From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of notable people that promote or practice
scientific skepticism . In general, they favor
science and are opposed to
pseudoscience and
quackery . They are generally skeptical of
parapsychology , the
paranormal , and
alternative medicine .
James Alcock , psychologist. Author of several skeptical books and articles.
[1]
Isaac Asimov , biochemist, author. Wrote or edited over 500 popular science, other nonfiction, and science fiction books, including the
Foundation series . Founding member of
CSICOP (now CSI) .
[2]
Robert A. Baker , psychologist, author. Wrote books on ghosts, alien abductions and
false memory syndrome .
[2]
Banachek ,
mentalist . participant in Project Alpha. Real name Steve Shaw.
[3]
Stephen Barrett , psychiatrist. Cofounder of the
National Council Against Health Fraud , critic of
alternative medicine . Founder of the
Quackwatch website.
[2]
Barry Beyerstein , psychologist. Founding member of CSICOP (now CSI).
[4]
Susan Blackmore , parapsychologist. Author, lecturer, and broadcaster.
[1]
Maarten Boudry , philosopher and author.
[5]
Derren Brown , mentalist, critic of alleged psychics and spiritual mediums.
[6]
Robert Todd Carroll , philosopher. Author of
The Skeptic's Dictionary book and website.
[7]
Milbourne Christopher , magician. Founding member of CSICOP (now CSI).
[8]
David Colquhoun , pharmacologist and author of the website Improbable Science .
[9]
Brian Cox , physicist
[10]
Narendra Dabholkar , author and the founder-president of
Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti .
[11]
Richard Dawkins ,
evolutionary biologist and author known for promoting the
gene-centric view of evolution (in his book
The Selfish Gene ), coining of the term
meme , and
atheist activism.
[2]
Perry DeAngelis , co-founder and former executive director of the New England Skeptical Society,
[12] co-founder and former co-host of the
Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast.
[13]
Daniel Dennett , philosopher. Author of
Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life and
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon .
[14]
Jared Diamond , scientist, author and member of the editorial board of
Skeptic .
[15]
Ann Druyan , popular science author and current head of the
Planetary Society . Widow of the astronomer
Carl Sagan .
[16]
Brian Dunning , writer and producer with focus on science and
skepticism , host of
Skeptoid podcast,
[6] as well as a Skeptoid spin-off video series, inFact ,
[17] and producer of educational films on the subject of critical thinking.
[18]
[19]
Mark Edward , formerly worked as an undercover psychic,
[20] currently exposes psychics and is the author of a tell-all book on that subject,
[21] member of editorial board of
The Skeptics Society ,
[22] invented the term
Guerrilla Skepticism .
[23] : (Ref is at 2 minutes)
Richard Feynman , theoretical physicist known for his work in quantum mechanics.
[24]
Kendrick Frazier , Editor of the Skeptical Inquirer .
[2]
Martin Gardner , author,
recreational mathematician . Writer of the long-running '
Mathematical Games ' column in
Scientific American , and a longstanding columnist for the Skeptical Inquirer . Founding member of CSICOP (now CSI).
[2]
Pamela L. Gay , astronomer, co-host of
Astronomy Cast , assistant research professor in the STEM center at
SIUE and project director for CosmoQuest.
[25]
Susan Gerbic , the founder of
Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia which has the mission of improving the skeptical content of Wikipedia.
[26]
Ben Goldacre , physician, journalist. Author of the "
Bad Science " column in
The Guardian (UK newspaper).
[27]
David Gorski , surgical oncologist. A.k.a. Orac of Respectful Insolence . Critic of
complementary and alternative medicine .
[28]
Stephen Jay Gould , paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, historian of science, Harvard University.
[2]
Natalie Grams , German physician, writer, scientific skeptic, former
homeopath , author of Homeopathy Reconsidered — What Really Helps Patients (in German).
Harriet A. Hall , physician, former US Air Force
flight surgeon . Critic of
alternative medicine and
quackery .
[29]
Sven Ove Hansson , philosopher. Founding Chairperson of the
Swedish Skeptics (Vetenskap och Folkbildning) and Editor of the organisation's journal Folkvett .
[30]
Sam Harris , neuroscientist and author.
[31]
Sharon A. Hill , founder of
Doubtful News , a news site that links synopses and commentary to original news sources, and provides information to critically assess claims made in the media.
[32] She is also producer and host of the
15 Credibility Street podcast.
[33]
Christopher Hitchens , journalist and author.
[34]
Douglas Hofstadter , physicist,
artificial intelligence researcher. Author of
Pulitzer Prize -winning book
Gödel, Escher, Bach: The Eternal Golden Braid and
Scientific American column "
Metamagical Themas ".
[35]
Harry Houdini , magician. Critic of
Modern Spiritualism who exposed fraudulent
psychics and
mediums and publicized their methods.
[2]
George Hrab American skeptical musician, podcaster, speaker and emcee at
The Amaz!ng Meeting
[36]
Ray Hyman , psychologist, critic of
parapsychology . Longstanding contributor to the Skeptical Inquirer . Founding member of CSICOP (now CSI).
[2]
Jamie Hyneman , co-creator of the TV show
MythBusters .
[37]
Leo Igwe , Nigerian human rights advocate.
[38]
Edward Jenner , English physician and scientist who pioneered
smallpox vaccine .
Penn Jillette magician, half of
Penn & Teller duo. Co-creator and co-host of the television series
Bullshit!
[39]
Teller , magician, other half of
Penn & Teller duo. Co-creator and co-host of the television series
Bullshit!
[39]
Barry Karr , executive director for the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
Philip J. Klass , aerospace journalist. Known for his investigations of
UFOs . Longstanding contributor to the Skeptical Inquirer . Founding member of CSICOP (now CSI).
[2]
Paul Kurtz , philosopher, author. Founder of CSICOP (now CSI), Publisher of the
Skeptical Inquirer .
[2]
Leighann Lord , American comedian, writer, and actress.
[40]
Scott Lilienfeld , professor of psychology, author, Consulting Editor for
Skeptical Inquirer and
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Fellow
[41]
Pat Linse , illustrator. Cofounder of the Skeptics Society, Copublisher and Art Director of Skeptic magazine. Creator of
Junior Skeptic magazine.
[42]
Daniel Loxton , illustrator, writer. Editor of
Junior Skeptic magazine (bound into Skeptic magazine).
[43]
Alan Melikdjanian , filmmaker, creator of the YouTube series Captain Disillusion which explains the use of visual effects in falsified videos.
Tim Minchin , comedian, musician, actor. Has many songs illustrating his skepticism, most notably, "Storm".
[6]
Rob Nanninga , writer and editor of
Skepter .
[44]
Joe Nickell , investigator of the paranormal, author. Columnist for the Skeptical Inquirer .
[2]
Steven Novella , neurologist. Founder of the
New England Skeptical Society and host of
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast.
[6]
James Oberg , aerospace journalist. Critic of UFOs and claims of a
Moon landing hoax .
[45]
Robert L. Park , physicist, and author of
Voodoo Science .
[46]
Massimo Pigliucci , professor of philosophy at
City University of New York and co-host of the skeptical podcast, Rationally Speaking .
[47]
Steven Pinker , Canadian
experimental psychologist ,
cognitive scientist , linguist, popular science author, Harvard College Professor and advocate of
evolutionary psychology and the
computational theory of mind .
[1]
Philip Plait , astronomer, author. Founder of the
Bad Astronomy website.
[48]
Massimo Polidoro , writer, journalist. Student of
James Randi , co-founder and executive director of
CICAP , Research Fellow of CSICOP (now CSI).
[49]
Basava Premanand publisher of the
Indian Skeptic magazine and chairman of the Indian CSICOP.
[50]
Benjamin Radford , Managing Editor of the Skeptical Inquirer ,
[6] co-host of Squaring the Strange podcast.
[51]
James Randi , magician. Founder of the
James Randi Educational Foundation . Notable for offering
a million dollar cash reward for verifiable demonstration under laboratory conditions of any paranormal ability or event. Conceived and directed
Project Alpha . Founding member of CSICOP (now CSI).
[2]
Pascual Romero , co-host of the Squaring the Strange podcast, providing evidence-based analysis and commentary on a variety of paranormal topics.
[51]
Emily Rosa , Guinness World Record youngest medical researcher; at age 11, published her study in the
Journal of the American Medical Association on
therapeutic touch , showing practitioners couldn't feel the "human energy field" when not looking.
[52]
Carl Sagan , astronomer, popular science author, and media personality. Advocate for
SETI , founder of the
Planetary Society , host of the TV series
Cosmos and author of
The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark . Founding member of CSICOP (now CSI).
[2]
Cara Santa Maria , a science communicator, journalist, producer, television host, and podcaster.
[53] She currently is a co-host on
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast,
[54] and hosts her own podcast Talk Nerdy.
[55]
[56]
Richard Saunders , prior president of
Australian Skeptics , host of the Skeptic Zone podcast
Adam Savage , co-creator of the TV series
MythBusters .
[37]
Eugenie Scott , anthropologist. Executive Director of the
National Center for Science Education (NCSE), critic of
creationism and
intelligent design .
[57]
Robert Sheaffer , author. UFO investigator, columnist for the Skeptical Inquirer .
[58]
Michael Shermer , historian, popular science author, founder of the
Skeptics Society . Copublisher and Editor of
Skeptic magazine. Also current writer for the
Scientific American column "Skeptic".
[2]
Simon Singh , popular British science author.
[59]
Victor Stenger , physicist, philosopher, author of book Physics and Psychics: The Search for a World Beyond the Senses and many other books.
Julia Sweeney , actress, comedian, author and performer of Letting Go of God .
[60]
Jamy Ian Swiss , magician, co-founder of the National Capital Area Skeptics; co-founder of the New York City Skeptics; contributor to Skeptic magazine; co-producer and on-stage host of
Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism . on board of San Diego Association for Rational Inquiry (aka San Diego Skeptics).
Marcello Truzzi , sociologist. First editor of the Skeptical Inquirer . Critic of organized skepticism. Founding member of CSICOP (now CSI).
[8]
Rebecca Watson , founder of Skepchick blog.
[61]
Richard Wiseman , psychologist.
[1]
Paul Zenon , magician and comedian.
[62]
See also
References
^
a
b
c
d Edwin C. May; Sonali Bhatt Marwaha (2015).
Extrasensory Perception: Support, Skepticism, and Science [2 volumes]: Support, Skepticism, and Science . ABC-CLIO. pp. 131–.
ISBN
978-1-4408-3288-8 .
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
"Skeptical Inquirer Magazine Names the Ten Outstanding Skeptics of the Century" .
^
"Banachek – Mentalism and Skepticism" . Point of Inquiry. November 13, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2016 .
^ Bryan Farha (2007).
Paranormal Claims: A Critical Analysis . University Press of America. pp. 165–.
ISBN
978-0-7618-3772-5 .
^
"Maarten Boudry" . Konrad Lorenz Institute. Retrieved April 17, 2016 .
^
a
b
c
d
e
"What is Skepticism?" (PDF) . Doubtful News. 2013. p. 7. Archived from
the original (PDF) on October 8, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
"Books by Robert Todd Carroll" . The Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
a
b Paul Kurtz (2010).
Exuberant Skepticism . Prometheus Books. pp.
167 –.
ISBN
978-1-61592-970-2 .
^ Colquhoun, David (June 1, 2013).
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The Guardian . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Plait, Phil (April 7, 2010).
"Astrologers jump on Cox" . Discover Magazine . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Barry, Ellen (August 24, 2013).
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The New York Times . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Pollak, Michael (August 24, 1997).
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^ Bernstein, Evan.
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^ Miles, Jack (June 29, 2006).
"A Scientific Approach to Atheism" .
The Washington Post . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Shermer, Michael (2016).
Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Rational Eye . Henry Holt and Company. pp. 20–.
ISBN
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^
"Deniers are not Skeptics" . The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI). December 5, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Dunning, Brian.
"Welcome to inFactVideo.com" . InfactVideo.com . Skeptoid Media. Retrieved 24 June 2017 .
^
"Portland Humanist Film Festival" . Archived from
the original on November 9, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2011 .
^ Dunning, Brian.
"Principles of Curiosity" . PrinciplesOfCuriosity.com . Skeptoid Media. Retrieved 24 June 2017 .
^
"Mark Edward – Guerrilla Skepticism (part 1)" .
YouTube . 2011-08-03.
Archived from the original on 2021-12-17. Retrieved 2011-03-14 .
^ Edward, Mark (July 1, 2013).
"National Geographic Supports Pseudoscience" . Skeptic Blog. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
"Editorial Board" . Skeptic Society . Retrieved 31 May 2016 .
^ Gerbic, Susan.
TAM 9 Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (Motion picture).
Archived from the original on 2021-12-17. Retrieved August 29, 2015 . (
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^
"Why Science Remains Culturally Irrelevant" . The Atlantic . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Gay, Pamela.
"About Me" . Star Stryder. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
"Wikapediatrician Susan Gerbic discusses her Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia project" . CSICOP.org . The Center for Inquiry. Retrieved 8 January 2017 .
^ Hegarty, Shane (September 7, 2007).
"Surely it's not the sceptics?" . The Irish Times . Archived from
the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2016 . The author of the Guardian's weekly Bad Science column, Dr Ben Goldacre, and physicist and author Vic Stenger will also speak.
^ Gorski, David (April 18, 2016).
"Acupuncture does not work for menopause: A tale of two acupuncture studies" . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
"Articles by Harriet Hall – CSI" . www.csicop.org . Retrieved 13 October 2017 .
^ Dugan, Dan; Daar, Judy (March 22, 1994).
"Are Rudolf Steiner's Waldorf Schools 'Non-Sectarian?' " . Free Inquiry . Archived from
the original on June 19, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2016 . Waldorf schools are the most visible activity of the international Anthroposophical Society, which has been called "the most successful occult religion in Europe" by Sven Ove Hansson, a Swedish skeptic.
^ Fields Millburn, Joshua.
"Waking Up: Sam Harris Discusses the Benefits of Mindfulness" . The Minimalists. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Mongia, Gurmukh (Spring 2017). "A Visit to 15 Credibility Street". Skeptical Briefs . 37 (1): 13.
^
Saunders, Richard (March 3, 2013).
"The Skeptic Zone #228" . The SkepticZone (Podcast). Event occurs at 0:06:40. Retrieved 2013-03-17 .
^ Shermer, Michael (November 1, 2010).
"In the battle for ideas, scientists could learn from Christopher Hitchens" . Scientific American . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Romm, Joseph (2015).
Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know? . Oxford University Press. pp. 189–.
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^ Plait, Phil (November 14, 2015).
"George Hrab Shows You How to Think" . Slate . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
a
b Hill, Kyle (May 6, 2013).
"A Decade of Explosions: What Mythbusters Taught Me" . Scientific American . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Plait, Phil (January 8, 2010).
"African skeptic needs our help!" . Discover Magazine . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
a
b Jillette, Penn (July 3, 2008).
" 'I don't know' -- and that's no act" .
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^ Leighann, Lord.
"Meet the 2019 AHA Humanist Arts Awardee, Leighann Lord" . The Humanist . The Huminist. Archived from
the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020 .
^
Karen Stollznow (March 19, 2010).
"Scott Lilienfeld – Real Self-Help" . www.pointofinquiry.org .
Center for Inquiry . Retrieved 2 January 2017 .
^
"Meet Pat Linse" . skeptic. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
"Editor, Daniel Loxton" . skeptic. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
Nienhuys, Jan Willem (September 2014). "IN MEMORIAM: Rob Nanninga, Skeptic Leader and Editor".
Skeptical Inquirer . 38 (5): 11–12.
^ Kean, Leslie (July 9, 2010).
"Skeptic misses point behind UFO book" . NBC News. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Park, Robert L. (1997).
"Alternative Medicine and the Laws of Physics" . CSI. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
"Massimo Pigliucci" . CSI. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Plait, Phil.
"The Perils of the Skeptic" . Slate . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Carroll, Robert (2012).
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^ Singh, Rahul (November 2, 2009).
"The Spell Breaker" . Outlook Magazine. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
a
b
"Squaring the Strange" . squaringthestrange.libsyn.com . Squaring the Strange.
Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017 .
^ Kolata, Gina (April 1, 1998).
"A Child's Paper Poses a Medical Challenge" . The New York Times . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Achenbach, Joel; Guarino, Ben; Kaplan, Sarah (22 April 2017).
"Why people are marching for science: 'There is no Planet B' " .
The Washington Post . Retrieved 17 June 2017 .
^
"Podcast #524 – July 25th, 2015" . Theskepticsguide.org . The Skeptics Guide to the Universe.
Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017 .
^
"Talk Nerdy By Cara Santa Maria" . Itunes.apple.com . Apple. Retrieved 1 October 2017 .
^ Leeuw, Nederlandse.
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Wikimedia . Retrieved 1 October 2017 .
^
"Eugenie Scott" . Skeptic. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
"Robert Sheaffer" . CSI. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Gorski, David (May 11, 2009).
"The British Chiropractic Association versus Simon Singh" . Science-Based Medicine . Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^
"Julia Sweeney" . Skeptic. December 24, 2004. Retrieved April 18, 2016 .
^ Watson, Rebecca (October 24, 2012).
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^ Zenon, Paul.
"Paul Zenon" . Archived from
the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013 .
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