Publication date November 14, 2002 Pages 903 Dewey Decimal 503 21 Originally published 14 November 2002 Page count 903 Publisher ABC-CLIO | Media type Print (Hardcover) OCLC 50155642 LC Class Q172.5.P77 S54 2002 ISBN 1576076539 Genres Reference, Science | |
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The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience is a collection of articles that discuss the Skeptics Society's scientific findings of investigations into popular pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. It has been called "a 2-volume set with an attitude." The editor, Michael Shermer, director of the Skeptics Society, pulled together articles originally published in Skeptic magazine with some conceptual overviews and historical documents to create this two-volume encyclopedia. Pat Linse is listed as a contributing editor. It was published by ABC-CLIO in 2002.
The encyclopedia has five sections. The first volume is composed of alphabetical write-ups on the scientific view of pseudoscientific concepts such as the "Bermuda Triangle and dowsing, Shroud of Turin and Feng Shui, spiritualism and biorhythms, placebo effect and graphology, Alien abductions and UFOs, crop circles and astrology", followed by a section of investigations and discussions. The second volume explores such subjects in more depth with sections containing case studies, "for and against" essays, and historical documents. This final section has been criticized for containing only five documents.