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The author of Skulls in the Stars is a professor of physics, specializing in optical science, at UNC Charlotte. The blog covers topics in physics and optics, the history of science, classic pulp fantasy and horror fiction, and the surprising intersections between these areas. -
Tag Archives: crackpots
A Brief Field Guide to Scientific Crackpots
Science and technology have progressed rapidly over the past fifty years, and access to this knowledge and opposing viewpoints has grown rapidly as well, thanks to the internet. Unfortunately, not all of these opposing viewpoints are reasonable, and many come … Continue reading
Relativity Denialists: Like the Heads of the Hydra…
Now I know how Hercules must have felt. Like the mythical hydra, you slap down one relativity denialist, and two more pop up in his place. In my case, one appeared as a comment on my blog (filtered as spam … Continue reading
Relativity Denialist: A perfect example of “Not even wrong” (though he’s actually wrong, too) Part II
Halfway through writing my previous post on Mr. Relativity Denier I realized there was way too much stuff to criticize in a single blog post. I had to meet a real scientist for dinner, so I took a break and … Continue reading
Relativity Denialist: A perfect example of “Not even wrong” (though he’s actually wrong, too)
Note: Wow, this post has gotten a lot of traffic! I feel duty-bound to note, though, that mine is not the only analysis of this relativity crackpot: Blake Stacey at Science After Sunclipse has been compiling a list of some … Continue reading
Bad news for my girlfriend
Sorry, sweetie: a concerned viewer asked Pat Robertson whether yoga has its origins in evil. Well, bad news: by repeating yoga mantras you’re praying to pantheistic gods and are apparently engaging in ‘spooky’ activities, though Robertson doesn’t go so far … Continue reading
Cyrus Teed and the inside-out Earth
There’s some skepticism in the blogosphere, over the recent discussion of geocentrists and now, apparently, flat-earthers, that these web sites and trolls must be joking. Nobody could possibly believe such simple-minded tripe in our modern, rational world, could they? All … Continue reading
Yes, Virginia, the universe really does revolve around the Earth (not)
After you’ve read some of the science blogs for long enough, you start to think that there isn’t any amount of crackpottery that can surprise you. For instance, reading Good Math, Bad Math will expose you to an endless amount … Continue reading
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