Edinburgh Skeptics
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Edinburgh Skeptics
Edinburgh Skeptics (Edinburgh Skeptics Society) is a nonprofit organisation that promotes science, reason and critical thinking in Edinburgh and throughout Scotland. It was founded in 2009. The Society hosts regular social and educational events in Edinburgh and has campaigned against the use of homeopathy and challenged claims of ghost sightings. The Society organizes regular talks as part of Skeptics in the Pub. The speaker invited to launch the group in March 2009 was Chris French. Subsequent speakers have included David Aaronovitch and Julian Baggini. In 2010 the Society created the award-winning ''Skeptics on the Fringe'' event, which is held annually during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. ''Skeptics on the Fringe'' won an ''Ockham Award'' after a vote by the readers of ''The Skeptic'' magazine in 2013 and has been awarded 4 stars by the publication Broadway Baby. An Ockham award was again won in 2017. Speakers such as Simon Singh, Richard Wiseman, A C Grayling, ...
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Nonprofit Organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in contrast with an entity that operates as a business aiming to generate a Profit (accounting), profit for its owners. A nonprofit is subject to the non-distribution constraint: any revenues that exceed expenses must be committed to the organization's purpose, not taken by private parties. An array of organizations are nonprofit, including some political organizations, schools, business associations, churches, social clubs, and consumer cooperatives. Nonprofit entities may seek approval from governments to be Tax exemption, tax-exempt, and some may also qualify to receive tax-deductible contributions, but an entity may incorporate as a nonprofit entity without securing tax-exempt status. Key aspects of nonprofits are accountability, trustworth ...
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Simon Singh
Simon Lehna Singh, (born 19 September 1964) is a British popular science author, theoretical and particle physicist. His written works include ''Fermat's Last Theorem'' (in the United States titled ''Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem''), ''The Code Book'' (about cryptography and its history), ''Big Bang'' (about the Big Bang theory and the origins of the universe), '' Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial'' (about complementary and alternative medicine, co-written by Edzard Ernst) and '' The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets'' (about mathematical ideas and theorems hidden in episodes of ''The Simpsons'' and ''Futurama''). In 2012 Singh founded the Good Thinking Society, through which he created the website "Parallel" to help students learn mathematics. Singh has also produced documentaries and works for television to accompany his books, is a trustee of the National Museum of Science and Industry, a patron of ...
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Phil Hammond (doctor)
Philip James Hammond (born 1 January 1962) is a British physician, broadcaster, comedian and commentator on health issues in the United Kingdom. He is best known for his humorous commentary on the National Health Service. He first came into the public spotlight writing a column for '' The Independent'' newspaper, where he wrote with a strong pro- patient rights line and as ''Private Eye''s medical correspondent "MD". Early life and education Hammond lived in Australia until the age of seven when his Australian father, Barrie Rees Hammond, Ph.D, a Cambridge-educated physical chemist, killed himself at the age of 38. His English mother moved the family back to England. Hammond was educated at Marlborough Royal Free Grammar School until its closure in 1975, then at its successor St John's Comprehensive, before obtaining a place at Marlborough College as his father had taught there. Hammond qualified as a doctor in 1987, having studied at Girton College, Cambridge and St Tho ...
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David Nutt
David John Nutt (born 16 April 1951) is an English neuropsychopharmacologist specialising in the research of drugs that affect the brain and conditions such as addiction, anxiety, and sleep. He is the chairman of Drug Science, a non-profit which he founded in 2010 to provide independent, evidence-based information on drugs. Until 2009, he was a professor at the University of Bristol heading their Psychopharmacology Unit. Since then he has been the Edmond J Safra chair in Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London and director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit in the Division of Brain Sciences there. Nutt was a member of the Committee on Safety of Medicines, and was President of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Career summary and research Nutt completed his secondary education at Bristol Grammar School and then studied medicine at Downing College, Cambridge, graduating in 1972. In 1975, he completed his clinical training at Guy's Hospital. He worked ...
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Philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek thinker Pythagoras (6th century BCE).. In the Classics, classical sense, a philosopher was someone who lived according to a certain way of life, focusing upon resolving Meaning of life, existential questions about the human condition; it was not necessary that they discoursed upon Theory, theories or commented upon authors. Those who most arduously committed themselves to this lifestyle would have been considered ''philosophers''. In a modern sense, a philosopher is an intellectual who contributes to one or more branches of philosophy, such as aesthetics, ethics, epistemology, philosophy of science, logic, metaphysics, social theory, philosophy of religion, and political philosophy. A philosopher may also be someone who has worked in the hum ...
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Atheist Circle A XmasTree
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists. The first individuals to identify themselves as atheists lived in the 18th century during the Age of Enlightenment. The French Revolution, noted for its "unprecedented atheism", witnessed the first significant political movement in history to advocate for the supremacy of human reason.Extract of page 22
In 1967, Albania declared itself the first official athei ...
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Ig Nobel Prizes
The Ig Nobel Prize ( ) is a satiric prize awarded annually since 1991 to celebrate ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of the award is a pun on the Nobel Prize, which it parodies, and on the word '' ignoble'' ("not noble"). Organized by the scientific humor magazine, '' Annals of Improbable Research'' (AIR), the Ig Nobel Prizes are presented by Nobel laureates in a ceremony at the Sanders Theater, Harvard University, and are followed by the winners' public lectures at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. History The Ig Nobels were created in 1991 by Marc Abrahams, editor and co-founder of the '' Annals of Improbable Research'', a former editor-in-chief of the '' Journal of Irreproducible Results'' who has been master of ceremonies at all awards ceremonies. Awards were presented at that time for discoveries "that cannot, or should not, be reproduce ...
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Marc Abrahams
Marc Abrahams is the editor and co-founder of '' Annals of Improbable Research'', and the originator and master of ceremonies of the annual Ig Nobel Prize celebration. He was formerly editor of the ''Journal of Irreproducible Results''. Abrahams is married to Robin Abrahams, also known as "Miss Conduct", a columnist for the ''Boston Globe''. He graduated from Harvard College with a degree in applied mathematics. Bibliography Books written or edited by Abrahams include: * ''This Is Improbable'' () * ''The Ig Nobel Prizes'' () * ''Why Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans'' () * ''Sex As a Heap of Malfunctioning Rubble'' () * ''The Best of "Annals of Improbable Research"'' () * ''The Man Who Tried to Clone Himself'' () References External links Annals of Improbable Research(Abrahams' own account of JIR and AIR), ''The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with ...
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Edinburgh International Science Festival
Edinburgh Science, founded in 1989, is an educational charity that aims to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to discover the world around them. Edinburgh Science is best known for organising Edinburgh's annual Science Festival the world's first public celebration of science and technology and still one of Europe's largest. The two-week Festival gives audiences amazing experiences through a diverse programme of innovative events. Alongside the annual Festival in Edinburgh, the organisation has a strong focus on education and runs touring programme ''Generation Science'' that visits schools around Scotland throughout the year. Edinburgh Science also operates a large-scale international programme of work under the Worldwide arm. It regularly presents events overseas and has been the Major Programming Partner of the annual Abu Dhabi Science Festival, helping to curate, produce and deliver the event. Edinburgh Science produces innovative educational activities and events. ...
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Johnston Press
Johnston Press plc was a multimedia company founded in Falkirk, Scotland, in 1767. Its flagship titles included UK-national newspaper the '' i'', ''The Scotsman'', the ''Yorkshire Post'', the ''Falkirk Herald'', and Belfast's ''The News Letter''. The company was operating around 200 newspapers and associated websites around the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man when it went into administration and was the purchased by JPIMedia in 2018. The ''Falkirk Herald'' was the company's first acquisition in 1846. Johnston Press's assets were transferred to JPIMedia in 2018, who continued to publish its titles. Johnston Press announced it would place itself in administration on 16 November 2018 after it was unable to find a suitable buyer of the business to refinance £220m of debt. It was delisted from the London Stock Exchange on 19 November 2018. Johnston Press and its assets were brought under the control of JPIMedia on 17 November 2018 after a pre-packaged deal was agreed with creditor ...
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The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its parent company, JPIMedia, also publishes the ''Edinburgh Evening News''. It had an audited print circulation of 16,349 for July to December 2018. Its website, Scotsman.com, had an average of 138,000 unique visitors a day as of 2017. The title celebrated its bicentenary on 25 January 2017. History ''The Scotsman'' was launched in 1817 as a liberal weekly newspaper by lawyer William Ritchie and customs official Charles Maclaren in response to the "unblushing subservience" of competing newspapers to the Edinburgh establishment. The paper was pledged to "impartiality, firmness and independence". After the abolition of newspaper stamp tax in Scotland in 1855, ''The Scotsman'' was relaunched as a daily newspaper priced at 1d and a circul ...
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Paul Zenon
Paul Zenon (born Paul Collins) is an English stage and TV magician, comedian, presenter and writer. He is the author of three books on magic, proposition bets and practical jokes, and an expert on the history of magic and magicians, variety, and unusual entertainments. His specialist subjects include magician and escape artiste Harry Houdini, faux Chinese magician Chung Ling Soo, and Jasper Maskelyne, the 'War Magician'. He is a sceptic with strong views on claims of psychic abilities and the paranormal. Zenon is a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star status and was the recipient of the Carlton Award for Comedy in 2015, the Sir Ken Dodd Comedy Award in 2017, presented by the man himself, the Neville King Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2019 and the David Berglas Award for Outstanding Contribution to Magic, also in 2019. Career Throughout his teenage years, Zenon spent the summer holidays working in the Blackpool magic and joke shop 'The House of Secrets' which ...
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