EDITOR'S NOTE THI MAGAIINI 'OR SCIINCI AND tf ASOM

EDITOR Russia, an Orwellian Nightmare, and Gould Kendrick Frazier EDITORIAL BOARD James E. Alcock omenkism? Torsion fields and torsion generators? Retrovision? Sofa- Barry Beyerstein extrasens? Extreme medicine? Geopathogenic zones? Vita Cardiomags? Thomas Casten F Some of the rampant in Russia have an exotic sound and flavor. But looked at a little deeper, they are the same kind of nonsense that Lawrence Jones afflict the West. In Russia many of these claims and gadgets have made inroads Philip J. Klass into die ministries of government. Now high-level scientists are fighting back. In October CSICOP and the Russian Academy of sponsored a spe­ Lee Nisbet cial conference in Moscow on ", Anti-Science, and the Paranormal." Amardeo Sarma Bela Scheiber We have three reports in this issue. CSICOP chairman and conference co- Eugenie Scott chairman Paul Kurtz gives an overview. Astronomer Yuri Efremov expounds on CONSULTING EDITORS how the achievements in astronomy in recent years quickly outstrip all pseu- Robert A. Baker Susan J. Blackmore doscience and give the lie to postmodernist claims of a "crisis in science," and John R. Cole a need to "overthrow die scientific paradigm." Prominent physicist Edward Kenneth L. Feder Kruglyakov chronicles the rise of and antiscience in Russia— C. E. M. Hansel E. C. Krupp including some of the wacky claims that have made their way into the halls of Scott O. Lilienfeld government—and reports on the special Russian Academy of Sciences com­ David F. Marks mission against pseudoscience that he heads. James E. Oberg Robert Sheaffer David E. Thomas MANAGING EDITOR In this issue we publish the conclusion of "Who Abused Jane Doe?"—Elizabeth Benjamin Radford Loftus and Melvin Guyer's narrative report on their efforts to evaluate a claim ART DIRECTOR of the recovery of a repressed memory and find the real truth behind it. A short Lisa A. Hutter postscript hints at the legal obstacles put in their way, denying what we used to PRODUCTION Paul Loynes [hink of as free speech, open debate, and academic freedom. CSICOP Fellow Jason Mussachio Carol Tavris follows with her own behind-the-scenes look at the travails they CARTOONIST were put through. Her article "The High Cost of " chronicles "an Rob Pudim WEB PAGE DESIGNER Orwellian nightmare," in which their universities, rather than supporting their Patrick Fitzgerald rights to open free scientific inquiry, obstructed and harassed them. It is a trou­ bling indictment of new, burdensome, instittitional barriers to free inquiry. PUBUSHER'S REPRESENTATIVE CORPORATE COUNSEL Brenton N. VerPloeg is gone. His death May 20 at the age of 60 (see page 8) is a BUSINESS MANAGER Sandra Lesniak loss to science, skepticism, and the public. The best-known scientist and writer FISCAL OFFICER in recent times on paleontology and evolution, Gould was a first-rate evolution­ Paul Paulin ary scientist, a steadfast defender of scientific ideals (and critic of creationism), CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER and a prolific author of both scholarly works and elegant essays for the educated Arthur Urrows layman on evolutionary science (in all its wondrous aspects). Much has and will DEVELOPMENT OFFICER James Kimberly be written about him, including his brilliance, his occasional arrogance, the var­ CHIEF DATA OFFICER ious views of evolutionary colleagues about his scientific work, but what I most Michael Cione appreciated was his writing about science for the layman. He chose to write STAFF Patricia Beauchamp about science for the public in a substantive way diat never talked down to his Darlene Banks audiences. He portrayed the marvelous complexity of both life and of the very Jodi Chapman human scientific enterprise, while finding wonderful humanistic connections Jennifer Miller Matthew Nisbet between science and nature and everything from opera to baseball. His monthly Heidi Shively essays in every issue of Natural History for twenty-seven years from January 1974 Ranjit Sandhu through December 2000, collected into a series of memorable books, educated Anthony Santa Lucia John Sullivan several generations of us about evolution and a dazzling array of topics in the his­ Vance Vigrass tory of science. First Asimov, then Sagan, now Gould. All brilliant popularizers PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR and interpreters of science for the layman. All taken from us prematurely. Kevin Christopher INQUIRY MEDIA PRODUCTIONS Thomas Flynn DIRECTOR OF LIBRARIES Timothy S. Binga

The SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is the official ^X^A2 journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, an international organization.

4 May/June 2002 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER