Michael Shermer
Author of Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time
About the Author
Michael Shermer is the director of the Skeptics Society and the host of the Skeptics Lecture Series at the California Institute of Technology. He teaches science, technology, and evolutionary thought in the Cultural Studies Program at Occidental College.
Image credit: Michael Shermer, photo credit to Wikipedia user Loxton
Series
Works by Michael Shermer
Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time (1997) 2,416 copies
The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies - How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as… (2011) 771 copies
The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule (2004) 668 copies
The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics (2007) 305 copies
Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It? (2002) — Author; Narrator, some editions — 259 copies
The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom (2015) 250 copies
Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia (2018) 106 copies
In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace: A Biographical Study on the Psychology of History (2002) 71 copies
Skeptic Religion Vol. 12 No. 3 2006 — Editor — 3 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 16, No. 3, 2011: Islam — Editor — 3 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 14, No. 2, 2008: Intelligent Life — Editor — 3 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 15, No. 3, 2010: True or False — Editor — 3 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 09, No. 3, 2002: Theologians Confront the Possibility of Extraterrestrial Life (2002) — Editor — 3 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 15, No. 4, 2010: Climate Skeptics — Editor — 2 copies
The Baloney Detection Kit 2 copies
A Skeptic's HR Dictionary: The ultimate self-defense guide for CEOs, HR professionals, I/O students and employees (2019) 2 copies
How Science and Reason Lead Humanity toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom The Moral Arc (Hardback) - Common (2015) 2 copies
Great Debate: Does God Exist? 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 10, No. 1, 2003: Roswell! — Editor — 2 copies
Conspiracy Theories 2 copies
Skeptisches Jahrbuch 3. Heilungsversprechen: Alternativmedizin zwischen Versuch und Irrtum (2004) 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 10, No. 3, 2003: Evolution: Intelligent Design & Creationism — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 11, No. 2, 2004: Who Are We? — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 09, No. 2, 2002: The Environment - How Bad Off Are We? — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 13, No. 1, 2007: Carl Sagan — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 13, No. 2, 2007: Richard Dawkins & Religion — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 11, No. 4, 2005: Ernst Mayr 1904-2005 — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 14, No. 4, 2009: The Psychology of the Ponzi Scheme — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic Magazine - Extraordinary Claims, Revolutionary Ideas, & the Promotion of Science, Volume 7, No. 4 Penis… (1999) 2 copies
Skeptic Magazine: Volume 3, Number 3 — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 13, No. 4, 2008: Quirkology — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 08, No. 2, 2000: Science & Religion — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 10, No. 2, 2003: Stephen Wolfram — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 17, No. 4, 2012: Alternative Cancer Cures — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 08, No. 3, 2000: Chaos Theory - Fad or Revolution? — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 08, No. 4, 2001: Intelligent Design — Editor — 2 copies
Skeptic - Vol. 09, No. 1, 2001: Behind the Anthropology Wars — Editor — 2 copies
The Borderlands of Science 1 copy
Skeptic Vol 5 No 1 1997 — Editor — 1 copy
"A Skeptical Manifesto" 1 copy
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything: An article from: Skeptic 1 copy
25 Creationists' Arguments & 25 Evolutionists' Answers: A primer for science educators on the evolution-creationism… (1994) 1 copy
Skeptic Magazine Volume 15, Number 4 2010 - Climate Skeptics, Cell Phones & Cancer, The Nonreligious (2010) 1 copy
Skeptic Magazine Vol. 4 No. 2 1996 (Extraordinary Claims, Revolutionary Ideas, and the Promotion of Science) (1996) 1 copy
Skeptic Vol. 22 No. 1 2017 1 copy
Associated Works
What Is Your Dangerous Idea? Today's Leading Thinkers on the Unthinkable (1914) — Contributor — 627 copies
Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion (2007) — Foreword — 320 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Shermer, Michael
- Legal name
- Shermer, Michael Brant
- Birthdate
- 1954-09-08
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Places of residence
- Altadena, California, USA
- Education
- Claremont Graduate University (PhD|History of Science|1991)
California State University, Fullerton (MA|Psychology|1978)
Pepperdine University (BA|1976) - Occupations
- science writer (Scientific American)
editor (Skeptic)
historian of science
television producer
television presenter
bicycle racer (show all 7)
university professor - Relationships
- Graf, Jennifer (wife)
- Organizations
- Skeptics Society
Scientific American
Skeptic Magazine
Occidental College - Awards and honors
- Fellow, Linnean Society of London (2001)
Philip J. Klass Award (2006) - Agent
- Katinka Matson
John Brockman
Max Brockman
Scott Wolfman (Wolfman Productions) - Short biography
- Michael Shermer is an enthusiastic cyclist as well as a leading skeptic.Dr. Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, the Executive Director of the Skeptics Society, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, the host of the The Skeptics Society’s Distinguished Science Lecture Series, and Adjunct Professor at Claremont Graduate University and Chapman University.
Dr. Shermer’s latest book is The Believing Brain. His other books include: The Mind of the Market (on evolutionary economics), Why Darwin Matters: Evolution and the Case Against Intelligent Design (about evolution, how we know it happened, and how to test it), Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown (about how the mind works and how thinking goes wrong), and The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Share Care, and Follow the Golden Rule (on the evolutionary origins of morality and how to be good without God). He wrote a biography, In Darwin’s Shadow (about the life and science of the co-discoverer of natural selection, Alfred Russel Wallace). He also wrote The Borderlands of Science (about the fuzzy land between science and pseudoscience), and Denying History (on Holocaust denial and other forms of pseudo history). His book How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God, presents his theory on the origins of religion and why people believe in God. He is also the author of Why People Believe Weird Things (on pseudoscience, superstitions, and other confusions of our time). He also wrote The Soul of Science (a brief statement of belief on science, the soul, and the afterlife, from a scientist’s perspective) and co-edited (with Pat Linse, the co-founder of Skeptic magazine) The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience (an analysis of the most prominent controversies made in the name of science).
Dr. Shermer received his B.A. in psychology from Pepperdine University, M.A. in experimental psychology from California State University, Fullerton, and his Ph.D. in the history of science from Claremont Graduate University (1991). He was a college professor for 20 years (1979–1998), teaching psychology, evolution, and the history of science at Occidental College (1989–1998), California State University Los Angeles, and Glendale College. Since his creation of the Skeptics Society, Skeptic magazine, and The Skeptics Society’s Distinguished Science Lecture Series, he has appeared on such shows as The Colbert Report, 20/20, Dateline, Charlie Rose, Larry King Live, Tom Snyder, Donahue, Oprah, Leeza, Unsolved Mysteries (but, proudly, never Jerry Springer!), and other shows as a skeptic of weird and extraordinary claims, as well as interviews in countless documentaries aired on PBS, A&E, Discovery, The History Channel, The Science Channel, and The Learning Channel. Shermer was the co-host and co-producer of the 13-hour Family Channel television series, Exploring the Unknown.
http://www.michaelshermer.com/about-m...
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Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 142
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 8,620
- Popularity
- #2,790
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 172
- ISBNs
- 120
- Languages
- 12
- Favorited
- 26