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Why People Believe Weird Things
Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time
by Michael Shermer
This work presents a down-to-earth and sometimes funny survey of a range of contemporary irrationalisms, and explains their empirical and logical flaws. It tackles a variety of topics including creationism, Holocaust denial, race and IQ, cults and alien abductions, and the author looks at the research behind the claims and discredits the pseudoscience involved.
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The Portable Atheist
Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
by Christopher Hitchens
From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of God Is Not Great, a provocative and entertaining guided tour of atheist and agnostic thought through the ages — with never-before-published pieces by Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Christopher Hitchens continues to make the case for a splendidly godless universe in this first-ever gathering of the influential voices — past and present — that have... (more)
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The God Delusion
by Richard Dawkins
Also published in German as "Geschichte vom Ursprung des Lebens"A preeminent scientist -- and the world's most prominent atheist -- asserts the irrationality of belief in God and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11. With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign (but still... (more)
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Irreligion
A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up
by John Allen Paulos
A Lifelong Unbeliever Finds No Reason to Change His Mind Are there any logical reasons to believe in God? Mathematician and bestselling author John Allen Paulos thinks not. In Irreligion he presents the case for his own worldview, organizing his book into twelve chapters that refute the twelve arguments most often put forward for believing in God’s existence. The latter arguments, Paulos relates in his... (more)
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50 Popular Beliefs that People Think are True
by Guy P. Harrison
This is a fascinating look of some of the most common unfounded beliefs - and their alternative scientific explanations. Do you know somebody who swears by the reliability of psychics? That homeopathy really can cure all ill? Or that no one has ever set foot on the moon? "50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True" shows readers how to find a gently persuasive way of steering people away from unfounded beliefs,... (more)
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Why Darwin Matters
The Case Against Intelligent Design
by Michael Shermer
A creationist-turned-scientist demonstrates the facts of evolution and exposes Intelligent Design’s real agenda Science is on the defensive. Half of Americans reject the theory of evolution and “Intelligent Design” campaigns are gaining ground. Classroom by classroom, creationism is overthrowing biology. In Why Darwin Matters , bestselling author Michael Shermer explains how the newest brand of creationism... (more)
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Voodoo Science
The Road from Foolishness to Fraud
by Robert L. Park
In a time of dazzling scientific progress, how can we separate genuine breakthroughs from the noisy gaggle of false claims? From Deepak Chopra's "quantum alternative to growing old" to unwarranted hype surrounding the International Space Station, Robert Park leads us down the back alleys of fringe science, through the gleaming corridors of Washington power and even into our evolutionary past to search out the... (more)
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Misquoting Jesus
The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
by Bart D. Ehrman
When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. In Misquoting Jesus , Ehrman tells the story behind the mistakes and changes that ancient scribes made to the New Testament and shows the great impact they had upon the... (more)
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Science Friction
Where the Known Meets the Unknown
by Michael Shermer
A scientist pretends to be a psychic for a day-and fools everyone. An athlete discovers that good-luck rituals and getting into -the zone+ may, or may not, improve his performance. A son explores the possiblities of alternative and experimental medicine for his cancer-ravaged mother. And a skeptic realizes that it is time to turn the skeptical lens onto science itself. In each of the fourteen essays in Science... (more)
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Bad Science
Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks
by Ben Goldacre
Guardian columnist Dr Ben Goldacre takes us on a hilarious, invigorating and informative journey through the bad science we're fed by the worst of the hacks and the quacks! When Dr Ben Goldacre saw someone on daytime TV dipping her feet in an 'Aqua Detox' footbath, releasing her toxins into the water and turning it brown, he thought he'd try the same at home. 'Like some kind of Johnny Ball cum Witchfinder... (more)
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Death from the Skies!
These Are the Ways the World Will End...
by Philip C. Plait
A lively astronomy primer that uses cataclysmic scenarios to explain the universe’s most fascinating events . According to astronomer Philip Plait, the universe is an apocalypse waiting to happen But how much do we really need to fear from things like black holes, gamma-ray bursts, and supernovae? And if we should be scared, is there anything we can do to save ourselves? With humor and wit, Plait details the... (more)
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God Is Not Great
How Religion Poisons Everything
by Christopher Hitchens
In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris's recent bestseller, The End of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity,... (more)
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Cool It
The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming
by Bjørn Lomborg
A groundbreaking book that transforms the debate about global warming by offering a fresh perspective based on human needs as well as environmental concerns. Bjorn Lomborg argues that many of the elaborate and expensive actions now being considered to stop global warming will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, are often based on emotional rather than strictly scientific assumptions, and may very well have... (more)
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The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man
How Reliable Is the Gospel Tradition?
by Robert M. Price
What do the Gospels really reveal about the historical Jesus? Scholars have dissected the Gospels and other stories about Jesus for more than a century, attempting to determine their historical accuracy. Many experts today believe that the writings of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John cannot be taken as revelatory. A group of more than 100 scholars called the Jesus Seminar concluded that only about 18 percent of... (more)
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Blind Faith
If You Thought You Understood the World We Live in, Think Again...
by Ben Elton
As Trafford Sewell struggles to work through the usual crowds of commuters, he is confronted by the intimidating figure of his priest, full of accusatory questions. Why has Trafford not been streaming his every moment of sexual intimacy onto the community website like everybody else? Does he think he's different or special in some way? Does he have something to hide? Imagine a world where everyone knows everything... (more)
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Doing Battle
The Making of a Skeptic
by Paul Fussell
Hailed by critics and readers across the country for its wit, irreverence, and unflinching honesty, Doing Battle illuminates the events and experiences that changed not only Paul Fussell but his entire generation. Plucked from the pastoral middle-class sanctuary of Pasadena, where he grew up, twenty-year-old Fussell battle in southeastern France. While recovering from serious wounds he suffered in combat, Fussell... (more)
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Weird Water & Fuzzy Logic: More Notes of a Fringe Watcher
by Martin Gardner
Internationally acclaimed science writer Martin Gardner contributes a regular column titled "The Skeptical Eye" for the journal Skeptical Inquiry. Weird Water and Fuzzy Logic is a collection of this material, with a wide range of topics including the "Klingon" artificial language, science blunders by famous writers, recent attacks on the Big Bang theory, and the influence of The Course of Miracles and... (more)
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Self-Contradictions of the Bible
by William Henry Burr
Fundamentalism - the belief that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and literally true word of God - thrives on ignorance, not just of a general sort, but an ignorance of the Bible itself. The ability to perceive contradictions in a written text, to appreciate the nuances of historical and literary context or the intentions that ancient writers hide beneath their words are hard-acquired skills in the best of... (more)
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Flim-Flam!
Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions
by James Randi
In this book, Randi explores and exposes what he believes to be the outrageous deception that has been promoted widely in the media. Unafraid to call researchers to account for their failures and impostures, Randi tells us that we have been badly served by scientists who have failed to follow the procedures required by their training and traditions. Here, he shows us how what he views as sloppy research has been... (more)
SKEPTIC MAGAZINE PUBLISHER MICHAEL SHERMER APPEARS ON POLITICALLY INCORRECT.: An article from: Skeptic (Altadena, CA)
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SKEPTIC MAGAZINE PUBLISHER MICHAEL SHERMER APPEARS ON POLITICALLY INCORRECT.: An article from: Skeptic (Altadena, CA)
This digital document is an article from Skeptic (Altadena, CA), published by Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine on January 1, 2001. The length of the article is 1515 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Citation... (more)

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