Committee for Skeptical Inquiry ™ “... promotes scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use Skep ti cal In quir er of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims.” THE MAG A ZINE FOR SCI ENCE AND REA SON ED I TOR Kend rick Fra zi er DEPUTY ED I TOR Ben ja min Rad ford MAN A GING ED I TOR Julia Lavarnway [ FROM THE EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR Nicole Scott ART DI RECT OR Chri sto pher Fix PRO DUC TION Paul E. Loynes WEBMASTER Matthew Licata Today’s Celebrity Scientists PUB LISH ER’S REP RE SENT A TIVE Bar ry Karr ED I TO RI AL BOARD James E. Al cock, Harriet Hall, Ray Hy man, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Elizabeth Loftus, Joe e live in a celebrity-drenched age. We may lament that fact; too often Nickell, Steven Novella, Am ar deo Sar ma, Eugenie C. Scott, Karen Stollznow, David E. Thomas, the focus is on personalities and trivialities. But not all celebrities are Leonard Tramiel in show business. Science has its celebrities too. And just as many W CON SULT ING ED I TORS Sus an J. Black more, show-business celebrities use their platforms to promote good causes, so too do Ken neth L. Fed er, Barry Karr, E.C. Krupp, Jay M. Pasachoff, Rich ard Wis e man scientist celebrities—among them, the cause of science itself. CON TRIB UT ING ED I TORS D.J. Grothe, Harriet Hall, In this issue, we present an article excerpted by American University com- Kenneth W. Krause, David Morrison, James E. Oberg, munications researcher Declan Fahy from his new book The New Celebrity Massimo Pigliucci, Rob ert Sheaf fer, David E. Thomas Scientists . (I thank Matt Nisbet for alerting me to it.) As Fahy says, a handful of Published in association with publicly visible scientists represent science to the public. They are media-savvy. They personify science to the layman. They stimulate new thinking, drive sci- CHAIR Edward Tabash Ronald A. Lindsay entific controversies, mobilize social movements, and shape policy. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Barry Karr I’ve been intrigued by this approach to examining ways the public learns COR PO RATE COUN SEL Brenton N. VerPloeg, about science since my Science News days. Back then Rae Goodell, then at Nicholas J. Little MIT, published her book The Visible Scientists , based on her Stanford PhD BUSI NESS MAN A GER Pa tri cia Beau champ dissertation. It charmed me so much I wrote a feature article about it in Science FIS CAL OF FI CER Paul Pau lin SUBSCRIPTION DATA MANAGER Jacalyn Mohr News. I was pleased to learn from Fahy that Goodell’s book had inspired him. COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Paul Fidalgo Scientist celebrities are nothing new. Fahy begins with Darwin, but before DIRECT OR OF LI BRAR IES Tim o thy S. Binga that Benjamin Franklin was a true international scientist celebrity. His elec- DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Martina Fern trical experiments and invention of the lightning rod made him a famous and DIRECTOR, COUNCIL FOR SECULAR HUMANISM Tom Flynn venerated figure on both sides of the Atlantic. Einstein is perhaps the leading DIRECTOR, CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS celebrity scientist of all time; his reputation is still secure among both scientists Debbie Goddard and the public. In the latter half of the twentieth century, Goodell’s book pro- DIRECTOR, SECULAR ORGANIZATIONS FOR SOBRIETY Jim Christopher filed scientist celebrities such as Margaret Mead, Linus Pauling, Paul Ehrlich, DIRECTOR, AFRICAN AMERICANS FOR HUMANISM B.F. Skinner, Barry Commoner, and Carl Sagan. Fahy profiles Stephen Hawk- Debbie Goddard ing, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Susan Greenfield, Stephen Jay Gould, BOARD OF DIRECTORS R. Elisabeth Cornwell, Kendrick Frazier, Barry A. Kosmin, Hector Sierra, James Lovelock, Brian Greene, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. You can probably Edward Tabash (chair), Leonard Tramiel, Judith Walker, think of a few others you could add. Lawrence Krauss (honorary) What is the connection to scientific skepticism? Well, note that four of Fahy’s subjects are fellows of our Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Sagan and Skinner were as well. We have always drawn to us the noteworthy scientists who are also great communicators and public educators. They not only tell us of the wonders of science but also show us the qualities of science—including both imagination and skepticism—that lead to our ability to winnow out great truths about nature. * * * How many times have we heard dramatic near-death experience (NDE) stories from those who say they returned from The Other Side? What happens when a skeptic has an NDE? Stephanie Savage is just that person. She recovered after six weeks in a coma. She describes her long “coma-dream” and her soap-opera- like “Brain TV.” There were some similarities with typical NDEs but many more differences. She saw not Jesus and heaven but The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Stephen Hawking, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Richard Daw- the Galaxy. Since her recovery, she has learned a lot about the neuroscience of kins, Steven Pinker, and Susan Greenfield are among NDEs and shares that here. She also provides a perhaps more sympathetic view today’s scientists who have achieved celebrity status. Celebrity scientists like them (and Darwin, Einstein, and toward coma-sufferers than you have heard before. Sagan before them) are the public face of science. They help shape the image of science, stimulate public ap- preciation of science, and mobilize social movements. —KenDrick FraZier See page 34. .