Brian Regal is an American

historian of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Mesop ...

skeptic Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

and writer. He is an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

of the history of science at

Kean University Kean University () is a public university in Union and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Kean University was founded in 1855 in Newark, New Jersey, as the Newark Normal School. Initially establ ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Regal is the author of an encyclopedia of pseudoscience, as well as ''Searching for Sasquatch: Crackpots, Eggheads and Cryptozoology'', a scholarly study on

cryptozoology Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness ...

. He has also written on the history of the

Jersey Devil In South Jersey and Philadelphia folklore in the United States, the Jersey Devil (also known as the Leeds Devil) is a legendary creature said to inhabit the forest of Pine Barrens in South Jersey. The creature is often described as a flying bip ...

Early life

Regal grew up in Newark's Ironbound neighborhood, in a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family. He developed an early interest for science and the mysterious, which he attributes to television series such as ''

Jonny Quest ''Jonny Quest'' is a science fiction-adventure media franchise that revolves around the titular boy named Jonny Quest, who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964–1965 television serie ...

'' and later ''In Search of...''. Discouraged from pursuing higher education by a high school guidance counselor ("kids like you don't go to college"), Regal joined the armed forces, serving as a

tank commander A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful eng ...

Academic career

Going to college after his military career, he graduated with a B.A. in History from

in 1995, then a M.A. in American History and Literature at

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...

(1996) and a Doctorate in Modern History and Literature from Drew University (2001). He teaches at Kean University, where he holds the title of Associate Professor for the History of Science, Technology and

Medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

. Regal has long been interested on how theories of human evolution have been received by the public and by religious authorities. His first two books, ''

Henry Fairfield Osborn Henry Fairfield Osborn, Sr. (August 8, 1857 – November 6, 1935) was an American paleontologist, geologist and eugenics advocate. He was the president of the American Museum of Natural History for 25 years and a cofounder of the American Euge ...

: Race and the Search for the Origins of Man'' and ''Human Evolution: A Guide to the Debates'', explore that theme. In 2005, he realized that

Grover Krantz Grover Sanders Krantz (November 5, 1931 – February 14, 2002) was an American anthropologist and cryptozoologist; he was one of few scientists not only to research Bigfoot, but also to express his belief in the animal's existence. Throughout his ...

's estate donated his notes and papers to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded o ...

after his death in 2002, where they remained unread. Within the collection, Regal found a significant amount of source documents on the founding of American

. Those documents were the starting point for ''The Secret History of the Jersey Devil''. As of 2021, he was working on a book about various alternative theories of Europeans coming to North America before Christopher Columbus and how those theories relate to the sociopolitical context of the period when they appear. He is a member of the history journal ''Endeavour''.

Publications

Books * * * * * * * * Selected Papers * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Regal, Brian American skeptics American male writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Kean University faculty 21st-century American historians American historians of science