CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION

EPIGRAPH

FOREWORDThe Positive Power of Skepticism by Stephen Jay Gould

INTRODUCTION TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION

Magical Mystery Tour

The Whys and Wherefores of Weird Things

PROLOGUE Next on Oprah

PART 1: SCIENCE AND SKEPTICISM

1.I AM THEREFORE I THINK

A Skeptic’s Manifesto

2.THE MOST PRECIOUS THING WE HAVE

The Difference Between Science and Pseudoscience

3.HOW THINKING GOES WRONG

Twenty-five Fallacies That Lead Us to Believe Weird Things

PART 2: PSEUDOSCIENCE AND SUPERSTITION

4.DEVIATIONS

The Normal, The Paranormal, and Edgar Cayce

5.THROUGH THE INVISIBLE

Near-Death Experiences and the Quest for Immortality

6.ABDUCTED!

Encounters with Aliens

7.EPIDEMICS OF ACCUSATIONS

Medieval and Modern Witch Crazes

8.THE UNLIKELIEST CULT

Ayn Rand, Objectivism, and the Cult of Personality

PART 3: EVOLUTION AND CREATIONISM

9.IN THE BEGINNING

An Evening with Duane T. Gish

10.CONFRONTING CREATIONISTS

Twenty-five Creationist Arguments, Twenty-five Evolutionist Answers

11.SCIENCE DEFENDED, SCIENCE DEFINED

Evolution and Creationism at the Supreme Court

PART 4: HISTORY AND PSEUDOHISTORY

12.DOING DONAHUE

History, Censorship, and Free Speech

13.WHO SAYS THE HOLOCAUST NEVER HAPPENED, AND WHY DO THEY SAY IT?

An Overview of a Movement

14.HOW WE KNOW THE HOLOCAUST HAPPENED

Debunking the Deniers

15.PIGEONHOLES AND CONTINUUMS

An African-Greek-German-American Looks at Race

PART 5: HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

16.DR. TIPLER MEETS DR. PANGLOSS

Can Science Find the Best of All Possible Worlds?

17.WHY DO PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS?

18.WHY SMART PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

COPYRIGHT