It was with great sadness that we at Bay Area Skeptics learned of the death of Dr. Barry L. Beyerstein. Barry was a long time friend to us and was unconditionally supportive of rationality and critical thinking and his lectures were brilliant in their clarity and humor. In 2006, Dr. Beyerstein spoke to a full house at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on the subject of Anomalistic Psychology and followed that talk up a day later with a dinner talk to Bay Area Skeptics on the subject of untested Far Eastern medical practices that have acquired common acceptance in North America. Always, he spoke in a language immediately accessible to all and he showed remarkable patience and kindness to detractors who questioned his scientific findings. Although patient and kind, he was also consistently well-prepared and he was more than a match for those in his audience who took offense at this conclusions.
We will miss Barry Beyerstein. He was a gentle man who shown a constant light of reason in the darkness of superstition and ignorance. Please see below another appreciation of his impact on science.
WHO: Steve Newton, National Center for Science Education and Department of Life and Earth Sciences, College of Marin
WHAT: "Diluvian Daftness: How Creationists Misrepresent the Geology of the Grand Canyon"
WHEN: 7PM, Wednesday February 8 (2nd Wednesday each month)
WHERE: Café Valparaíso at La Peña. A 6 minute stroll from the Ashby BART station. [Click for Map]
SkeptiCal 2012
WHAT: SkeptiCal 2012: We are proud to once again bring together a sterling cast of excellent and knowledgeable speakers on science and skepticism. We anticipate another day of stimulating ideas and conversation.
WHO: Leonard Tramiel, Ph.D., Coordinator of the Center for Inquiry (CFI) San Francisco, is on the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) Executive Council, and earned his doctorate in Physics from Columbia University.
WHAT: "Accepting the Absurd: How Skepticism is Revealing the Nature of the Universe"
Our current understanding of the universe incorporates ideas that seem absurd: Space is expanding and accelerating. Most of the “stuff” of the universe isn't 'matter.' This talk will explain the evidence and thought process that have forced a fundamental re-examination of our understanding of the nature of our universe. The result is both strange and deeply satisfying.
WHEN: 7PM Wednesday February 22
WHERE: Fiddlers Green, 333 El Camino Real, Millbrae. A 10 minute stroll from the Millbrae BART & Caltrain station. [Click for Map]
8 February, East Bay SkepTalk: Steve Newton, "Diluvian Daftness: How Creationists Misrepresent the Geology of the Grand Canyon"
22 February, West Bay SkepTalk: Dr. Leonard Tramiel, "Accepting the Absurd: How Skepticism is Revealing the Nature of the Universe"
14 March, East Bay SkepTalk: Dr. Marilin Colon, "Practical Critical Thinking"
11 April, Mark McCaffrey, "Global Warming Skepticism"
