Product Description

Strives to investigate and promote scientific methods, and disseminate information on science, magic, superstition, and skepticism and the history of these traditions. Also devoted to the history of revolutionary science and pseudoscience.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #704 in Magazine Subscriptions
• Format: Magazine Subscription

Customer Reviews

A Great Source for Critical Thinkers
I stumbled upon this magazine while searching for articles to use with the critical thinking class I teach. Needless to say, I was floored by the useful content packed into every issue of SKEPTIC. It has become a mainstay in my classroom mostly because of the diverse array of topics discussed in each issue.

The only problem I have with this publication is the fact that often the writers seem to enjoy their point of view a little too much. Frequetly it seems as if they are mocking their topics instead of intelligently assessing the subject at hand. This overt bias often works to discredit what could otherwise be an effective and persuasive article. The writers need to let logic and not elitist emotional appeals sway their readers.

Bottom Line: A good read and an excellent resource for teachers looking to challenge their students.

Fine, professional, but could use a few improvments.
First, lest any reviewer challenge my mere four stars, I like "Skeptic." I've been reading it for years, and am a member of the society. Personally, though, I prefer "Skeptical Inquirer," a periodical of the same genre.

Now, onto the positive.

This quarterly journal is very professionally done. It's thick, has a cover that'll cause it to last for years. And that's good to me. I stack up magazines like this and make them an important part of my library.

Some of the articles tend to be a little cumbersome. However there is balance. Indeed, a buddy of mine fluctuates between skepticism and adoration of Carl Jung and Whitley Strieber. (!) So he prefers this to the aforementioned periodical; he feels less a pie-in-the-face from "Skeptic." I recall a few issues ago a discussion in "Skeptic" about the popular book "The Skeptical Environmentalist." Probably 16 pages of that book were in the magazine. Then a few scholars were allowed to respond from their different perspectives. Good. I don't have time to read the book so that balance gave me the analysis I needed if I should argue either way.

In another issue there was discussion of the Yanomami and related tribal people in the Amazon forest. I shared that with a PC anthropologist who's worked down there. I couldn't help but be amused by her take on what I suspect was a far more "objective" (i.e., skeptical) view than hers in the magazine.

Each issue has a number of fabulous book reviews. One I treasure was from one of the authors of "A Higher Superstion," another superb text I long ago purchased from Amazon.com.

One of my favorites, James Randi, also has regular columns in here.

Another skeptical acquaintance challenged editor Mike Shermer's objectives. Apparently Shermer--who's written several fine books available from Amazon.com--got his doctorate in history and found himself unemployed. He created The Skeptics Society to remedy that problem. Well, so what? You might say the same of Bill Gates who makes a lot more than Shermer.

Overall, I like the society, and this periodical. One very minor comment: each issue has "Junior Skeptic" in the back. It's actually a fine, fine publication aimed at the younger among us. One issue was dedicated to the issue of those who claim we didn't really go the the moon. Another was on one of the perennial favorites of many of us when were younger: the Bermuda Triangle. I wish the magazine would produce a separate "Junior Skeptic" and market it to, say, junior high school science classes. I feel they'd make money off it--a whole new market--AND encourage the scientific processes so challenged today by anywhere from "creation science" advocates, Afro-centric "scholars," and all sorts of UFO advocates, astrologers and countless others of dubious merit.

So there. Only four stars from someone who reads this--shall I way religiously? It's good. So read it, and note the analysis techniques endorsed by its editors and writers.

An age of mythology is on decline
Contrary to the popular belief that everything must have 2 opposing viewponts, Skeptic doesn't succomb to that notion. And it's absolutely right in doing so. The fact is, a true scientific methodology doesn't involve 2 opposing viewpoints, and while sometimes scientists come up with diffirent conclusions, only one truth is available.

Skeptic has no mercy for the belivers in non-sense, like UFO abuctions, faith healing, talking to the dead, and etc. Its goal is to debunk pseudoscience by skeptically and scientifically investigating the issues and drawing a logical conclusion.

The sarcastic, yet informative agenda of this magazine and its popular writers makes the reading both entertaining and informative. The cast of writers include James Randi, Michael Shermer and many other famous authors of some of the best selling books of its kind.