Skeptical Odysseys: Personal Accounts by the World's Leading Paranormal Inquirers

Book Overview

Issued on the 25th anniversary of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), this book brings together personal statements by the leading sceptics of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1573928844
• ISBN13: 9781573928847
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Prometheus Books
• Length: 430 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Essential Essays on Skepticism and the Paranormal

This is a collection of essays from skeptics, edited by Paul Kurtz and issued on the 25th anniversary of CSICOP (the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal). I especially recommend it to paranormal researchers and those who consider themselves to be believers, to really think about what it is they believe and consider evidence of the veracity of that belief. The essays are as follows: Introduction: The Founding of the Skeptical Movement (Paul Kurtz) =I. Twenty-Five Years of CSICOP 1. From the Editor's Seat: Thoughts on Science and Skepticism at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century (Kendrick Frazier) 2. Science vs. Pseudoscience, Nonscience, and Nonsense (James Alcock) 3. Never a Dull Moment (Barry Karr) 4. The Origins and Evolution of CSICOP: Science is Too Important to Be Left to Scientists (Lee Nisbet) 5. My Personal Involvement: A Quarter Century of Skeptical Inquiry (Paul Kurtz) =II. Parapsychology 6. Why I Have Given Up (Susan Blackmore) 7. The Magician and the Think Tank (Leon Jaroff) 8. From Fate to Skeptical Inquirer (Barry L. Beyerstein) =III. UFOs 9. UFOs: An Innocent Myth Turned Evil (Philip J. Klass) 10. The Odyssey of a UFO Skeptic (Robert Sheaffer) 11. Roswell Alien Descendants Come of Age (Bill Nye) 12. Metamorphosis: A Life's Journey from "Believer" to "Skeptic" (Gary P. Posner) =IV. Astronomy and the Space Age 13. Killer-Comets, Pseudocosmogony, and Little Green Men (David Morrison) 14. Certain Uncertainties (Neil deGrasse Tyson) =V. Astrology 15. Does Astrology Work? Astrology and Skepticism 1975-2000 (Geoffrey Dean and Ivan W. Kelly) 16. The Battle Against Pseudoscience: The Case of Astrology (Jean-Claude Pecker) =VI. Popular Investigations 17. Adventures of a Paranormal Investigator (Joe Nickell) 18. Diary of a Canadian Debunker (Henry Gordon) =VII. Creationism 19. My Favorite Pseudoscience (Eugenie Scott) =VIII. Alternative Medicine 20. "Alternative Medicine": How It Demonstrates Characteristics of Pseudoscience, Cult, and Confidence Game (Wallace Sampson) =IX. Skepticism Around the World 21. A Dozen Years of Dutch Skepticism (Cornelis de Jager and Jan WIllem Nienhuys) 22. A New Hope: From a Good Idea to Real Change (Massimo Polidoro) 23. A Skeptic in a Strange Land (Mario Mendez-Acosta) 24. Skepticism in Russia: Past and Present (Valerii A. Kuvakin) 25. Liberation from the Dark Dungeons of Blind Belief (Sanal Edamaruku) 26. Scientists, Educators, and Journalists Against the Demon's Temptation (Luis Alfonso Gamez) =X. Some Personal Reflections 27. Skepticism and Science (Vern L. Bullogh) 28. Let Us Reflect: How a Thoughtful, Inquiring Watchman Provided a Mark to Aim At (Michael Shermer) 29. The Importance of Skepticism (Steve Allen) 30. When Corporations Embraced "Transformational Technologies" (Bela Scheiber) =XI. Religion 31. Confessions of a Skeptic (Martin Gardner) 32. The Breath of God: Identifying Spiritual Energy (Victor J. Stenger) 33. Skepticism About Religion (Antony Flew

How few think rationally? scientifically?

After reading this book, I wonder how few people think rationally and how many fewer still think scientifically? Defining what those mean would be a start. Many contributors to "Skeptical Odysseys" seem dismayed how few people understand the scientific method. At a time when a teaching of "intelligent design" may be entering Kansas public science classes, it seems a good time to appreciate how much each of the contributors to this book has struggled in the name of science against "pseudo-science, non-science, and nonsense". The nuttiness just keeps coming in one form or another. Often enough a discredited notion, like intelligent design, comes back in much the same form. So one thing these skeptics describe is their patience. If you just hear mention of astrology, UFOs, ESP, and creationism, you may dismiss just how much work has gone into combatting these unproductive areas. Reading each of these skeptics helps drive home just how much work remains. Each of the skeptics describes his/her work as a skeptic. Some that made the biggest impression on me were: * The editor of this book and famous humanist, Paul Kurtz himself. Among other things he mentions people who claim to talk to the dead: here in the 21st century, one can turn on TV and see John Edward or Sylvia Browne claiming to be doing this. * David Morrison, who had been a student of Carl Sagen. He goes over the Velikovsky "Worlds in Collision" claims , which both Sagen and Morrison challenged scientifically. * Geoffry Dean (technical writer) and Ivan Kelly (educational psychologist) on scientific challenges of astrology. * Eugenie Scott (anthropologist) discussing the nature of science and from that, just why creationism isn't scientific. * a surprise, Steve Allen, the long-time TV celebirty but also skeptic, writing with considerable insight. That's just a few of 36 contributors, each of them adding to a message of the importance of rationalism and scientific method. Consider just in medicine how much we rely on good scientific research. Do you really understand the scientific method? After reading this book I wonder if I do.

A must for every atheist's bookshelf

One of the offshoots of religion is paranormal phenomena. That includes everything from parapsychology, the shroud of Turin, UFOs, creationism, astrology, and other topics.Some of my favorite authors wrote articles for this volume, among them, Joe Nickell, Phil Klass, Henry Gordon, Martin Gardner, and Robert Sheaffer.Skeptical Odysseys is a good place to hear the personal stories from said authors.

Statements and views of the leading skeptics of the world

Paul Kurtz edits Skeptical Odysseys, a vivid collection of personal accounts by the world's paranormal inquirers. This gathers the personal statements and views of the leading skeptics of the world, considering paranormal and spiritual claims and including a healthy dose of autobiography as well as reflections on paranormal research and theories. The list of distinguished contributors sets this apart from others.