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

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1573928844 ISBN 13: 9781573928847

Publisher: Prometheus, 2001

Synopsis

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 skeptics of the world. CSICOP, the first major organization of skeptics on the contemporary scene, is worldwide in scope and is dedicated to the skeptical evaluation of both paranormal and religious claims in the light of scientific inquiry. All of the articles are original and written especially for this collection. Many pieces are autobiographical; others reflect on the current state of research into paranormal claims.

The contributors focus on ESP and parapsychology, astrology, UFOlogy, the difference between science and pseudoscience, alternative medicine, magic, near-death experiences, spiritual energy, Bible codes, and religious claims that purport to have empirical foundations.

Among the thirty-seven distinguished contributors are Martin Gardner (former columnist for Scientific American), Leon Jaroff (former science editor of Time), Philip J. Klass (the leading UFO skeptic), Antony Flew (noted British philosopher), Kendrick Frazier (editor of the Skeptical Inquirer), the late Steve Allen (noted author, comedian, and television pioneer), Bill Nye ("The Science Guy"), Jean-Claude Pecker (one of France's leading astronomers), Joe Nickell (paranormal investigator), Susan J. Blackmore (parapsychologist), Eugenie Scott (critic of "creationism"), among others. Contributors come from the USA, Canada, Britain, France, India, the Netherlands, Spain, Mexico, and Russia.

This is a unique and exciting history of the current skeptical movement.

About this title

From the Author:

"We hope that the reader of this book will embark with us upon these various skeptical odysseys. They are pluralistic and diverse, yet they enable the reader to explore the power of skeptical thinking and, I submit, to see its value to any civilized community. They also provide overviews of a significant skeptical movement that has emerged in the latter quarter of the twentieth century as it tries not only to grapple with pseudoscience and antiscience but to defend the integrity and significance of science and reason." -- Paul Kurtz

About the Author:

Paul Kurtz (1925-2012), professor emeritus of philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, was the author or editor of more than fifty books, including The Transcendental Temptation, The Courage to Become, and Embracing the Power of Humanism, plus nine hundred articles and reviews. He was the founder and chairman of Prometheus Books, the Institute for Science and Human Values, the Center for Inquiry, the Council for Secular Humanism, and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He appeared on many major television and radio talk shows and has lectured at universities worldwide.
From the Trade Paperback edition.

About this edition

• Publisher: Prometheus
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1573928844
• ISBN 13: 9781573928847
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 430
• Editor: Kurtz Paul