Skeptic Readings

This will be added to periodically - many of the items come from my own library which keeps on growing!

Children’s Books - you should also check out my Skeptical Books for Children Series:

• Dan Barker - Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide for Young Skeptics (ages 6 and up)
• Bill Nye’s books
• Dr Karl Kruszelnicki’s books - all ages
• Ray Spangenburg and Kit Moser’s books
• Dr Stephen and Lucy Hawking - “George’s Secret Key to the Universe”
• Ellen Jackson - The Tree of Life : The Wonders of Evolution by Ellen Jackson (4-8 yrs)
• Diane Swanson - Nibbling on Einstein’s Brain: The Good, the Bad and the Bogus in Science (ages 9-12); Turn it Loose - The Scientist in Absolutely Everybody (ages 7 to 12).
• John Gribbin - Dazzling Discoveries (ages 10-12).
• Lynne Kelly - The Skeptic’s Guide to the Paranormal (ages 10-15).
• Tim Yule and Keith Baxter - Sasquatches from Outer Space : Exploring the Weirdest Mysteries Ever (ages 9-13).
• Philip J Klass - Bringing UFOs Down to Earth (ages 9-12).
• Joe Nickell - Wonder-Workers! How They Perform the Impossible by Joe Nickell (ages 9-14); The Real Life X-Files and its sequel (ages 10-12).

Older Readers (12 and up):

• Hyman Ruchlis How Do You Know It’s True? : Discovering the Difference Between Science and Superstition (ages 12-15).
• Math Doesn’t Suck by Danica McKellar - ages 10 - 18.
• ‘Games’ by Robin Klein - a novel - ages 10-15.
• ‘Zara’ by Mary Hooper - a novel - ages 10 - 15.
• ‘Avenging Janie‘ by Lynne Kelly - a novel - ages 14 - 17.
• Abracadabra! : Secret Methods Magicians & Others Use to Deceive Their Audience by Nathaniel Schiffman - ages 10-13.
• The Physics of the Buffyverse and Black Bodies and Quantum Cats: Tales of Pure Genius and Mad Science by Jennifer Ouellette - ages 14-18.
• Straight Dope - The Books by Cecil Adams - ages 14-16.
• How to Fossilise Your Hamster and Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze by Mick O’Hare - ages 14 - 17.
• An Abundance of Katherines by John Green - a novel - ages 14-17.
• Kaz Cooke - Girl Stuff: Your Full On Guide to the Teen Years.
• Daniell, Ellen - Every Other Thursday: Stories and Strategies from Successful Women Scientists. Yale University Press, US. 2006.
• An Abundance of Katherines by John Green - a novel - ages 14-17.
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - a novel - ages 15 up.

New To Skepticism? Consider the following useful texts for either yourself or for others who question:

• The Triumph of Evolution (and the Failure of Creationism) by Niles Eldredge
• The Ancestor’s Tale : A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution by Richard Dawkins
• Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science by Martin Gardner
• The Richness of Life: The Essential Stephen Jay Gould by Stephen Jay Gould
• The Skeptic’s Guide to the Paranormal by Lynne Kelly
• The Psychic Mafia by M. Lamar Keene
• Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles McKay
  
• Case Closed by Gerald Posner
• Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) by Richard Feynman
• Crime Science: Methods of Forensic Detection by Joe Nickell and John F. Fischer
• Science : Good, Bad and Bogus by Martin Gardner
• How We Know What Isn’t So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life by Thomas Gilovich
• The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice by Christopher Hitchens
• Pseudoscience and the Paranormal by Terrence Hines
• Bad Astronomy : Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing “Hoax” by Phil Plait
• Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions by James Randi
• An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural by James Randi and Arthur C. Clarke
• Stiff : The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
• Spook : Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach
• Them : Adventures with Extremists by Jon Ronson
• The Men Who Stared At Goats by Jon Ronson
• A Physicist’s Guide to Skepticism: Applying Laws of Physics to Faster-Than-Light Travel, Psychic Phenomena, Telepathy, Time Travel, UFOs, and Other Pseudoscientific Claims by Milton Rothman
• UFO’s : A Scientific Debate edited by Carl Sagan and Thornton Page
• Sham: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless by Steve Salerno
• Why Darwin Matters : The Case Against Intelligent Design by Michael Shermer
• Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time by Michael Shermer
• Einstein’s Relativity and the Quantum Revolution : Modern Physics for Non-Scientists by Richard Wolfson
• Quirkology: How We Discover the Big Truths in Small Things by Richard Wiseman

Research Papers - work I’m using myself or have referenced in my studies on anomalistic psychology and education:

Bartholomew, R., and Radford, B. (2003). Hoaxes, Myths and Manias: Why We Need Critical Thinking. Prometheus Books, New York.

Bleak, J., & Frederick, C. M. (1998). Superstitious behavior in sport: Levels of effectiveness and determinants of use in three collegiate sports. Journal of Sport Behavior, 21, 1-15.

Dag, I. (1999). The Relationships among Paranormal Beliefs, Locus of Control and Psychopathology in a Turkish College Sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 26, 723-737.

Franks, S.E. (2006). ‘Suzy the Computer versus Dr Sexy’. In Newitz, A. & Anders, C. (Eds.), She’s Such a Geek. Seal Press: CA.

Foster, D., Weigand, D., & Baines, D. (2006, June). The Effect of Removing Superstitious Behavior and Introducing a Pre-Performance Routine on Basketball Free-Throw Performance. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 18(2).

Hackling, M.W. and Prain, V. (2005) Primary Connections: Stage 2 Research Report. Canberra: Australian Academy of Science. (Available at www.science.org.au/reports/pcreport1.pdf)

Kerr, D.P., Walsh D.M. & Baxter, D. (2003). Acupuncture in the management of chronic low back pain: a blinded randomized controlled trial. Clinical Journal of Pain, 19, 6, p364-370.

Lindeman, M. & Aarnio, K. (2007). Superstitious, magical, and paranormal beliefs: An integrative model, Journal of Research in Personality, 41(4), 731-744.

Lindeman, M. & Saher, M. (2007). Vitalism, purpose and superstition. British Journal of Psychology, Volume 98, Number 1, pp. 33-44.

Mandell, D.L, Claypool, L. D & Kay, D.J. (2005). Superstitions among perioperative nurses. AORN Journal.

Morris, S. C., Taplin, J. E., & Gelman, S. A. (2000). Vitalism in naive biological thinking. Developmental Psychology, 36, 582-613.

Pearson, G. (2000, July 2). Rite-minded: Sports fans find rituals help them get through the game. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Piaget, J. (1953). The origin of intelligence in the child. London: Routledge & Paul.

Renard, J.B. & Walker, S.R. (1987). The idea of chance: attitudes and superstitions. Diogenes, Dec 1987; vol. 35: pp. 111 - 140.

Roesch, B.S., and Moore, J.L. (2002). Cryptozoology. In Skeptic’s Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, ed. Michael Shermer. ABC-Clio, New York.

Scharf, M., Mayseless, O., & Kivenson-Baron, I. (2004) Adolescents’ attachment representations and developmental tasks in emerging adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 40, 430-444.

Schlitz, M., Wiseman, R., Watt, C., & Radin, D. (2006). Of two minds: Skeptic-proponent collaboration within parapsychology. British Journal of Psychology, 97, 313-322.

Schippers, M.C. & Van Lange, P. A. M. (2006) The Psychological Benefits of Superstitious Rituals in Top Sport: A Study Among Top Sportspersons. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36 (10) , 2532–2553.

Shearer, R. & Davidhizar, R. (2000) Luck: What the nurse should know about it and how it affects nursing situations. International Journal of Nursing Practice 6, 2-6.

Thompson, D.A & Adams, S.L. (1996). The full moon and ED patient volumes: Unearthing a myth. American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 14, 161-164.

Vokey, J.R. (2002). Subliminal messages. In J.R. Vokey & S.W Allen (Eds.), Psychological sketches (6th ed., pp.223-246). Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada: Psyence Ink.

Vokey, J.R & Read, J.D. (1985). Subliminal messages: Between the devil and the media. American Psychologist, 40, 1231-1239.

Winer, G. A., Cottrell, J. E., Gregg, V., Fournier, J. S., & Bica, L. A. (2002). Fundamentally misunderstanding visual perception: Adults’ beliefs in visual emissions. American Psychologist, 57, 417-424.

Wiseman, R. & Watt, C. (2004). Measuring superstitious belief: Why lucky charms matter. Personality and Individual Differences, 37, 1533-1541.

White, P., Lewith, G., & Prescott, P. (2004). Acupuncture versus placebo for the treatment of chronic mechanical neck pain. Ann Intern Med., 141(12):911-9.

Wolfradt, U. (1997). Dissociative Experiences, Trait Anxiety and Paranormal Beliefs. Personality and Individual Differences, 23, 15-19.

Vyse, S. A. (1997). Believing in magic: The psychology of superstition. New York: Oxford University Press.