| "How ridiculous to make evolution the enemy of God. What could be more elegant, more simple, more brilliant, more economical, more creative, indeed more divine than a planet with millions of life forms, distinct and yet interactive, all ultimately derived from accumulated variations in a single double-stranded molecule, pliable and fecund enough to give us mollusks and mice, Newton and Einstein? Even if it did give us the Kansas State Board of Education, too." -- Charles Krauthammer Washington Post, November 18, 2005 |
 See sample issues of BASIS in Acrobat format. Links to other Sites  11-29-2006Demystifying Terrorist Weapons of "Mass" Destruction |
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 Four Videos About Bob Stein's Expelled
The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) has produced its first short video series, which you will find at our site debunking the awful Ben Stein movie, "Expelled", or on Youtube: First: youtube.com/watch?v=sQacQy1KJ9M This is the story of Chris Comer, the science supervisor in Texas who was forced to resign over creationism. We are quite excited that it has received >200,000 hits (it's been up the longest). Second: youtube.com/watch?v=6GqNxAzaWBo This is about NCSE's efforts to "put out the brushfires". If you haven't seen our funky office, you will here. Also Carrie, if you are quick! Third: youtube.com/watch?v=fOtP7HEuDYA This one we are promoting this week. It is a "straight science" video showing how complex structures can indeed evolve. Fourth: youtube.com/watch?v=ChIpNgklKn8 This one discusses the roots of "intelligent design" in creationism. If you are interested in the Ben Stein movie, check out our site at www.expelledexposed.com |
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Andrew Fraknoi will be speaking on "Nancy Reagan's Astrologer, Roswell, the 'Face' on Mars, and a Young Universe"
His talk is sponsored by the Center for Inquiry San Francisco; admission is $10, free to Friends of the Center. From a description of the talk: Thanks to the popular media, an enormous amount of attention has been given to some pretty amazing claims on the fringes of astronomy. These include the idea that your life path and romantic destiny are determined by the position of objects in the sky at the moment of your birth; that extraterrestrial space-craft have regularly landed on our planet (and kidnapped innocent citizens without being noticed); that an ancient race left us a message on the planet Mars in the shape of a human face; and that the entire cosmos is less than 10,000 years old. In this illustrated talk, astronomer and popular lecturer Andrew Fraknoi will discuss the most famous fiction science claims related to astronomy, and provide the background and analysis needed to appreciate them properly. He will unveil some recent detective work about these cases, and show how there is often a lot LESS to them than initially meets the eye. And he will show how a few skeptical questions and a bit of careful investigation can often help bring these extra-ordinary cosmic claims down to Earth.
For more information, visit: |
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 Biologist Expelled from Expelled (posted May 7, 2007)
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 is Wrong for Our Schools edited by Eugenie C. Scott and Glenn Branch
"If you're concerned about scientific literacy, read this book. The authors of Not in Our Classrooms are authorities on the various battles fought over the teaching of evolution--biology's fundamental discovery." |
BAS Luminary in the Forefront Evolution vs. Creationism : An Introduction by Eugenie C. Scott, member of the Board of Directors of Bay Area Skeptics, is now in print and can be ordered at http://tinyurl.com/25tcf
We are always pleased to plug books by BAS members, and after reading an extended exerpt published in BASIS, I predict that Dr. Scott's book will become an important reference work on the debate. By buying it through the above link, you insure that the National Center for Science Education, of which Dr. Scott is also Executive Director, gets a percentage of the sale. -- Webmaster  Dr. Scott's Book is also available in paperback |
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SYMPTOMS OF PATHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
by Irving Langmuir
This above was written by Irving Langmuir in 1953 and quoted by Martin Gardner in his "Quantum
Theory and Quack Theory" New York Review of Books, May 17 1979. The above was re-published in the December, 1983 issue of
BASIS
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Bay Area Skeptics is looking for some reporters who can send us articles
and news notes for possible publication in our newsletter, BASIS (Bay
Area Skeptics Information Sheet). If you see a newspaper or magazine
article about pseudoscience or even an interesting science article that you
think BAS members should know about, clip it and send it to. . .
Eugenie C. Scott
420 40th Street, Ste. 2
Oakland, CA 94609-2509
. . . or send us an e-mail .
You may also send us submissions of articles for publication to BASIS, by
e-mail or diskette (PC only, Word, WordPerfect or ASCII, please) for
consideration. We are always looking for interesting articles to help
educate Bay Area citizens of the nature of science and the problems with
pseudoscience.
If you would like to be informed by e-mail of upcoming events,
Just put in Bay Area Skeptics Notify in the subject box so his filter doesn't mistake you as spam.
contact the webmaster by e-mail.
This list will not be given out to anyone else.
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