Skeptical Inquirer

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Skeptical Inquirer is the official journal of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. It is published by the Center for Inquiry in association with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Six times per year Skeptical Inquirer publishes critical scientific evaluations of all manner of controversial and extraordinary claims, including but not limited to paranormal and fringe-science matters, and informed discussion of all relevant issues. In addition to news, articles, book reviews, and investigations on a wide variety of topics, Skeptical Inquirer has a stellar stable of regular columnists including Joe Nickell (“Investigative Files”), Massimo Polidoro (“Notes on a Strange World”), Massimo Pigluicci (“Thinking About Science”), Robert Sheaffer (“Psychic Vibrations”), and SI managing editor Benjamin Radford's reader-driven (“The Skeptical Inquiree”). Yale University neurologist Steven Novella, M.D., founder of the New England Skeptical Society and executive editor of the Science-Based Medicine blog, contributes a new "The Science of Medicine" column, and contributing editor Kenneth W. Krause adds a regular science column, "ScienceWatch."

Vaccines and the Anti-Vaccination Movement: An Interview with Dr. Paul Offit

by Lindsay Beyerstein

Volume 39.3, May/June 2015

Interview

In an interview with Lindsay Beyerstein on the Point of Inquiry podcast, Offit spoke about the early 2015 measles outbreak at Disneyland, the anti-vaccination movement, and the importance of vaccination.

It’s Time for Science-Based Medicine

by Steven Novella

Volume 39.3, May/June 2015

The Science of Medicine

In the pages of the Skeptical Inquirer and elsewhere in the skeptical literature, you can read about a seemingly endless array of snake oil remedies, dubious health claims, questionable practices, ineffective regulation, and shortcomings of mainstream medicine.

Truth, Trouble, and Research Exposing Alt Med

by Chris French

Volume 39.3, May/June 2015

Review

A Scientist in Wonderland: A Memoir of Searching for Truth and Finding Trouble by Edzard Ernst

The Meaning of Consensus in Science

by David Morrison

Volume 39.3, May/June 2015

Review

Four Revolutions in the Earth Sciences: From Heresy to Truth by James Lawrence Powell

When Don’t the Highly Educated Believe in Evolution? The Bible Believers Effect

by Charles S. Reichardt and Ian A. Saari

Volume 39.2, March/April 2015

Article

Among those who believe the Bible is the word of God, those with more formal education are less likely to believe in human evolution than those with less education.

Alien Lights? At Phoenix, Stephenville, and Elsewhere: A Postmortem

by James McGaha and Joe Nickell

Volume 39.2, March/April 2015

Article

Investigations show that famous nighttime “alien light” sightings were all due to objects in the sky, but not the extraterrestrial spacecraft UFO enthusiasts imagined.

Organized Skepticism: Four Decades ... and Today

by Kendrick Frazier

Volume 39.2, March/April 2015

Commentary

Just over forty years ago, the world was awash in unexamined paranormalism. But a scientific response to all the nonsense was beginning to brew.

Behind the Magic: An Interview with James Randi

by Kylie Sturgess

Volume 39.2, March/April 2015

Interview

An eighty-six-year-old skeptic, secular humanist, and atheist, Randi has investigated paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims for much of his career.