Philip Norton

I have been meaning to write something like this for a while, so I thought I would do it as a page, rather than a post, just for a change, and because I would like this to be a permanent fixture of the site.

This is a list, in no particular order mind you, of people I admire.  This might be because they make me laugh, or because they make me think, or because they do something that I find worthy of mention.  I will also be adding to the list every now and then so stay tuned!

Richard Dawkins

When I was in university, studying Microbiology, some of the teachers pointed us to a little book that we might like to read.  That book was called “The blind watchmaker” and it was said to be one of the best books available to read if we wanted to properly understand evolution.

I didn’t read it then, and I think the reason was that I just had too much else to read and understand.  I already understood the basis of evolution and couldn’t afford to buy another book.

I have since made up for that oversight and have read the book.  All I can say is that if you want to understand evolution, even if you know a little about it, then get this book and read it.  It is utterly fascinating.  The only flaw I would say is tat the book is two thirds about evolution and one third about dismissing the other theories of speciation of life.  This is a very necessary dismissal, and I can totally see why these chapters where included and I think they should be read along with the rest of the book by any one wanting to know the subject, but it isn’t all that entertaining.  However, the first two thirds of the book are literally riveting.  The first couple of chapters were even more interesting to me as a computer scientist as Dawkins created a computer program that simulated (to a tiny degree) how evolution worked.

Richard Dawkins is also an atheist, and he is not afraid to say so.  I first saw “Root of all evil?” in 2006 and that got me hooked on the logical road to becoming a sceptic.  After seeing that documentary I started to look up atheist web sites (including his own website richarddawkins.net) and to write about atheism on my own site.  I have been an atheist all of my life, but it was Dawkins who showed me that I was being logical and that other people felt the same way.  In fact lots of people felt the same way and were sick and tired of theology trying to tell them how to think.  I then discovered (through podcasting) that there are a lot of people who call themselves sceptics, who just want a little empiricism in their life.

Apart from being very clever, Richard Dawkins is also quite funny.  In his books and many of his talks that I see he always adds in a few jokes to keep people amused and interested.

Adam Hart-Davis

I love science, but I also love anyone who teaches science in a fun or interesting way, and Adam Hart-Davis is one of those people.  Officially he is a scientist, author, photographer, historian and broadcaster.  I first saw Adam when he created a series called “Local Heroes” in which he cycles around the UK finding people who have invented things and describes who they were invented and how these inventions works.

I loved Local Heroes, but Adam went on to do a host of different things.  This started with “What the Romans did for us.” and went on to include Victorians, the Tudors, the Stuarts, and the Ancient, all of which are brilliant shows.

He has a talent for taking very complex mechanisms and even mathematical equations and putting them in plain, easy to understand language.

Adam Hart-Davis is also a sort of expert on the toilet.  He has written a books entitled “Thunder, Flush and Thomas Crapper” and “Taking The Piss (A Potted History of Pee).”.

Brian Dunning

You may not have heard of this guy, but let me elaborate. He produces a weekly podcast called Skeptoid, wherein he takes some popular subject and critically analyses it. He spells out the common conception of the subject and then goes through all of the facts (or at least the important ones) before reaching a conclusion.

What Brian produces is interesting, funny and informative, and short enough that you can listen to one or two on the way to work in the morning.  He freely admits that he doesn’t get everything right, and will create update podcasts to correct his mistakes.  However, I have learned a lot from the podcast and eagerly await the next episode every week.

Brian has also recently released a movie called Here Be Dragons.  This is a free 40 minute video introduction to critical thinking and covers most of the things that people should be aware of when reading advertising or listening to people speak.  He also goes through Carl Sagan’s list of tools for testing arguments and detecting fallacious or fraudulent one.

My advice is to listen to the podcast and watch the movie, you might learn something!