Advance Information DEAR MARTIN / DEAR MARCELLO Gardner and Truzzi on Skepticism

Edited by Dana Richards (George Mason University, USA)

Endorsements: “This book is a major contribution to the history of modern skepticism. Martin Gardner comes back to life in the form of sparkling, never-before-seen correspondence with the enigmatic Marcello Truzzi. The lively and surprisingly substantive exchanges are filled with fascinating insights into the intense intellectual debates they and others had. The letters animate the divergent perspectives and personalities of key figures who pioneered the effort. Editor Dana Richards expertly guides us through the nuanced issues.” Pub Date: Jul 2017 Binding: Hardcover Kendrick Frazier Editor, ISBN: 978-981-3203-69-3 Skeptical Inquirer Price: £73 “The skeptical movement today has gone global and occupies a central place in popular Binding: Softcover culture, but in the 1970s it was nothing more than an idea in letters exchanged between ISBN: 978-981-3203-70-9 a handful of people concerned about the growth of pseudoscience and irrationalism. First Price: £40 among equals as founders of this movement were Martin Gardner and Marcello Truzzi, whose correspondence — so thoughtfully edited in this splendid volume — covers some of Page Extent: 492pp the most important subjects in science, philosophy, and culture. A page turner that belongs Type: Popular Book on the bookshelves of every thinking reader.” Main Subject: General / Popular Science Michael Shermer Sub-subjects: History Of Science; Publisher, Skeptic magazine & columnist, Scientific American General Science; Popular & Recreational Mathematics Key Features: BIC: PDX • Both figures are well-known and well-published; Martin Gardner published over 100 BISAC: SCI034000; SCI000000; books MAT000000 • There are no competing titles Martin Gardner; • It is simply unique in the skeptical literature Keywords: Philosophy of Science; • Even in the larger “science” arena, it is extremely unusual to have such a lengthy Demarcation Problem; correspondence focused on one problem Skepticism Readership: Students, Description: researchers and anyone who In 1952, Martin Gardner wrote the book Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, which are interested in the opinions of has become a modern classic of the skeptical movement. He is best known as the Father of Gardner and Truzzi on skeptical Recreational Mathematics, but is also a frank critic of pseudoscientists and a contributor to science the Skeptical Inquirer magazine. Imprint: World Scientific Publishing Company Marcello Truzzi was one of the founders of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Paranormal in 1976. He left that and founded the Center for Scientific Anomalies Research, which was more aligned with his views.

Dana Richards presents the unedited, colorful correspondence between these two well- known figures within the skeptical movement as they probed and wrestled with these fundamental questions such as:

• The demarcation problem — how to distinguish good from bad science? • How should scholars on the fringe (paranormalists) be treated? Contents: • Introduction • The Road to CSICOP • The Demarcation Problem • The Dissolution • Return to Cordiality