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Skeptical Inquirer Magazine Names the
Ten Outstanding Skeptics of the Century
For Immediate Release
Contact 716-636-1425 X219
[email protected]
Amherst, N.Y.
In a century filled with UFO sightings, psychic claims, doomsday prophecies, quack therapies, pseudoscientific gadgetry, conspiracy claims, New Age spiritualism, and paranormal mystery-mongering, which individuals rank as the ten outstanding skeptics of the last one hundred years? Who are the brightest champions of science and reason-exposing deception, uncovering fraud, identifying nonsense, and solving so-called "mysteries"?
Skeptical Inquirer magazine polled those who should know best: the Fellows and Consultants of the Committee for the
Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), an international
organization of scientists and scholars that has tracked the paranormal and the
pseudoscientific for the past 23 years. Nominations could be chosen from any
combination of science, scholarship, writing, public education, outreach,
investigation, activism, leadership, or other qualities. The only restriction
was that the individual's major contributions have been made in the twentieth
century. The following are the ten individuals receiving the greatest number
of nominations:
- James Randi-A skeptical investigator of paranormalists like spoonbender Uri Geller and televangelist Peter Popoff, Randi combines a mastery of conjuring skills, an irrepressible energy, a sharp critical intelligence, and a fine understanding of science to expose fraud, deception, and flim-flam wherever it arises. Randi's lectures and television appearances have entertainingly educated audiences worldwide about the differences between genuine science and pseudoscience, the methods of psychic claimants, and the pitfalls of self-deception and gullibility.
- Martin Gardner-His first book published nearly a
half-century ago, Fads and Fallacies in
the Name of Science, influenced and informed generations of
scholars and future skeptics, and became a classic. Essentially an
independent scholar but without academic trappings, the polymathic Gardner
keeps tabs on all kinds of topics and issues in mathematics, science,
philosophy, and religion, not to mention the fads and foibles of
paranormalists, fringe scientists, quacks, and pseudoscientists. For three
decades he wrote the popular "Mathematical Games" column for Scientific
American, and has written for Skeptical Inquirer since its
inception, with his "Notes of a Fringe
Watcher" column appearing in every issue since 1983. He followed
Fads and Fallacies with later books about pseudoscience and
fringe science, including Science: Good,
Bad, and Bogus; The New
Age; On the Wild
Side; and Weird Water and
Fuzzy Logic.
- Carl Sagan-The people's astronomer and the public's
scientist, Sagan's brilliant career was foreshortened by death in 1996 at
the age of 62. Sagan used his passion for science, intelligence, charisma,
and formidable literary and communication skills to turn several
generations of young people on to the wonders of science and the rewards of
critical thinking. He had a unique talent to inspire wonder and awe at the
true mysteries of science and the temptations of wishful thinking and
self-deception. His last book published before his death, The Demon-Haunted World, ranged
over late-twentieth-century fringe science and warned of the perils of a
public unable to distinguish real science from bogus science.
- Paul Kurtz-A philosopher and intellectual with a
practical bent and special talent for visionary leadership, Kurtz founded
CSICOP and Skeptical Inquirer magazine in 1976 while a
professor of philosophy (now emeritus) at the State University of New York
at Buffalo. Kurtz also founded Prometheus Books, which publishes over 100
books a year in philosophy, science, skepticism, humanism, freethought, and
ethics. With diplomatic skills and an internationalist perspective, he has
an uncanny ability to bring diverse people together, organizing over the
decades dozens of international conferences and helping to launch many
skeptical organizations across the world. As active as Kurtz has and
continues to be, he is also a prolific scholar, having authored or edited
over thirty books on philosophy and science, and having served for more
than two decades as an important public intellectual.
- Ray Hyman-- Considered the leading constructive critic
of academic parapsychology research, Hyman is a longtime professor of
psychology (now emeritus) at the University of Oregon. He has taught about
the psychology of belief and self-deception and conducted painstaking
critical analyses of published parapsychology experiments. An amateur
magician, he has critiqued experiments with highly visible psychics and
other psychic claimants conducted by private scientific and government
organizations. Despite intense controversies, he has managed to maintain
the respect of both parapsychologists and fellow skeptics. As a
well-informed outside critic, he is often credited with helping raise the
quality parapsychological research. He has conducted detailed critical
analyses of Ganzfeld experiments-research that parapsychologists find
compelling but he so far does not. In 1995 he was one of two experts the
CIA contracted for an outside evaluation of the military's twenty-year
program to see if alleged remote viewing could assist with intelligence
gathering. His essentially negative evaluation was reflected in the
sponsor's report.
- Philip J. Klass-Sometimes called "The Sherlock Holmes
of UFOlogy," Klass has been the world's leading skeptical investigator of
UFO claims for well over three decades. In a field dominated by proponents
and wishful believers, he and a few colleagues have been the almost lone
voice of careful, reasoned analysis and critical thinking. His UFO
investigations have always been a sideline to his nearly thirty-four-year
career as a distinguished Washington-based senior editor for Aviation Week
& Space Technology magazine. Notable books: UFOs Identified; UFOs Explained; UFOs: The Public Deceived; UFO Abductions: A Dangerous
Game; Bringing UFOs Down to
Earth (for young readers); and The Real Roswell Crashed-Saucer
Coverup. He is also founder and editor of Skeptic's UFO
Newsletter.
- Isaac Asimov-The master science popularizer of his
time, Asimov became famous at an early age for his science fiction, and
soon turned to science fact. He was a Ph.D. biochemist and polymath, and
from the 1950s until his death in 1992, he wrote prolifically about every
aspect of science-and with enormous clarity, directness, and charm.
Possibly no one has ever amassed a body of written work simultaneously so
voluminous (nearly 500 books), diverse, and substantive. He loved the
historical approach, and his works always put scientific progress into
historical perspective. Asimov was a steadfast defender of science and
reason and foe of nonsense, superstition, and pseudoscience. He blasted
astrology, and creationism. A few of his notable books: Asimov's New Guide to Science;
Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of
Science; The Roving
Mind (dedicated to CSICOP); and (science fiction) the Foundation series, I, Robot, The Martian Way, and The Gods Themselves.
- Bertrand Russell-One of the leading philosophers of the
twentieth century, Russell wrote widely, covering topics including
epistemology, psychology, morals, education, and political and social
reform. He believed that logic was capable of untangling many of the
problems that have vexed philosophers throughout history. Russell was a
defender of the humanist outlook and believed that despite mankind's
possible extinction by nuclear warfare, we must confront the indifferent or
hostile universe and stand for our ideals. He received the Nobel prize for
literature in 1950. His writings include The Problems of Philosophy, Introduction to Mathematical
Philosophy, Principia
Mathematica, Logic and
Knowledge, Sceptical
Essays, and Mysticism and
Logic and Other Essays.
- Harry Houdini-The world's best-known magician and
escape artist, is also the twentieth century's most famous ghostbuster.
Houdini used his knowledge of magic to expose the secrets of such
wonderworkers as "the Spaniard with X-ray eyes," an "Egyptian Miracle Man,"
and a host of spiritualist mediums offering "materializations" and other
s�ance deceptions. Houdini challenged mediums to perform under test
conditions and offered various inducements for demonstrations of genuine
psychic phenomena, including $10,000 as part of a Scientific American
reward. His efforts-including his books A Magician Among the Spirits and
Miracle Mongers and Their
Methods-caused spiritualist devotee Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to
break off their friendship. After Houdini's untimely death on Halloween,
1926, his wife Bess attempted to contact his spirit through mediums,
seeking a pre-arranged message. Houdini's life is celebrated in countless
movies, books, and other venues, including annual Halloween s�ances at
which-although he is invariably a no-show-Houdini's legacy is kept
alive.
- Albert Einstein-As a young physicist in 1905, Einstein
published papers on three topics that revolutionized our view of the
universe. One (for which he later won the Nobel Prize) explained the
photoelectric effect in terms of the then-new quantum theory of Max Planck.
One provided the first mathematical analysis of Brownian motion. And one
propounded the special theory of relativity, after which physics would
never be the same. By assuming a constant velocity of light, the work
explained the earlier Michelson-Morley experiment, deduced the
length-contraction and mass-enlargement effects of FitzGerald and Lorentz,
and abolished the notion of absolute time. This was followed by a short
published note working out the equivalence of mass and energy in the famous
equation E=mc2. His crowning achievement came in 1915 with
publication of his paper on the general theory of relativity, a wholly new
theory of gravitation based on the curvature of space-time. When
observations confirmed Einstein's predictions, his reputation as the
preeminent scientist of the century was assured. Many polls conducted in
1999 chose Einstein as the most influential person of the twentieth
century.
Other outstanding skeptics who received multiple votes or at least one
first-place vote:
11. Richard Feynman [books]
12. Joe Nickell [books]
13. Karl Popper [books]
14. H.L. Mencken [books]
15. Richard Dawkins [books]
16. Stephen Jay Gould [books]
17. James Alcock [books]
18. Stephen Barrett [books]
[Quackwatch]
19. Bart Bok [books]
20. Michael Shermer [books]
[Skeptic's Society]
21. Kendrick Frazier [books]
22. Mark Twain [books]
23. Oscar Pfungst [books]
24. Robert. A. Baker [books]
Skeptical Inquirer, The Magazine for Science and Reason, is a
bi-monthly publication dedicated to the scientific examination of claims of the
paranormal and the pseudoscientific. It can be found in most large bookstores
and on the Web at http://www.csicop.org/si.
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