late 2006 she has had a regular column in it titled The SkepDoc. This is also the name of her web site, before the Toolbox, I had not done any writing. One thing led to another and now Im on the faculty of the Skeptics Toolbox and she has been an outspoken critic of alternative medicine, often questioning its effectiveness. If it were shown to be effective, it would be part of regular medicine. In her work she emphasizes the importance of following the evidence for or against any remedy. When asked about the anti-cold remedy Airborne she said, Theres more evidence for chicken soup than for Airborne, in the absence of any credible double-blind studies to support the claims for Airborne, Ill stick to hand washing. She has also criticized the U. S. Army for its use of acupuncture and she has publicly criticized the recommendations and products of Daniel G. Amen in an article at Quackwatch and elsewhere, saying Amens recommendations defy science, common sense and she has also criticized many other proponents of alternative therapies, including Andrew Weil. She is an advisor to Quackwatch and an Associate Editor of the Science-Based Medicine blog and she has spoken at the Science-Based Medicine Conference and The Amazing Meeting 7, among other venues in 2009. She has been interviewed on such as The Reality Check, Skepticality. In 2008 she published an autobiography focusing on her experiences as a surgeon in the U. S. Air Force. As a female physician, Air Force officer, pilot and flight surgeon she was a minority in several respects, and encountered prejudice. The title of the book refers to an incident after her first solo flight when an official told her
20.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
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Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator. Since 1996, he has been the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City. The center is part of the American Museum of Natural History, born and raised in New York City, Tyson became interested in astronomy at the age of nine after a visit to the Hayden Planetarium. After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science, where he was editor-in-chief of the Physical Science Journal, after receiving a masters degree in astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin in 1983, he earned his masters and doctorate in astrophysics at Columbia University. For the next three years, he was a research associate at Princeton University. In 1994, he joined the Hayden Planetarium as a staff scientist, in 1996, he became director of the planetarium and oversaw its $210-million reconstruction project, which was completed in 2000. From 1995 to 2005, Tyson wrote monthly essays in the Universe column for Natural History magazine, during the same period, he wrote a monthly column in Star Date magazine, answering questions about the universe under the pen name Merlin. Material from the column appeared in his books Merlins Tour of the Universe, Tyson served on a 2001 government commission on the future of the U. S. aerospace industry, and on the 2004 Moon, Mars and Beyond commission. He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal in the same year, from 2006 to 2011, he hosted the television show NOVA ScienceNow on PBS. Since 2009, Tyson hosted the weekly podcast StarTalk, a spin-off, also called StarTalk, began airing on National Geographic in 2015. In 2014, he hosted the television series Cosmos, A Spacetime Odyssey, the U. S. National Academy of Sciences awarded Tyson the Public Welfare Medal in 2015 for his extraordinary role in exciting the public about the wonders of science. Tyson was born as the second of three children in Manhattan, New York, into a living in the Bronx. His mother, Sunchita Maria Tyson, was a gerontologist for the U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and is of Puerto Rican descent. His African-American father, Cyril deGrasse Tyson, was a sociologist, human resource commissioner for New York City mayor John Lindsay, Tyson has two siblings, Stephen Joseph Tyson and Lynn Antipas Tyson. Tysons middle name, deGrasse, is from the name of his paternal grandmother. Tyson grew up in the Castle Hill neighborhood of the Bronx, from kindergarten throughout high school, Tyson attended public schools in the Bronx, P. S. 81, the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy, and The Bronx High School of Science where he was captain of the wrestling team and his interest in astronomy began at the age of nine after visiting the sky theater of the Hayden Planetarium. He recalled that so strong was that imprint that Im certain that I had no choice in the matter, that in fact, during high school, Tyson attended astronomy courses offered by the Hayden Planetarium, which he called the most formative period of his life
21.
Carol Tavris
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Carol Anne Tavris is an American social psychologist and feminist. Her many writings have dealt with critical thinking, cognitive dissonance, anger, gender, Tavris received a B. A. in comparative literature and sociology from Brandeis University and a Ph. D. in social psychology from the University of Michigan. She has taught psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles and she is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Tavris is also a member of the board of Psychological Science in the Public Interest. Her articles, book reviews, and op-eds have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, in 2014 she began writing a column for Skeptic under the heading The Gadfly. In an interview with The Skeptics Society, Carol Tavris describes her early life and she grew up in Los Angeles, California, with her parents, Sam and Dorothy Tavris, secular Jews who promoted and practiced critical thinking and equality for women. She was encouraged to argue and discuss everything with them, from household rules to religion and her parents gave her books about successful women—ranging from Phillis Wheatley to Susan B. Anthony—and her father taught her poetry and storytelling and her grandparents were Russian Jews who emigrated to Chicago in the early 1900s. Her mother, who earned a law degree at 21, became the breadwinner of the family in 1956 when Tavris’ father died suddenly. Tavris majored in literature and sociology at Brandeis University, graduating summa cum laude. Brandeis faculty in her field were enamored with Freud during her college years, but her undergraduate infatuation with Freudian approaches did not survive her first year of graduate school. When Tavris went to the University of Michigan to get her Ph. D. in social psychology and she loved learning about the different methods of investigating questions, from field work and experiments to interviews and observations. Tavris took a year off from school to write for a new magazine. She returned to the magazine after receiving her Ph. D. in the 1980s, Tavris joined Carole Wade in writing an introductory psychology textbook, Psychology. Wade and Tavris also published Invitation to Psychology, a version of their main textbook. As of 2015, Psychology is in its 11th edition and Invitation its 6th, on the contrary, she showed, repeated venting rehearses anger, raises blood pressure, and often makes the other person angry back at you. In ways typical of her approach, she brought skepticism, data. In her chapter on anger in social movements, she took as her main examples the efforts to promote womens rights and civil rights, and the role of anger in igniting the pursuit of justice
22.
Lawrence M. Krauss
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Krauss is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing, and chairs the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Board of Sponsors. Krauss was born in New York City, but spent his childhood in Toronto, Ontario and he was raised in a Jewish household. On January 19,1980, he married Katherine Kelley, a native of Nova Scotia and their daughter, Lilli, was born in 1984. Krauss and Kelley separated in 2010 and were divorced in 2012, Krauss married Nancy Dahl, an Australian-American, on January 7,2014, and spends some of the Arizona summer in Australia at the Mount Stromlo Observatory. After some time in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Krauss became an assistant professor at Yale University in 1985 and he was named the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics, professor of astronomy, and was chairman of the physics department at Case Western Reserve University from 1993 to 2005. In 2006, Krauss led the initiative for the vote against Case Western Reserve Universitys president Edward M. Hundert and provost Anderson by the College of Arts. On March 2,2006, both votes were carried, 131–44 against Hundert and 97–68 against Anderson. He also became the Director of the Origins Project, a university initiative created to explore humankinds most fundamental questions about our origins, in 2009, he helped inaugurate this initiative at the Origins Symposium, in which eighty scientists participated and three thousand people attended. Krauss appears in the media both at home and abroad to facilitate public outreach in science and he has also written editorials for The New York Times. As a result of his appearance in 2004 before the school board of Ohio. Krauss attended and was a speaker at the Beyond Belief symposia in November 2006 and he served on the science policy committee for Barack Obamas first presidential campaign and, also in 2008, was named co-president of the board of sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. In 2013, he accepted a professorship at the Research School of Astronomy. Krauss is a critic of string theory, which he discusses in his 2005 book Hiding in the Mirror. In his 2012 book A Universe from Nothing Krauss says about string theory we still have no idea if this remarkable theoretical edifice actually has anything to do with the real world. Originally, its foreword was to have been written by Christopher Hitchens, the paperback version of the book appeared in January 2013 with a new question-and-answer section and a preface integrating the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC. A July 2012 article in Newsweek, written by Krauss, indicates how the Higgs particle is related to our understanding of the Big Bang and he also wrote a longer piece in the New York Times explaining the science behind and significance of the particle. Krauss mostly works in physics and has published research on a great variety of topics within that field. Furthermore, Krauss has formulated a model in which the universe could have come from nothing
23.
Ray Hyman
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Ray Hyman is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, and a noted critic of parapsychology. Hyman along with James Randi, Martin Gardner and Paul Kurtz is one of the founders of the skeptical movement. He is the founder and leader of the Skeptics Toolbox, Hyman serves on the Executive Council for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. In his teenage years and while attending Boston University as a man, he worked as a magician and mentalist. This fascination with why this happened led him to switch from a journalist degree to psychology, grothe asked Hyman How does a young psychology student get into this parapsychology racket. Hyman replied that it began when he was hired as a magician at age 7 performing for the Parents and this led him to read all about Harry Houdini and his work with spiritualists. By the age of 16 he started investigating spiritualist meetings, Thinking back to age 7, I cant ever remember not being a skeptic. Magicians who perform mentalism debate among themselves using a disclaimer. The disclaimer is supposed to inform the audience that what they are witnessing is entertainment, in an interview with mentalist Mark Edward, Edward asked Hyman if he had ever used a disclaimer during the six years when he performed professionally as a mentalist. Hyman told him he did not remember explicitly using a disclaimer and he remembered always beginning the performance by stating that he did not claim any special powers. He was an entertainer and he hoped they would enjoy the show. After he became a psychologist, he realized that this was an example of the “invited inference. ”By openly stating that he made no claims about the nature of his ability, Hyman had given his audience no reason to challenge him. Indeed, he had invited the onlookers to make their own inferences about the source of the apparent feats of mind reading, most of them concluded he was truly psychic. He obtained a doctorate in psychology from Johns Hopkins University in 1953 and he also became an expert in statistical methods. In 2007 Hyman received a doctorate from the Simon Fraser University for his intellect. For his courageous advocacy of unfettered skeptical inquiry, in 1982, Hyman held the Spook Chair for one year at Stanford University during a sabbatical from the University of Oregon. What the Stanford University psychologists informally call the chair is officially known as The Thomas Welton Stanford Chair for Psychical Research. Thomas Welton was the brother of Stanford’s founder, Leland Stanford, according to Jim Alcock, “His article on cold reading, so Paul Kurtz informs me, has generated more requests for reprints than any other article in the history of the Skeptical Inquirer”
24.
Skepticality
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Skepticality is the official biweekly podcast of The Skeptics Societys Skeptic magazine. Beginning in May 2005, the podcast explores rational thought, skeptical ideas, Skepticality is co-hosted by Derek Colanduno and Swoopy Robynn McCarthy. The concept and the name Skepticality were created in May 2005 by Robynn McCarthy and Derek Colanduno, at the time, Colanduno was working at a national Sports Radio network and a privately owned Alternative Rock Station during the overnight shift. Skepticality gained notability on September 7,2005 during a keynote address, on August 14,2006, Skepticality became Skeptic magazines official podcast. Tim Farley of Whats The Harm, skeptools. com and Virtual Skeptics. com regularly contributes pieces of skeptic history with this segment titled Skepticism, Past and Future. First called A Few Minutes of Skeptic History, it debuted on episode 123 on March 3,2010, bob Carroll from The Skeptics Dictionary debuted with a segment on logical fallacies called Unnatural Virtue, March 27,2012. Jarrett Kaufman and Wendy Hughes from the Independent Investigations Group debuted April 25,2012 with a segment centered on the coincidence website The Odds Must Be Crazy, Kaufman was replaced by John Rael on September 10,2012. Rael is best known for his creation of skepticallypwnd, a group of skeptics, or skeptical comedians. Heather Henderson was a contributor from November 2012 and April 2013 with a segment entitled The News in Religion, in it, Heather presents current events and opinions around the topics of atheism, deism and the effects of religion on the general population. Susan Gerbic of Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia has also made appearances on Skepticality. The show has a number of guests who have featured on more than one show. Amongst them are James Randi, Phil Plait, Pamela Gay, in an interview with Derek during the June 1,2006 episode of Slacker Astronomy, the naming of Asteroids 106545 Colanduno and 106537 McCarthy was announced to the world. Both presentations were made at Dragon*Con 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 22,2007, the Skepticality podcast was listed as Site of the Week on SciFi. coms Sci Fi Weekly. On August 9,2008, Skepticality was named Podcast of the Week by The Times, in April 2014, Skepticality received the Ockham Award at QED for Best Podcast. The award was accepted on behalf of Derek and Swoopy by Susan Gerbic
25.
Julia Sweeney
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Julia Anne Sweeney is an American actress, comedian and author. She is known for her role as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and she played Mrs. Keeper in the film Stuart Little and voiced Brittany in Father of the Pride. Sweeney was born in Spokane, Washington, the daughter of Robert M. Sweeney and her father was an attorney and federal prosecutor, while her mother was a homemaker. Sweeney has an Irish Catholic background, Sweeney is the oldest of five children. She had two brothers, William Bill Sweeney, and Michael Ivers Sweeney, who died, and a brother Jim Sweeney, as a child, she was drawn to imitating voices and inventing characters. Sweeney attended Marycliff High School and Gonzaga Preparatory School, where she appeared in a number of plays and she graduated with a double major in economics and European history at the University of Washington, where she became a member of Delta Gamma sorority. After graduation, Sweeney moved to Los Angeles where she worked as an accountant for Columbia Pictures, in 1988, while still working as an accountant, Sweeney enrolled in classes with the improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings, eventually being selected to be part of the troupes Sunday Company. It was at The Groundlings that she began to develop characters, which she would bring to the stage, film. Skits on Saturday Night Live, and later for her film of the same name. The latter was on the soundtrack to the Lorne Michaels movie Waynes World, in 1994, she had a small role as Raquel in the movie Pulp Fiction. At a Groundlings performance in 1989, Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels discovered Sweeney and she joined the regular SNL cast the following year and remained with the show through four seasons, from 1990 to 1994. Sweeneys 1993 impression of Chelsea Clinton caused a stir when Hillary Clinton found it offensive, Sweeney has created and performed three autobiographical monologues, God Said Ha. In the Family Way, and Letting Go of God, after leaving the cast of Saturday Night Live, Sweeney returned to Los Angeles where, shortly afterwards, her career was put on hold by a series of personal traumas. Her brother Michael was diagnosed with lymphoma, and shortly thereafter Sweeney discovered that she too had cancer and her brother did not survive the cancer. God Said Ha. moved to Broadway, winning the 1996 New York Comedy Festivals Audience Award, miramax released a film version of the show in 1998, directed by Sweeney and produced by Quentin Tarantino. The film earned the Golden Space Needle Award at the Seattle Film Festival and it was released on DVD in 2003. Portions of the monologues from Un-Cabaret were featured on This American Life in January 1996 in episode 9, since her initial monologue, she has appeared on three more This American Life episodes. Sweeneys second monologue chronicled the adoption of her daughter from China, in the Family Way started on stage in New York City in early 2003 at the Ars Nova Theatre
26.
James Van Praagh
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James Van Praagh is an American author, producer and television personality who describes himself as a clairvoyant and spiritual medium. He has written books, including The New York Times bestseller Talking to Heaven. He hosted a paranormal talk show called Beyond with James Van Praagh. Van Praagh was born in Bayside, New York and is the youngest of four children, raised Roman Catholic, he was an altar boy and at the age of 14 he attended pre-seminary. His mother, Jeanne, died in 1985 and Van Praagh claims she visits and he graduated from San Francisco State University, where he majored in Broadcasting and Communications, and subsequently moved to Los Angeles. In the early 1990s he began appearing on the NBC paranormal talk show The Other Side, Van Praagh credits an appearance on Larry King Live in 1997 to promote his new book Talking to Heaven for his gaining worldwide exposure. The book went from 6,000 copies to 600,000 copies in less than three months, he said. He has featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, Dr. Phil, A&E’s Biography, Nightline, Unsolved Mysteries, The View, The Joy Behar Show, Today, Chelsea Lately, and Coast to Coast. He worked with a non-profit called The Compassionate Friends, an organization for people who lost children or siblings. He is also a blogger for The Huffington Post Van Praaghs work centers on his belief that there is no death. Van Praagh claims these spirits help guide him, and that they have him there are many levels of Heaven and we get to that level we have created by our thoughts. Van Praagh has written books that have been translated into multiple languages. His 1999 book Talking to Heaven, which stories about his contact with the deceased. In 2009 he released Ghosts Among Us, which goes into detail about ghosts and his 2011 book Growing Up in Heaven, The Eternal Connection Between Parent and Child, gives a detailed portrayal of what he claims happens to the souls of children after they die. In April 2002, CBS aired Living with the Dead, a miniseries based on Van Praagh and directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal. Although the series followed Van Praaghs experiences, it included a mystery around the murder of a teenage boy at the hands of a serial killer. Van Praagh was played by Ted Danson, his mother by Diane Ladd, Danson received praise from outlets like the Chicago Tribune and People for his portrayal of Van Praagh as a man anguished by his lifelong visions of the dead, including his mother. Beyond followed a format as Crossing Over, with Van Praagh giving audience members and celebrities readings, as well as field investigations into crimes
27.
Richard Saunders (skeptic)
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Richard Saunders is an Australian skeptic, podcaster, and professional origamist. He received recognition by the Australian Skeptics with a Life Membership in 2001 for his contributions to the organisation, Saunders was twice president of the Australian Skeptics, and he founded Sydney Skeptics in the Pub. He has presented on skepticism, represented the Australian Skeptics on television and radio shows, returning to Australia, Saunders attended a variety of primary schools in Mullumbimby, Lithgow, and graduated from Woy Woy High School in 1984. After graduating from school, Saunders joined educational publisher Ashton Scholastic and sold educational software for Apple II. In 1988 he began authoring over twenty books on origami, which subsequently were featured on the Australian childrens television program Wombat, The ABC Afternoon Show, and similar programs. In 2013 he was invited to be a member of the World Competition Jury at Academia Film Olomoucs 48th International Festival of Science Documentary Films or AFO48 in the Czech Republic. He also gave a lecture on the claims of water divining as part of the Pseudoscience block, in 2008 he and Gary Clark produced DVD Origami, an instructional DVD with step-by-step instructions on how to fold 20 paper models. Saunders has over 10 years of experience researching claims of the paranormal and he joined the committee of the Australian Skeptics in 2001 and has been President and Vice President of the organization. He was granted a Life Membership in the organization in recognition of his work on The Great Skeptic CD and he went on to create the Great Water Divining DVD and the card carrying skeptic card. He was the artistic director and layout manager for The Skeptic Magazine from Australian Skeptics until Tim Mendham was appointed the new editor in June 2009. In 2003 Saunders co-founded The Mystery Investigators Show with Alynda Brown, the program teaches students to use science and critical thinking to investigate claims of the paranormal, such as water divining, spoon bending, and firewalking. In 2008 Brown left the show and was replaced by biologist Dr. Rachael Dunlop, in 2013 the show celebrated 10 years of performing. In 2010 he helped organize the first The Amaz. ng Meeting Australia in Sydney, the meeting featured presentations by several high-profile members of the skeptical community, including James Randi, Brian Dunning, and Eugenie Scott. He has used his expertise in origami to design an origami Pigasus in honour of the mascot of the James Randi Educational Foundation and he authored instructions for folding the Pigasus and a dragon for Skeptic. 2001 Made Life Member of Australian Skeptics, Inc.2011 Made CSI Fellow Saunders was producer, in 2008 this podcast became The Skeptic Zone podcast, which he still hosts. It appears weekly and is billed as The Podcast from Australia for Science and Reason. He has made appearances on radio and television in his role as a skeptic, including on Today Tonight, Sunrise, Radio 2GB, Radio 2UE, Nova 106.9,702 ABC. In 2007 he did a segment for the Mike Williams Saturday Night Live radio program called Myths
28.
SkeptiCamp
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SkeptiCamps are smallish grassroots conferences where scientific skeptics come together and participate and present. The SkeptiCamp concept was founded in 2007 by Reed Esau, and was inspired by Daniel Loxtons 2007 essay on the state of the Skeptical movement. And from attending The Amaz. ng Meeting 2007 annual conference that focuses on science, skepticism, the SkeptiCamp format also allows ad hoc group formation, and avoids the overhead associated with more formal content channels. The first SkeptiCamp was held in August 2007 in Denver, and was organized by Reed Esau along with Rich Ludwig and Crystal Yates-White. The first SkeptiCamp in Northern California was hosted by the Monterey County Skeptics in Seaside, CA on January 3,2015, mentalist and skeptic activist Mark Edward emceed the event
29.
Center for Inquiry
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The Center for Inquiry is a nonprofit educational organization. Its primary mission is to foster a society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry. CFI has headquarters in the United States and a number of locations around the world, the organization has been described as a think tank and as a non-governmental organization. In January 2016, the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science announced that it was merging with the Center for Inquiry, the Center for Inquiry was established in 1991 by philosopher and author Paul Kurtz. It brought together two organizations, the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal and the Council for Secular Humanism, CSICOP and CSH had previously operated in tandem but were now formally affiliated under one umbrella. By 1995 CFI had expanded into a new headquarters in Amherst, New York, in the same year, CFI founded the Campus Freethought Alliance, organizing college students around its areas of interest. By 1997 CFI had begun expanding its efforts internationally through an association with Moscow State University, between 2002 and 2003 CFI opened two new branches in New York City and Tampa, Florida in addition to expanding its west coast branch into a new building in Hollywood, California. Located on Hollywood Boulevard, CFI West also became home to the Steve Allen Theater, named after the former Tonight Show host, in 2004, CFI continued to expand into cities across the United States with the creation of a network of community organizations called CFI Communities. In 2005 CFI once again expanded its Amherst headquarters with a new research wing, additionally, CFI was granted special consultative status with the United Nations the same year. Since 2006 CFI has been expanding rapidly with a series of new branches in cities across North America and these include new Centers for Inquiry in Toronto, London, Washington, D. C. Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Austin, Texas, the branch in Washington is headquarters to CFIs Office of Public Policy, which represents CFIs interests on Capitol Hill. In January 2016, CFI announced that it was merging with the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, according to Paul Kurtz, in June 2009, being at odds with new CEO Ronald Lindsay, Kurtz was voted out as chairman. Kurtz has described the direction of CFI under Lindsay as angry atheism in contrast to his affirmative humanist philosophical approach. The Center for Inquiry Board Statement from 2010, thanks Kurtz for his decades of service and claims that Much of CFI’s success is due to Paul Kurtz’s inspiration and leadership. The release states that with Kurtzs encouragement, new leadership was sought out, the Board according to CFI prior to 2010 had become concerned with Kurtzs day-to-day management of the organization. In June 2008, the board appointed Dr. Ronald A. Lindsay president & CEO, in June 2009, in May 2010, the Board accepted Kurtzs resignation from CFI. It also explores the fringes and borderlands of the sciences, attempting to separate strictly evidence-based research from pseudosciences, CSICOP was, alongside magician and prominent skeptic James Randi, sued by TV celebrity Uri Geller in the 1990s over claims made in the International Herald Tribune. The case ran for years with Geller ordered to pay costs and other charges
30.
Debunker
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A debunker is a person or organization who attempts to expose or discredit claims believed to be false, exaggerated, or pretentious. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, to debunk is defined as, if debunkers are not careful, their communications may backfire – increasing an audiences long-term belief in myths. Backfire effects can occur if a message spends too much time on the case, if it is too complex. The term debunk originated in a 1923 novel Bunk, by American journalist and popular historian William Woodward, stephen Barrett founded Quackwatch and writes on medical quackery. Brian Dunning produces the podcast Skeptoid, stanton Friedman has debunked both supposed UFO cases and debunking attempts on other UFO cases. Martin Gardner was a mathematics and science writer who extensively debunked parapsychology in his magazine articles, susan Gerbic is the founder and leader of Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia which has the mission of improving the skeptical content of Wikipedia. She has focused her skeptical activism at debunking famous psychics such as Sylvia Brown, Chip Coffey, ray Hyman is a psychologist who is known for debunking some parapsychological studies. Philip Klass was a pioneer in the field of investigation of UFOs. Alan Melikdjanian is a debunker of viral videos and hoaxes on the internet, usually deconstructing them and explaining the post production techniques, donald Menzel was Philip Klass predecessor in debunking UFOs. Joe Nickell writes regularly for the Skeptical Inquirer, Penn & Teller are an entertainment team who often demystify magic tricks and illusions. They have also debunked many aspects of popular belief on their show, Penn & Teller. Dorothy Dietrich a professional magician and Houdini expert and historian, has been put in charge of Houdinis grave site, and is the founder of The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Phil Plait is an astronomer and science writer whos specialty is fighting psudoscience related to space and he established Badastronomy. com to counter public misconceptions about astronomy and space science, providing critical analysis of pseudoscientific theories related to these subjects. James Randi has exposed faith healers, psychics and others claiming to have paranormal powers, carl Sagan was a noted astronomer who debunked purported close encounters such as the Betty and Barney Hill abduction, and pseudoscience such as Immanuel Velikovskys Worlds in Collision. Michael Shermer, executive director and founder of the non-profit organization The Skeptics Society, committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Skeptics Society The MythBusters, a program on the Discovery Channel. Two former special effects technicians, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, the National Institute of Standards and Technology debunked the World Trade Center controlled demolition conspiracy theories. Popular Mechanics has released several publications also debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories, snopes debunks or validates urban legends. Quackwatch SourceWatch The website Bad Astronomy, by astronomer Phil Plait, debunks astrology, backfire effects occur when science communicators accidentally reinforce false beliefs by trying to correct them
31.
Pigasus Award
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The Pigasus Award is the name of an annual tongue-in-cheek award presented by noted skeptic James Randi. The award seeks to expose parapsychological, paranormal or psychic frauds that Randi has noted over the previous year, Randi usually makes his announcements of the awards from the previous year on April 1. The award was called the Uri trophy, after Uri Geller. The 1982 edition lists the recipients in 1979,1980 and 1981. Randi states, The trophy consists of a stainless-steel spoon bent in a pleasing curve, please note that the base is flimsy and quite transparent. I am personally responsible for the nomination of the candidates, the sealed envelopes are read by me, while blindfolded, at the official announcement ceremony on April 1. Any baseless claims are rationalized in approved parapsychological fashion, and the results will be published immediately without being checked in any way, winners are notified telepathically and are allowed to predict their victory in advance. The bent spoon trophy is a reference to Gellers claimed spoon-bending abilities, the logo of a winged pig was designed for Randis website by German artist Jutta Degener in 1996. The name Pigasus was chosen by Randi from suggestions e-mailed to him, the term is a portmanteau pun combining the word pig with the mythological Pegasus, a reference to the expression when pigs fly. Randi did not present any Uri Award for a number of years after its inception in Flim-Flam, but in 1997 it was revived and the name was changed to Pigasus after the winged pig. We send, if they dont receive, thats probably due to their lack of paranormal talent, the Pigasus Awards have not been presented every year. There was no mention of recipients for 1997,1998,2000, specifies that the winner of the Pigasus Award falls in one of four possible categories, The scientist who said or did the silliest thing relating to parapsychology in the preceding twelve months. The funding organization that supports the most useless parapsychological study during the year, the media outlet that reported as fact the most outrageous paranormal claim. The psychic performer who fools the greatest number of people with the least effort in that twelve-month period, the 2003 Pigasus awards featured only categories 1 and 4. The 2005 awards added a category for the most persistent refusal to face reality. 1980 — Isaac Bashevis Singer, for declaring a belief in demons,1981 — Charles Tart, for discovering that the further in the future events are, the more difficult it is to predict them. 1996 — Scientist/physicist Ed May, who headed the CIA remote viewing project,1999 — The Kansas State Board of Education for removing the teaching of evolution from the states educational agenda. 2001 — University of Arizona Psychology professor Gary Schwartz for studies in parapsychology,2003 — South African Minister of Health Dr. Manto Tshabala-Msimang for endorsing alternative medicine for treating AIDS
32.
Prabir Ghosh
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Prabir Ghosh is the president of the Humanists Association based in Kolkata. He was once referred to in the media as being from the Rationalist Association of India, a vociferous debunker, he has crusad against soothsayers and godmen in eastern India and survived at least 20 attempts on his life since the mid-1980s. His campaigning style is deliberately provocative and intended to raise awareness of the rationalist cause. The documentary film Guru Busters features several of his confrontations with charlatans and he is the author of a number of Bengali language books disputing supernatural claims. Prabir currently offers ₹2 million to anyone who claims to supernatural power of any kind and proves the same without restoring to any trick. The association states, We don’t have the challenge money 20 lakhs with us, but our supporters and well-wishers have committed to help us out in case we need it. But we are confident we will never need the money, the rationalist will win all the challenges
33.
The Skeptic's Dictionary
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The Skeptics Dictionary is a collection of cross-referenced skeptical essays by Robert Todd Carroll, published on his website skepdic. com and in a printed book. The skepdic. com site was launched in 1994 and the book was published in 2003 with nearly 400 entries, as of January 2011 the website has over 700 entries. According to the cover of the book, the on-line version receives approximately 500,000 hits per month. The Skeptics Dictionary is, according to its foreword, intended to be a counterbalance to the voluminous occult and paranormal literature. Print versions are available in Dutch, English, Japanese, Korean, numerous entries have been translated for the Internet in several other languages. A newsletter keeps interested parties up to date on new entries, norcross et al. state that Carroll has made considerable progress in exposing pseudoscience and quackery. The one group this book is not aimed at is the believer in the occult. If you have no skepticism in you, this book is not for you. ”Carroll defines each of these categories, explaining how and why, in his opinion, his dictionary may be of interest, use, and benefit to each of them
34.
Robert Todd Carroll
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Robert Todd Carroll was an American writer and academic. Carroll is best known for his contributions in the field of skepticism and he was elected a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry in 2010. He described himself as a naturalist, an atheist, a materialist, a libertarian. The Commonsense Philosophy of Religion of Edward Stillingfleet, Student Success Guide, Writing Skills and Student Success Guide and he was a professor of philosophy at Sacramento City College from 1977 until his retirement in 2007. Carroll was born in Joliet, Illinois on May 18,1945 and his father worked in a coal processing plant. The family moved to San Diego in 1954 where Carroll grew up and he describes his early years in Ocean Beach as an ideal childhood. Carroll went to the University of San Diego High School, the school that Phil Mickelson. After that, he received a Catholic education in the University of Notre Dame and he went into seminary in Notre Dame, he eventually left after a short time in 1965 and went back to San Diego. By then Carroll was married two daughters. The new family moved to Susanville, California where he started teaching philosophy at Lassen Community College, after that he moved to the Sacramento area, he has been living in Davis since 1977. Carroll says that he never went through a religion deconversion moment and he first started having strong doubts about Catholicism when he went into Seminary in Notre Dame. He became intrigued by eastern religions after leaving the Seminary, inspired by Alan Watts, he started looking at eastern religions holy books. Carroll became interested in Paramahansa Yogananda and attended his Self-Realization Fellowship group to do yoga and chanting, he identified as agnostic at the time. After leaving the fellowship, he spent many years thinking in depth about his religion, he said The more I thought about religious ideas, the more false and absurd they seem to me. Carroll became enchanted by the ideas of Kierkegaard, namely the idea that religious beliefs require a leap of faith because they cannot be rationally proven, Carrolls teaching career started with a part-time position teaching philosophy at Lassen Community College. Carroll is the author of Becoming a Critical Thinker, a textbook for introductory logic and it covers subjects such as language and critical thinking, the mass media and other sources of information, fallacies of reasoning, and inductive and deductive arguments. The book is subtitled A Guide for the New Millennium, pearson Educational published the first edition in 2000 and the second edition was published in 2005. Becoming a Critical Thinker was born out of Carrolls classwork during his time in Sacramento City College, the Skeptics Dictionary is the print version of the website skepdic. com and is available in Dutch, English, Japanese, Korean, and Russian
35.
Milbourne Christopher
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Milbourne Christopher was a prominent American illusionist, magic historian, and author. Christopher regarded those individuals who claimed extrasensory perception or psychic powers to be actually using magic trickery. He wrote three book-length exposés regarding those he said were false seers or psychics, ESP, Seers & Psychics, Mediums, Mystics, & The Occult, in the latter book he found no evidence for the existence of the soul. Skeptical investigator Joe Nickell who was influenced by Christopher recommended the books without reservation, Christopher also debunked parapsychology experiments and experimenters during his lifetime. In November 2010, Christophers widow, Maurine Brooks Christopher, published an edition of Houdini. In 2012, the book Milbourne Christopher, The Man & His Magic, was authored by William V. Rauscher,50 Tricks With A Thumb Tip. The Greatest Magic Illusions Of All Time, article for Popular Mechanics magazine, ESP, Seers & Psychics, What The Occult Really Is. Mediums, Mystics, & The Occult, New Revelations About Psychics And Their Secrets, Search For The Soul, An Insiders Report On The Continuing Quest By Psychics & Scientists For Evidence Of Life After Death. MilbourneChristopher. com Milbourne Christopher at the Internet Broadway Database Milbourne Christopher at the Internet Movie Database
36.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
37.
Massimo Polidoro
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As a child in the 1970s, Polidoro was fascinated by magic and the claims surrounding psychic phenomena. He learned in his teens about the work of James Randi, and CSICOP through a TV series, Polidoro studied Randi and his publications. Randi, like Houdini, was a magician and investigator of mysteries who employed an approach to his investigations. Polidoro corresponded with Randi and Angela by letter where they planned a skeptical organization in Italy based on CSICOP’s work in the United States and he was invited meet both Angela and Randi and again later to a meeting in Rome as Angelas guest in 1988. After spending three days with Polidoro in Rome, both Angela and Randi agreed that Polidoro had the talent and passion to become an apprentice of Randi. During dinner at Angela’s house, they asked Polidoro if he was interested in learning how to investigate mysteries as Randi’s apprentice, with a grant from Angela, Polidoro left for the United States and became Randis only full-time apprentice in the art of paranormal investigation and psychic testing. After several years during which he helped Randi in his investigations, research, writings and lectures, Polidoro returned to Italy in 1990 and he studied psychology, and graduated from the University of Padua with a master thesis on the psychology of eyewitness testimony of anomalous phenomena. Polidoro is the Executive Director of CICAP, and was the editor of its journal, Scienza & Paranormale, in 1996 he became the European representative for the James Randi Educational Foundation. In 2001, he became a member of the European Council of Skeptical Organisations, and was nominated as a fellow of CSICOP. He has conducted investigations on famous cases and personalities of the past, including Eusapia Palladino, Margery. Some of this work is collected in his books, two of which, Final Séance and Secrets of the Psychics, have published by Prometheus Books. In 2004, Polidoros passion for magic led him to start the magazine, Magia, devoted to the study of the history, science and psychology of conjuring. In 2005 he became the first Italian to hold a course on Scientific Method, Pseudoscience and Anomalistic psychology, Polidoro is the host, special guest, author or consultant of many TV shows, both in Italy and abroad. In 2006 he started a podcast in Italian I Misteri di Massimo Polidoro, the podcast was broadcast as a radio show for three years on an Italian language Swiss radio station. As a journalist, Polidoro is a contributor to the monthly Italian magazine Focus and he is the author of over 40 books in Italian, covering a variety of subjects related to mysteries, the paranormal and historical enigmas. In 2006 he published his first novel, Il profeta del Reich, Final Séance deals with the strange friendship between Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, their friendly exchanges first and then the quarrels over their opposing views of Spiritualism. Secrets of the Psychics is a collection of investigations carried out by Polidoro on psychic phenomena, including tests of psychics, poltergeists, miracles, both books are published by Prometheus Books, and have been translated into several languages. At The Amaz. ng Meeting 2014 Polidoro announced that work on the biography of the life of James Randi is underway, the need for the biography was Penn Jillette’s brainchild, and in 2005 Jillette began interviewing Randi for this reason
38.
Flim-Flam!
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Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions is a 1980 book by magician and skeptic James Randi about paranormal, occult, and pseudoscience claims. The foreword is by science fiction author Isaac Asimov, Randi explores topics which he says that scientists and the media are too willing to promote without skepticism and proper expertise. Timothy Ferris wrote that Flim Flam, Randi levels criticism at the sloppy study designs and faulty controls of the investigations into remote viewing by Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff. George Kauffman wrote, Randi explores and exposes the outrageous deceptions widely promoted in the sensation-seeking media, the book calls on researchers to be accountable for their failures and impostures. Randi documents how the method is often twisted and bent to accommodate the subject of investigation. Randi also debunks the book Chariots of the Gods. noting, among other things, the Transcendental Meditation movement and Edgar Cayces mystic medical practice are subjected to Randis skeptical scrutiny. The author also deconstructs the Cottingley Fairies particularly addressing how Arthur Conan Doyle fell for the hoax, the complete absence of any physical evidence of UFOs is also discussed. Later sections of the book cover specific cases of paranormal feats where Randi was consulted as an expert or judge and these include tests of dowsing and pyramid power. In these anecdotes the reader learns some of the used by charlatans including how to guess cards, tilt tables, read while blindfolded. Randi announces an annual award for the psychic who fools the greatest number of people with the least effort, the Uri trophy is a bent spoon on a flimsy and quite transparent base. He writes that winners will be notified telepathically, timothy Ferris wrote in The New York Times Book Review it is a healthy and often hilarious book. He described the Uri trophy as typical of the devices of Randis book. He noted Randi apologized for this, describing it as, killing the gnat with a sledgehammer, kirkus Reviews states Flim Flam. has a brisk pace and clear message. Concluding, By the end of the book, Randis personal offer of $10,000 to be paid to anyone who successfully demonstrates paranormal abilities under proper test conditions seems safe beyond a doubt, plentiful photographs catch hoaxers in the act. The Lodi News-Sentinel stated Flim Flam, in 2001 Skeptic magazine listed Flim Flam. at number three in its Top Ten Recommended Skeptics Books. Novelist Christopher Brookmyre listed Flim Flam. among four of the best, works evincing a vivid, clear, in a 2010 interview the magician Teller listed it as one of four books In My Library. Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions has been cited in newspapers, magazines and scientific journals, Flim Flam. was originally published in hardcover by Thomas Y. Crowell Co. then by Lippincott Crowell, the publication run by Harper & Row was planned to be 17,500 but was reduced to about 6,000 and the book was declared out of print by the publisher despite outstanding paid orders
38% on 2008. 
17% on 2009.[5]
