Skepticblog

I’m pleased to say that the release of Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be has been enjoying quite a bit of attention from skeptics — which has helped this full-color kids’ book get off to a great start. Perhaps the most rewarding moment for me so far was receiving a warmly positive quote from Dr. Eugenie Scott (Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education and 2010 National Academy of Sciences “Public Welfare Medal” recipient). Genie is one of the softest, yet most forthright and resolute voices in skepticism, and a great inspiration to me personally. You can imagine my elation when she said,

I am just so delighted with this book! Loxton hits the key concepts perfectly, and without being stuffy about it. A wonderful book to donate to your local library.

I was similarly honored to receive positive reviews from Phil Plait and from P.Z. Myers — both among the most popular science bloggers on Earth. I just about did cartwheels when P.Z. unexpectedly urged readers to “order a copy fast for the kids in your life!”

P.Z., did, however, dislike one subsection of Evolution:

I recommend it highly, but with one tiny reservation. The author couldn’t resist the common temptation to toss in something about religion at the end, and he gives the wrong answer: it’s the standard pablum, and he claims that “Science as a whole has nothing to say about religion.”

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I’m excited to announce the release of my new book Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be (from Kids Can Press). Years in the making, this full-color, illustrated hardcover book based upon Junior Skeptic is available now!

• view the Skeptic.com listing >

(Also available from bricks & mortar booksellers throughout North America, and from Amazon.com)

The Project

Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be is a straight-ahead introduction to the fact of evolution, to its mechanisms, and to the misunderstandings that surround it. The book aims to explain how evolution works — and how we know for a fact that it happens. It is suitable for readers aged 8 – 13.
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A behind-the-scenes peek at the long road to Evolution — the Junior Skeptic-based illustrated kids’ book due out in February, 2010

Once upon a time my wife and I sat down for scrambled eggs with Michael Shermer and Julia Sweeney.

We were a little giddy. It was our first time in Las Vegas — and our honeymoon. I was a lifelong skeptic attending my first skeptics’ conference: The Amazing Meeting 2, hosted by the James Randi Educational Foundation. (300 skeptics in one room! Imagine it!) And now we were having breakfast with a genuine movie star.

We were chattering away over coffee when Michael clapped his hands together. “Alright,” he said, suddenly all business, every bit the dynamic leader. “Can we get these Junior Skeptic books out this year?” Continue reading…

Here Be Dragons

Since the beginning of the Skeptoid podcast, people had been asking me for a video version. Tempting indeed, but having been a college filmmaker and done my share of dabbling, I knew that a weekly video podcast would require far more than the limited time I have available for Skeptoid. So this idea stayed on the back burner for a while.

But I finally got fed up with the amount of uncritical praise and attention given to the garbage conspiracy films Loose Change and Zeitgeist on the Internet, and decided that it was time for a counterattack of reason. So I spent a few months of odd hours putting together my thoughts and writing my own garbage film for the Internet, which I called Here Be Dragons. (I wish I’d picked a different title, because that one’s so common, but heck, I was fresh out of creativity by that point.) Continue reading…

I just finished reading Dr. Novella’s inspiring entry, and as a departure to my reporting on the progress on The Skeptologists, and the process that it took to create the TV pilot for the show, I decided to ramble a bit on Skepticism.

Admittedly, this is a forum in which most, if not all, of the readers here are proud to call themselves “Skeptics”. I’m sure there’s even a few “Sceptics” as well.

I don’t carry the weight and vast knowledge that my esteemed blog colleagues do, I’m just a humble video production guy who’s trying to make his mark on the world in a positive way. As a matter of fact, it’s all I can do to write an entry every week that deserves to be on the same page as these folks. Working with them, reading their work and listening to the various podcasts is inspiring, and I’m lucky to be a part of this. I have a profound respect for each and every one of these Skeptologists! One of the common threads, that is very apparent, but worthy of note, is that they all share a similar intense desire to better the world through educating people about how to think critically, and skeptically.

It seems so easy on the face of it all doesn’t it? Educate people. I’ve written in the past about how I believe that TV is one avenue in which we can start to affect change in the world for the better. That’s my particular talent, and one that I wish to use to get the word out. But there are so many ways to go about it, and that’s what I’d love to start a discussion about: What different, entertaining and clever ways can we come up with to help gently educate people about the power of skepticism?

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