Victor Stenger
Victor J. Stenger is emeritus professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Hawaii and Visiting Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Colorado. His latest book is The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning: How the Universe is Not Designed for Humanity. His previous books include Not By Design, Physics and Psychics, The Unconscious Quantum, and Timeless Reality: Symmetry, Simplicity, and Multiple Universes.
The Problem with the Cosmological Constant
Skeptical Briefs Volume 21.1, Spring 2011
Reality Check
Einstein had inserted into his gravitational equation a factor called the cosmological constant that provided a repulsive force to counteract the gravitational attraction that otherwise would make the universe collapse. Although the cosmological constant is often referred to as a “fudge factor,” that is a misnomer.
Did the Universe Come from Nothing?
Skeptical Briefs Volume 20.4, December 2010
Reality Check
They will tell you that they intuitively feel that something must be “out there,” some power that is responsible for the universe and the laws that govern it. After all, they ask, “How can something come from nothing?”
Is There Evidence for an Afterlife?
Skeptical Briefs Volume 20.2, June 2010
D’Souza claims that near-death experiences (NDE) suggest that consciousness can outlive the breakdown of the body, and they cannot be explained as the...
Is Carbon Production in Stars Fine-Tuned for Life?
Skeptical Briefs Volume 20.1, March 2010
Reality Check
For years theists have claimed that the constants of physics had to have been finely tuned by God for life in the universe to be possible...
Thoughts and Matter
Skeptical Briefs Volume 19.4, December 2009
Reality Check
In his book God and the New Atheism, theologian John Haught calls naturalism "deeply self-contradictory."
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Is Science Based on Faith?
Skeptical Briefs Volume 19.3, September 2009
Reality Check
Christian apologists argue that evidence in religion is no less credible than evidence in science...
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The Fallacy of Fine Tuning
Skeptical Briefs Volume 19.2, June 2009
Reality Check
Fine-tuning by design is a God-of-the-Gaps argument.
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A Singular Error
Skeptical Briefs Volume 19.1, March 2009
Reality Check
In recent years Christian apologists have blatantly misled the public by claiming that no conflict exists between science and...
Will the LHC Destroy Earth?
Skeptical Briefs Volume 18.2, June 2008
Reality Check
In 2008, a suit was filed asking for a temporary restraining order prohibiting CERN from turning on the Large Hadron Collider.
Is the Brain a Quantum Device?
Skeptical Briefs Volume 18.1, March 2008
Reality Check
In 1989, the Oxford mathematician and cosmologist Roger Penrose published a bestselling tome called The Emperor's New Mind...
ESP and Religion
Skeptical Briefs Volume 17.4, December 2007
Reality Check
In one example, I argue that almost all religions posit an immaterial spirit or soul separate from the body...
The Mindless Quantum
Skeptical Briefs Volume 17.3, September 2007
Reality Check
Two recent films tell us that we can change our lives, heal our ills, and become rich and famous just by thinking we can do so.
Onward Science Soldiers
Skeptical Inquirer Volume 31.4, July / August 2007
Comment and Opinion
In a poll taken in 1998, only 7 percent of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences said they believed in a personal God.
God and Rev. Bayes
Skeptical Briefs Volume 17.2, June 2007
Reality Check
Bayes' theorem provides a means for calculating the probability of a statement being true based on the available evidence.
Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?
Skeptical Briefs Volume 16.2, June 2006
Reality Check
The last resort of the theist who seeks to argue for the existence of God from science and finds all his other arguments fail.
Free Energy and Teleportation: Numbers Don’t Lie
Skeptical Briefs Volume 15.4, December 2005
Reality Check
One sure way to unmask pseudoscientific arguments is to check the numbers.
The Privileged Planet
Skeptical Briefs Volume 15.3, September 2005
Reality Check
A few months ago, the Smithsonian Institution agreed to cosponsor a film called The Privileged Planet...
Marooned on Spaceship Earth
Skeptical Briefs Volume 14.4, December 2004
Reality Check
Over a hundred planets beyond our solar system have been identified, with more being found every day.
The Evolution of Creationism
Skeptical Briefs Volume 14.2, June 2004
Reality Check
The species of religious thought called creationism continues to evolve by a process of natural selection.
Can Prayer Change the Past?
Skeptical Briefs Volume 14.1, March 2004
Reality Check
The notion that human consciousness can supervene the material principles of physics is often found in the literature on...
Darwinism and the Age of Earth
Skeptical Briefs Volume 13.2, June 2003
Reality Check
Evolution is often attacked as not being “good science.”
Meta-Analysis and the Filedrawer Effect
Skeptical Briefs Volume 12.4, December 2002
Reality Check
An extraordinary phenomenon is normally not considered to be even tentatively established until it has been observed...
Has the Second Law Been Falsified?
Skeptical Briefs Volume 12.3, September 2002
Reality Check
"One of the most important principles of physics, that disorder, or entropy, always increases, has been shown to be untrue."
The Science of Prayer
Skeptical Briefs Volume 11.4, December 2001
Reality Check
Praying for yourself may help you. Or it may harm you. Or it may do nothing at all. Each of these is possible...
The God of Falling Bodies: Galileo, Newton, Bentley, and Leibniz Chat on the Internet
Skeptical Inquirer Volume 25.5, September / October 2001
Article
Here's what might transpire if Galileo were a modern-day experimentalist engaged in an e-mail dialogue...
The Emperor’s New Designer Clothes
Skeptical Briefs Volume 10.4, December 2000
Reality Check
Intelligent Design is the latest buzzword in the so-called dialogue between science and religion...
Buddy Can You Paradigm?
Skeptical Briefs Volume 10.3, September 2000
Reality Check
A common view is that science progresses as new theories replace old ones that are "proven wrong."
The Energy Fields of Life
Skeptical Briefs Volume 8.2, June 1998
Reality Check
The principle behind almost all of alternative medicine is that some ëlan vital infuses organisms with life.
Questioning Truth and Reality
Skeptical Briefs Volume 8.1, March 1998
Reality Check
Recent trends in some academic circles have called into question conventional notions of truth and reality.
Quantum Quackery
Skeptical Inquirer Volume 21.1, January / February 1997
Article
An objective reality, with no special role for consciousness, human or cosmic, is consistent with all observations.
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