Collected essays from bestselling author Michael Shermer's celebrated columns in Scientific AmericanFor fifteen years, bestselling author Michael Shermer has written a column in Scientific American magazine that synthesizes scientific concepts and theory for a general audience. His trademark combination of deep scientific understanding and entertaining writing style has thrilled his huge and devoted audience for years. Now, in Skeptic, seventy-five of these columns are available together for the first time; a welcome addition for his fans and a stimulating introduction for new readers.

ContentsIntroduction: Viewing the World with a Rational EyeI. Science1. Colorful Pebbles and Darwin's Dictum: Science is an exquisite blend of data and theory2. Contrasts and Continuities: Eastern and Western science are put to political uses in both cultures3. I Was Wrong: Those three words often separate the scientific pros from the posers4. The Shamans of Scientism: On the occasion of Stephen W. Hawking's sixtieth trip around the sun, we consider a social phenomenon that reveals something deep about human nature5. The Physicist and the Abalone Diver: The differences between the creators of two new theories of science reveal the social nature of the scientific process6. A Candle in the Dark: Instead of cursing the darkness of pseudoscience on television, light a candle with Cable Science Network7. The Feynman-Tufte Principle: A visual display of data should be simple enough to fit on the side of a van8. The Flipping Point: How the evidence for anthropogenic global warming has converged to cause this environmental skeptic to make a cognitive flip9. Fake, Mistake, Replicate: A court of law may determine the meaning of replication in science10. Wronger Than Wrong: Not all wrong theories are equalII. Skepticism11. Fox's Flapdoodle: Tabloid television offers a lesson in uncritical thinking12. Baloney Detection: How to draw boundaries between science and pseudoscience, Part I13. More Baloney Detection: How to draw boundaries between science and pseudoscience, Part II14. Hermits and Cranks: Fifty years ago Martin Gardner launched the modern skeptical movement. Unfortunately, much of what he wrote about is still current today15. Skepticism as a Virtue: An inquiry into the original meaning of the word "skeptic"16. The Exquisite Balance: Science helps us understand the essential tension between orthodoxy and heresy in science17. The Enchanted Glass: Francis Bacon and experimental psychologists show why the facts in science never just speak for themselves18. Fahrenheit 2777: 9/11 has generated the mother of all conspiracy theoriesIII. Pseudoscience and Quackery19. Smart People Believe Weird Things: Rarely does anyone weigh facts before deciding what to believe20. Mesmerized by Magnetism: An eighteenth-century investigation into mesmerism shows us how to think about twenty-first-century therapeutic magnets21. Show Me the Body: Purported sightings of Bigfoot, Nessie, and Ogopogo fire our imaginations. But anecdotes alone do not make a science22. What's the Harm?: Alternative medicine is not everything to gain and nothing to lose23. Bunkum!: Broad-mindedness is a virtue when investigating extraordinary claims, but often they turn out to be pure bunk24. Magic Water and Mencken's Maxim: Social critic H. L. Mencken offers a lesson on how to respond to outrageous pseudoscientific claims25. Death by Theory: Attachment therapy is based on a pseudoscientific theory that, when put into practice, can be deadly26. Cures and Cons: Natural scams "he" doesn't want you to know aboutIV. The Paranormal and the Supernatural27. Deconstructing the Dead: "Crossing over" to expose the tricks of popular spirit mediums28. Psychic Drift: Why most scientists do not believe in ESP and psi phenomena29. Demon-Haunted Brain: If the brain mediates all experience, then paranormal phenomena are nothing more than neuronal events30. Codified Claptrap: The Bible code is numerological nonsense masquerading as science31. The Myth Is the Message: Yet another discovery of the lost continent of Atlantis shows why science and myth make uneasy bedfellows32. Turn Me On, Dead Man: What do the Beatles, the Virgin Mary, Jesus, Patricia Arquette, and Michael Keaton all have in common?33. Rupert's Resonance: The theory of "morphic resonance" posits that people have a sense of when they are being stared at. What does the research show?34. Mr. Skeptic Goes to Esalen: Science and spirituality on the California coastV. Aliens and UFOs35. Shermer's Last Law: Any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God36. Why ET Has Not Phoned In: The lifetime of civilizations in the Drake equation for estimating extraterrestrial intelligences is greatly exaggerated37. The Chronology Conjecture Projector: Time machines, extraterrestrials, and the paradoxes of causality38. Abducted!: Imaginary traumas are as terrifying as the real thingVI. Borderlands Science and Alternative Medicine39. Nano Nonsense and Cryonics: True believers seek redemption from the sin of death40. I, Clone: The Three Laws of Cloning will protect clones and advance science41. Bottled Twaddle: Is bottled water tapped out?42. Quantum Quackery: A surprise-hit film has renewed interest in applying quantum mechanics to consciousness, spirituality, and human potential43. Hope Springs Eternal: Can nutritional supplements, biotechnology, and nanotechnology help us live forever?44. Full of Holes: The curious case of acupuncture45. Airborne Baloney: The latest fad in cold remedies is full of hot air46. Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: Or why we should learn to stop worrying and love foodVII. Psychology and the Brain47. The Captain Kirk Principle: Intuition is the key to knowing without knowing how you know48. None So Blind: Perceptual-blindness experiments challenge the validity of eyewitness testimony and the metaphor of memory as a video recording49. Common Sense: Surprising new research shows that crowds are often smarter than individuals50. Murdercide: Science unravels the myth of suicide bombers51. As Luck Would Have It: Are some people really luckier than others, or is it all in their heads? Both52. SHAM Scam: The Self-Help and Actualization Movement is an $8.5-billion-a-year business. Does it work?53. The Political Brain: A recent brain-imaging study shows that our political predilections are products of unconscious confirmation bias54. Folk Science: Why our intuitions about how the world works are often wrong55. Free to Choose: The neuroscience of choice exposes the power of ideas56. Bush's Mistake and Kennedy's Error: Self-deception proves itself to be more powerful than deceptionVIII. Human Nature57. The Erotic-Fierce People: The latest skirmish in the "anthropology wars" reveals a fundamental flaw in how science is understood and communicated58. The Ignoble Savage: Science reveals humanity's heart of darkness59. The Domesticated Savage: Science reveals a way to rise above our natures60. A Bounty of Science: A new book reexamines the mutiny on the Bounty, but science offers a deeper account of its cause61. Unweaving the Heart: Science only adds to our appreciation for poetic beauty and experiences of emotional depth62. (Can't Get No) Satisfaction: The new science of happiness needs some historical perspectiveIX. Evolution and Creationism63. The Gradual Illumination of the Mind: The advance of science, not the demotion of religion, will best counter the influence of creationism64. Vox Populi: The voice of the people reveals why evolution remains controversial65. The Fossil Fallacy: Creationists' demand for "just one transitional fossil" reveals a deep misunderstanding of science66. Rumsfeld's Wisdom: Where the known meets the unknown is where science begins67. It's Dogged as Does It: Retracing Darwin's footsteps in the Galápagos shatters a myth but reveals how revolutions in science actually evolve68. Darwin on the Right: Why Christians and conservatives should accept evolutionX. Science, Religion, Miracles, and God69. Digits and Fidgets: Is the universe fine-tuned for life?70. Remember the 6 Billion: For millennia we have raged against the dying of the light. Can science save us from that good night?71. God's Number Is Up: Among a heap of books claiming that science proves God's existence emerges one that computes a probability of 67 percent72. Miracle on Probability Street: The Law of Large Numbers guarantees that one-in-a-million miracles happen 321 times a day in America73. Mustangs and Monists: The dualist belief that body and soul are separate entities is natural, intuitive, and with us from infancy. It is also very probably wrong74. Flying Carpets and Scientific Prayer: Scientific experiments claiming that distant intercessory prayer produces salubrious effects are deeply flawed75. Bowling for God: Is religion good for society? Science's definitive answer: it dependsAcknowledgmentsIndex