What books or web links do you recommend on skepticism and/or the paranormal? I am more or less interested in a guide listing the various claims by different individuals and how to verify or test the abilities being claimed--sort of a reference guide. It need not be a single source.
Skepticism Book Suggestions Please
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This place needs an FAQ.
To be honest, google is as good a source as you'll ever get.
Although to be even more honest, the book that taught me most about the psychology of parapsychology wasn't about parapsychology at all. It's quoted in my sig.
[edited to remove an ugly repitition]
To be honest, google is as good a source as you'll ever get.
Although to be even more honest, the book that taught me most about the psychology of parapsychology wasn't about parapsychology at all. It's quoted in my sig.
[edited to remove an ugly repitition]
SwissSkeptic
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If you're looking for a more or less complete list of different claims and their debunking you could try out Skepdic or of course http://jref.sawco.com/. If you prefer books, then I recommend Michael Shermers THE SKEPTIC ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PSEUDOSCIENCE.
Another good place for skeptic resources on the net is the Skeptic Tank.
Some "classic" skeptic books:
Carl Sagans THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD deals with some of the most notorious claims and is certainly worth a read in case you don't have it already. It also contains the chapter with the baloney detection kit.
A good book for the ID/ Creationist "debate" is THE BLIND WATCHMAKER by Richard Dawkins.
And of course there's James Randis FLIM-FLAM and other books by him.
Michael Shermers books are also worth a read, but they usually deal with the nature of belief and not with specific claims.
Oh and there's one short book which I personally hold very dear: FOLLIES AND FALLACIES IN MEDICINE by James McCormick, because it gave me a first idea of how homeopathy and other similar "therapies" work. Yuck.
Another good place for skeptic resources on the net is the Skeptic Tank.
Some "classic" skeptic books:
Carl Sagans THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD deals with some of the most notorious claims and is certainly worth a read in case you don't have it already. It also contains the chapter with the baloney detection kit.
A good book for the ID/ Creationist "debate" is THE BLIND WATCHMAKER by Richard Dawkins.
And of course there's James Randis FLIM-FLAM and other books by him.
Michael Shermers books are also worth a read, but they usually deal with the nature of belief and not with specific claims.
Oh and there's one short book which I personally hold very dear: FOLLIES AND FALLACIES IN MEDICINE by James McCormick, because it gave me a first idea of how homeopathy and other similar "therapies" work. Yuck.
I was actaully about to post something almost identical to this.
I was talking to a nutritionist just yesterday, and we got on the topic of aspartame, organic foods, health food stores, etc. Not a stupid person, but she didn't understand a lot of things about organic food, and the marketing behind it, and she had heard about studies showing that aspartame caused cancer and ms etc. etc. She was interested in learning more, so I told her I'd email her some links. She also got into nutrition & fitness through working at a health food store, and says that she's realized that quite a bit of it is BS.
Does anyone know of any good sites? I know QuackWatch, & PubMed, but has are there any good ones that people can recomend? Specifically on nutrition/health issues.
I was talking to a nutritionist just yesterday, and we got on the topic of aspartame, organic foods, health food stores, etc. Not a stupid person, but she didn't understand a lot of things about organic food, and the marketing behind it, and she had heard about studies showing that aspartame caused cancer and ms etc. etc. She was interested in learning more, so I told her I'd email her some links. She also got into nutrition & fitness through working at a health food store, and says that she's realized that quite a bit of it is BS.
Does anyone know of any good sites? I know QuackWatch, & PubMed, but has are there any good ones that people can recomend? Specifically on nutrition/health issues.
RichardR
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