A Jane Goodall Thanksgiving

Michael Winship, 11.24.2009

Senior writer at Bill Moyers Journal on PBS

My Thanksgiving list this year includes Jane Goodall, who was interviewed by my colleague Bill Moyers for this week's edition of Bill Moyers Journal on PBS.

Don't Confuse Real Healing With Suppression Of The Disease

Dana Ullman, 11.20.2009

Expert in homeopathic medicine

When a person experiences relief from any treatment, conventional or alternative, one should not necessarily assume that a real healing has occurred.

Toonblog: The Natural History Of Sarah Palin

Shan Wells, 11.20.2009

Political cartoonist, "Durango Telegraph," toonblogger, political illustrator

The release of Sarah Palin's book, Going Rogue, has been an occasion of great frivolity amongst those of us on the left.

Bill Bryson's 'Really Short History of Nearly Everything' Is The Dream Gift Book For Every Curious Kid

Jesse Kornbluth, 11.20.2009

Editor of HeadButler.com

Bill Bryson has created "A Really Short History of Nearly Everything," and he's done me -- and you, and every curious kid burdened by a dull textbook or a brain-dead science teacher -- a huge favor.

Thanksgiving: Puritans, Pilgrims, and Sexual Obsession

Dan Agin, 11.19.2009

Author/Neuroscientist

The idea that the Puritans (and Pilgrims) suffered from religious persecution in England is probably a myth. What they suffered from was unease at the general licentiousness of English life.

Sarah Palin Is Flat: Change Without Evolution

Bill Allen, 11.19.2009

Retired Editor-in-Chief of "National Geographic"

The concepts of creationism and "intelligent design" deserve no more credibility than that given to those who continue to "believe" in a flat earth.

2012 Supplies One More Victory for Pseudoscience

Daniel Cubias, 11.19.2009

The Hispanic Fanatic

2012 pillages an ancient culture, deliberately misrepresents its traditions, and then claims its all true. More important, it taps into the serious vein of crazy that we have in this country.

Book Review: The Humans Who Went Extinct

Dan Agin, 11.15.2009

Author/Neuroscientist

Our unique American intellectual tragedy is that of all Western countries we have the largest percentage of people who propose that modern humans essentially descended intact from the clouds.

A Memory of Claude Lévi-Strauss

Scott Atran, 11.07.2009

Professor and author

In 1974, when I was a graduate student in anthropology at Columbia University, I wanted to organize a discussion of universals. At the time, I was working for Margaret Mead as one of her assistants.

The Amazing Story Of Charles Darwin And His Homeopathic Doctor

Dana Ullman, 11.06.2009

Expert in homeopathic medicine

Virtually every biography of Charles Darwin refers to his health problems and acknowledges that the one physician who provided an effective treatment for him was Dr. James Manby Gully.

Is Science Just a New Religion?

Cara L. Santa Maria, 11.04.2009

Researcher and lecturer in biology and psychology

Once intelligent design squeezes its way into the pages following evolution in our biology books, we might as well add astrology to our astrophysics lectures and toss some alchemy into the chemistry lab.

The Evolution of Technology

Dr. Jim Taylor, 10.30.2009

Ph.D. in Psychology, consultant, speaker, author, and teacher at the University of San Francisco

Have you ever thought about how far we've come in our ability to connect with others and how far we'll go? I've been thinking a lot about connectivity recently and have always found that looking back to where we came from can help us better understand where we are today and, more importantly, where we may be going in the future.

Daring To Bear Witness

Andrew Z. Cohen, 11.05.2009

Founder, Editor in Chief, EnlightenNext magazine

We must be ruthless in our rationality in order to authentically transmit the light of the trans-rational God in the twenty-first century. This is an enormous task, but our willingness to take it on will slowly but surely make a profound difference.

Evolve or Die: Why Reinvent Independent Bookstores?

Praveen Madan, 10.29.2009

Partner, Booksmith, Berkeley Arts

We believe that independent bookstores can have a great future and we are betting our careers on it.

Can You Change the Past?

Deepak Chopra, 10.26.2009

Author, Sirius/XM radio host

The sum of the matter is this: physical reality begins and ends with the observer. We cannot go beyond the observer with our concepts of space and time.

In Praise of Slow Thinking

Carl Honore, 10.23.2009

Author, In Praise of Slowness

Slow Thinking is intuitive, woolly and creative. It is what we do when the pressure is off, and there is time to let ideas simmer on the back burner. It yields rich, nuanced insights and sometimes surprising breakthroughs.

Practicing Science -- With or Without Religion?

Dan Agin, 10.23.2009

Author/Neuroscientist

The problem for the working scientist is that the essence of science is a self-conscious and mandatory objectivity -- which means dogma and doctrine are essentially antithetical.

Darwin and Development

Dennis Whittle, 10.22.2009

CEO of GlobalGiving

"Growth is in...

Just Listen (I Doubt It) Evolution Interrupted

Mark Goulston, M.D., 10.20.2009

I am not an evolution doubter. I believe it is real. I believe it has happened to bring us to where we are now. However, I also believe that it is on hiatus.

CDs and Ardi and Vooks, Oh My!

Michael Sigman, 10.19.2009

Writer/ Editor, Media Consultant, Music Publisher

It can be exhilarating to contemplate the digital and evolutionary future. But I don't know if I could bear a world of "vookcases," "vook reports," and God forbid, a New York Review of Vooks.

Was "Ardi" a Liberal?

Frans de Waal, 10.18.2009

What if we descend, not from a blustering chimp-like ancestor, but from a gentle, bonobo-like ape? What if we share characteristics with both of these relatives instead of the one favored by our political ideology?