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Office For Science And Society
The Office for Science and Society (OSS) is an organization dedicated to science education, operating from Montreal's McGill University. Its staff and contributors use courses, mass media, special events and books to debunk pseudo-scientific myths and improve scientific literacy. History The organization was founded in 1999 as the Office for Chemistry and Society by chemistry professors Joseph Schwarcz, David Harpp, and Ariel Fenster, with Schwarcz heading the office. The name was changed to indicate its wider focus. Both its public education role and the wide range of covered topics were explicit from the beginning: The office pioneered the COursesOnline (COOL McGill) system, an initiative that started in 2000 with three professors and two programmers and now provides online versions of 350 courses. The office is funded by McGill University. In 2011, the office received a $5.5-million grant from the Lorne Trottier Family Foundation. Current status The OSS conducts pub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Schwarcz
Joseph A. Schwarcz (born 1947) is an author and a sessional instructor at McGill University. He is the director of McGill's Office for Science and Society. Early life Schwarcz is an only child, born in Sopron, Hungary to Jewish parents. During the Hungarian uprising in 1956, when he was age 9, the family escaped over the border to Austria and migrated to Canada and settled in Montreal, Quebec. Schwarcz attended Logan school on Darlington and went on to study chemistry at McGill University in Montreal where he received a BSc (1969) and PhD (1973). Schwarcz became interested in magic and chemistry at the age of 9 when he saw a magician perform a rope trick at a school friend's birthday party. ''"Instead of using the usual magic words like Abracadabra, he said that he was going to sprinkle a ‘Magic Chemical’ on the ropes."'' Schwarcz was so intrigued that he went to the library and looked up chemistry; he has had a keen interest in both since that day. Biography Schwarc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Gorski
David Henry Gorski is an American surgical oncologist, professor of surgery at Wayne State University School of Medicine, and a surgical oncologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, specializing in breast cancer surgery. He is an outspoken "skeptic", and a critic of alternative medicine and the anti-vaccination movement. He is the author of the blog ''Respectful Insolence'', and the managing editor of the website ''Science-Based Medicine''. Early life and education Gorski attended the University of Michigan, where he received an MD in 1988. In 1989, he entered a residency in general surgery at the University Hospitals of Cleveland. He left residency for a PhD in cellular physiology at Case Western Reserve University, completed in 1994, with a dissertation entitled "Homeobox Gene Expression and Regulation in Vascular Myocytes." Gorski continued his residency (1993–96) and completed a surgical oncology research fellowship (1996–99) at The University of Chicago ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scientific Skepticism Mass Media
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for scientific reasoning is tens of thousands of years old. The earliest written records in the history of science come from Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in around 3000 to 1200 Common Era, BCE. Their contributions to mathematics, astronomy, and medicine entered and shaped Greek natural philosophy of classical antiquity, whereby formal attempts were made to provide explanations of events in the Universe, physical world based on natural causes. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, knowledge of History of science in classical antiquity, Greek conceptions of the world deteriorated in Western Europe during the early centuries (400 to 1000 CE) of the Middle Ages, but was preserved in the Muslim world during the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freethought Organizations
Irreligious organizations promote the view that moral standards should be based solely on naturalistic considerations, without reference to supernatural concepts (such as God or an afterlife), any desire to do good for a reward after death, or any fear of punishment for not believing in life after death. Background Individuals and organizations sharing these views, identify themselves by a variety of terms, including, bright, freethinker, naturalist, rationalist, or skeptic. Despite the use of these various terms, the organizations listed here have goals in common. Note that, while most of these organizations and their members consider themselves irreligious, there are certain exceptions (Ethical Culture, for example). In some jurisdictions, a provincial or national humanist society may confer upon Humanist officiants the ability to conduct memorial services, child naming ceremonies or officiate marriages — tasks which would be carried out by clergy in most orga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1999 Establishments In Quebec
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootings in the United States; the Year 2000 problem ("Y2K"), perceived as a major concern in the lead-up to the year 2000; the Millennium Dome opens in London; online music downloading platform Napster is launched, soon a source of online piracy; NASA loses both the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander; a destroyed T-55 tank near Prizren during the Kosovo War., 300x300px, thumb rect 0 0 200 200 Death and state funeral of King Hussein rect 200 0 400 200 1999 İzmit earthquake rect 400 0 600 200 Columbine High School massacre rect 0 200 300 400 Kosovo War rect 300 200 600 400 Year 2000 problem rect 0 400 200 600 Mars Climate Orbiter rect 200 400 400 600 Napster rect 400 400 600 600 Millennium Dome 1999 was designated as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homeopathy
Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a disease in healthy people can cure similar symptoms in sick people; this doctrine is called '' similia similibus curentur'', or "like cures like". Homeopathic preparations are termed ''remedies'' and are made using homeopathic dilution. In this process, the selected substance is repeatedly diluted until the final product is chemically indistinguishable from the diluent. Often not even a single molecule of the original substance can be expected to remain in the product. Between each dilution homeopaths may hit and/or shake the product, claiming this makes the diluent remember the original substance after its removal. Practitioners claim that such preparations, upon oral intake, can treat or cure disease. All relevant scientific knowledge about ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternative Medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), integrated medicine or integrative medicine (IM), and holistic medicine attempt to combine alternative practices with those of mainstream medicine. Alternative therapies share in common that they reside outside of medical science and instead rely on pseudoscience. Traditional practices become "alternative" when used outside their original settings and without proper scientific explanation and evidence. Frequently used derogatory terms for relevant practices are ''new age'' or ''pseudo-'' medicine, with little distinction from quackery. Some alternative practices are based on theories that contradict the established science of how the human body works; others resort to the supernatural or superstitious to explain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anagram
An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ''binary'' into ''brainy'' and the word ''adobe'' into ''abode''. The original word or phrase is known as the ''subject'' of the anagram. Any word or phrase that exactly reproduces the letters in another order is an anagram. Someone who creates anagrams may be called an "anagrammatist", and the goal of a serious or skilled anagrammatist is to produce anagrams that reflect or comment on their subject. Examples Anagrams may be created as a commentary on the subject. They may be a parody, a criticism or satire. For example: * "New York Times" = " monkeys write" * "Church of Scientology" = "rich-chosen goofy cult" * "McDonald's restaurants" = " Uncle Sam's standard rot" * "coronavirus" = "carnivorous" * "She Sells Sanctuary" = "Santa; shy, l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scott Rogowsky
Scott Rogowsky (born December 4, 1984) is an American comedian and television personality. He is best known for his time hosting HQ Trivia, a mobile game show. Early life Rogowsky was born in Manhattan and raised in Harrison, New York. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2007 with a degree in political science. Career Beginnings Since 2011, Rogowsky has hosted ''Running Late with Scott Rogowsky'', a live talk show held at various venues around New York City (such as the Gramercy Theater) and Los Angeles. Guests have included comedians, musicians, authors, and actors. Rogowsky gained notoriety as the creator of several viral videos, including ''10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Jew, ''and ''Taking Fake Book Covers on the Subway. ''In 2017, he hosted a "pop-up" talk show, Start T@lkin, which streamed on Go90 for one season. HQ Trivia In August 2017, Rogowsky began as the primary host of HQ Trivia, an app and trivia game. Following its launch, Rogowsky gained a sign ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susan Gerbic
Susan Gerbic (born 1962) is an American studio photographer who became known as a scientific skepticism activist, mostly for exposing people claiming to be mediums. A columnist for ''Skeptical Inquirer'', she is the co-founder of Monterey County Skeptics and a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Early life and education The youngest of three children, Gerbic was raised as a Southern Baptist in Salinas, California. Her father was born in 1918 in Euclid, Ohio, to parents from Slovenia; he served during World War II and after the war went to live in Salinas.Gerbic, Susan (March 2, 2018)"Skeptical Adventures in Europe, Part 5" ''Skeptical Inquirer''. Gerbic attended Freemont Elementary, El Sausal Junior High School, School details. Susan Gerbic Voice.ogg. and Alisal High School in Salinas, graduating in 1980. She became an atheist in her junior year. After high school, she studied at Hartnell College, also in Salinas, obtaining AAs in general studies in 1993 and his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorne Trottier
Lorne M. Trottier, OC (born 15 June 1948) is a Canadian engineer, businessman and philanthropist. He co-founded Matrox, a computer corporation that specializes in computer graphics. Trottier sits as an advisor to Canada's Ecofiscal Commission. Personal Born in Montreal, Quebec, Trottier graduated from Baron Byng High School and thereafter received a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering in 1970 and a Masters of Engineering in the same field in 1973 both from McGill University. He has had a lifelong interest in science: Philanthropy Trottier has repeatedly made significant donations to his alma mater McGill. In 2000 his gift of $10 million funded construction of the Lorne M. Trottier Building, home to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the School of Computer Science. In 2006 his second gift of $12 million created two Lorne Trottier Chairs at the school, one in Aerospace Engineering and the other in Astrophysics and Cosmology. In 2012 he d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Harpp
David Noble Harpp is a Canadian chemist, science communicator and award-winning university teacher. He holds the Tomlinson Chair in Science Education at McGill University. Harpp published more than 230 chemistry articles in peer-reviewed publications, his main research interest being organosulfur and selenium molecules. In addition, 20 of his articles on teaching innovation were published. He was appointed as Tomlinson Chair in Science Education in 2013, with the mandate to "advance the understanding and practice of science education". With Joseph Schwarcz and Ariel Fenster, Harpp is a founding member of the Office for Science and Society. Harpp experimented throughout his teaching career with various visual media, from photographic slides to 8mm movies. With his colleagues at the Office for Science and Society, he pioneered the McGill COurses ONline initiative. A proponent of massive open online courses, Harpp thinks students can benefit from having access these academic oppo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
