Victor J. Stenger

Victor J. Stenger (born January 291935) is emeritus professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Hawaii and adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado. Stenger used to work in particle physics but is principally known as a critic and skeptic of Intelligent Design and other ideas of pseudoscience. He has published a number of books intended for general audiences on the subjects of physics and cosmology and philosophy, religion, and pseudoscience ("Has Science Found God?", "The Comprehensible Cosmos", "Timeless Reality", "The Unconscious Quantum", "Physics and Psychics", "Not By Design", and "".). The last title was number 21 on the New York Times bestseller list on March 11, 2007.Stenger maintains that a scientific explanation for phenomena like consciousness and free will, assuming it exists, will some day be found without the need to invoke anything mystical or supernatural.

Work and career

Stenger's early life was in Bayonne, New Jersey. In 1956, he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Newark College of Engineering (now New Jersey Institute of Technology). He is also a noted speaker, scheduled to speak at the Skeptics Society' "Origins Conference" at California Institute of Technology alongside Nancey Murphy, and Leonard Susskind. [cite news | url=http://origins.skeptic.com/speakers_Ross.php | title=Origins Conference October 3–4, 2008 | publisher=Skeptics Society |date=2008 | first= | last= | accessdate =2008-10-10 ]

University career

Stenger moved to Los Angeles on a Hughes Aircraft Company fellowship, and in 1959 received a Master of Science degree in physics from UCLA. He completed his PhD in Physics in 1963. He then took a position on the faculty of the University of Hawaii, retiring to Colorado in 2000. His current position is emeritus professor of physics at the University of Hawaii and adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado. Stenger is a fellow of CSICOP and a research fellow of the Center for Inquiry. Stenger has also held visiting positions on the faculties of the University of Heidelberg in Germany, Oxford in England (twice), and has been a visiting researcher at Rutherford Laboratory Fact|date=February 2007 in England, the National Nuclear Physics Laboratory in Frascati, Italy, and the University of Florence in Italy.

Research career

Stenger's research career has spanned the period of great progress in elementary particle physics that has ultimately led to the current standard model. He participated in experiments that helped establish the properties of strange particles , quarks, gluons, and neutrinos,Fact|date=February 2007 and also helped pioneer the emerging fields of very high-energy gamma ray and neutrino astronomy. In his last project before retiring, Stenger collaborated on the Super-Kamiokande underground experiment in Japan that showed for the first time that the neutrino has mass [ [http://www.phys.hawaii.edu/~jgl/nuosc_story.html The Discovery Of Neutrino Oscillations ] ] .

Author

Victor Stenger's publications are principally popular-level books and articles that interface between physics and cosmology and philosophy, religion, and pseudoscience. These include: "Not By Design: The Origin of the Universe" (1988); "Physics and Psychics: The Search for a World Beyond the Senses" (1990); "The Unconscious Quantum: Metaphysics in Modern Physics and Cosmology" (1995); "Timeless Reality: Symmetry, Simplicity, and Multiple Universes" (2000); "Has Science Found God? The Latest Results in the Search for Purpose in the Universe" (2003); and "The Comprehensible Cosmos: Where Do the Laws of Physics Come from?". His most recent book, "God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist", was published in 2007 and was number 21 on the New York Times bestseller list on March 11, 2007.

Degrees

* B.S., Electrical Engineering, Newark College of Engineering (now New Jersey Institute of Technology), 1956.
* M.S., Physics, UCLA, 1958.
* Ph. D., Physics, UCLA, 1963. Thesis: Low Energy K+d Scattering and the I = 0 KN Interaction (Harold K. Ticho, advisor)

Professional and community positions

* President, Humanists Hawaii 1990-1994 [http://www.Hawaii.Humanists.net Hawaiian Humanists]
* Member of American Physical Society
* Member of Editorial Board, Free Inquiry
* Member of Society of Humanist Philosophers
* Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
* Fellow of the Center for Inquiry
* President, Colorado Citizens for Science 2002-2006

References

Bibliography

Complete CV including multiply-authored publications in peer reviewed journals

http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Bio/CV.pdf

ingly authored books

* 1988 "Not by Design: The Origin of the Universe", Prometheus Books, ISBN 0879754516
* 1990 "Physics and Psychics: The Search for a World Beyond the Senses", Prometheus Books, ISBN 087975575X.
* 1995 "The Unconscious Quantum: Metaphysics in Modern Physics and Cosmology", Prometheus Books, ISBN 1573920223.
* 2000 "Timeless Reality: Symmetry, Simplicity, and Multiple Universes", Prometheus Books, ISBN 1573928593.
* 2003 "Has Science Found God? The Latest Results in the Search for Purpose in the Universe", Prometheus Books, ISBN 1591020182.
* 2006 "The Comprehensible Cosmos: Where Do The Laws Of Physics Come From?", Prometheus Books, ISBN 1591024242.
* 2007 ": How Science Shows that God Does Not Exist", Prometheus Books, ISBN 1591024811. New York Times bestseller.

ingly authored articles in peer reviewed journals

* "K-N Interactions in the I=0 State at Low Energies" with W.E. Slater "et al.", Phys. Rev. 134, B1111 (1964). Publication of PhD thesis work.
* "The Production of Very High Energy Photons and Neutrinos from Cosmic Proton Sources," Astrophys. J. 284, 810 (1984).
* "Photinos from Cosmic Sources,” Nature 317, 411 (1985).
* "The Extraterrestrial Flux Sensitivity of Underground and Undersea Muon Detectors,” Il Nuovo Cimento 9C, 479 (1986).
* "The Universe: the ultimate free lunch," European Journal of Physics 11 (1990) 236-243.
* "Bioenergetic Fields." "The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine", Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring/Summer 1999.
* "Natural Explanations for the Anthropic Coincidences." "Philo" 3(2000): 50-67.

Other significant publications

* [http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Briefs/QBrain.htm "Is the Brain a Quantum Device?"]
* "The Myth of Quantum Consciousness." The Humanist 53, 13, May/June 1993.
* "Quantum Metaphysics.” Chapter in Modern Spiritualities, Laurence Brown, Bernard C. Farr, and R. Joseph Hoffmann (eds.), Prometheus Books, Amherst NY, 1997, p. 243-253. Also published in The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine 1 (1), 1997,p. 26-30.
* "New Age Physics: Has Science Found the Path to the Ultimate?” Free Inquiry, 16 (3), Summer 1996, p. 7-11.
* "Cosmythology: Was the Universe Designed to Produce Us?" Skeptic 4 (2), 1996, p. 36-40.
* "Has Science Found God?" Free Inquiry 19 (1) Winter 1998/99, 56-58.
* "Bioenergetic Fields.” The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, Vol. 3, No. 1,Spring/Summer 1999.
* "The Anthropic Coincidences: A Natural Explanation. "Skeptical Intelligencer 3(3)2-17(1999).
* "Anthropic Design: Does the Cosmos Show Evidence of Purpose?" Skeptical Inquirer 23(4) 40-63 (1999.
* “Energy Medicine,” with David Ramey, DVM, in Alternate Therapies in the Horse, New York: Howell Book House (1999) 55-66.
* "The Pseudophysics of Therapeutic Touch." Chapter in Therapeutic Touch, edited by BélaScheiber and Carla Selby. Amherst N.Y.: Prometheus Books (2000), pp. 302-311.
* "Humanity in Time and Space," Free Inquiry 21, no. 2 (2001):42,69.
* "Time's Arrows Point Both Ways: The View From Nowhen," Skeptic 8, no. 4 (2001):90-5.
* "The God of Falling Bodies," Skeptical Inquirer 25, no. 5 (2001):46-49.
* "The Breath of God: Identifying Spiritual Force," chapter in Skeptical Odysseys edited by Paul Kurtz (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2001), pp. 363-374.
* "Anthropic Design: Does the Cosmos Show Evidence of Purpose?" in Science and Religion: Are They Compatible? Edited by Paul Kurtz. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2003, pp. 47-49.
* "The Premise Keepers," Free Inquiry 23, No. 3 Summer 2003.
* "Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Us?" Chapter in Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism, edited by Matt Young and Taner Edis. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2004) pp. 172-84.
* "Flew's Flawed Science," Free Inquiry 25, No. 2 February/March 2005, pp. 17-18.
* "The Scientific Case Against a God Who Created the Universe," chapter in The Improbability of God edited by Michael Martin and Ricki Monnier (Amherst NY: Prometheus Books, 2006).
* "Do Our Values Come from God? The Evidence Says No," Free Inquiry 26 no. 5(2006): 42-45.
* "Physics, Cosmology, and the New Creationism." Chapter for Scientists Confront Creationism II, W.W. Norton, 2007.
* "Reality" and "Clock Time." Entries for the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2nd Edition. To be published by Macmillan Reference USA(Thomson Gale).
* "Time, Arrow of," "Time, Asymmetry of," "Time, Operational Definition of," "Universe, Origin of," "Planck time," Time, Symmetry of," "Time, Units of." Entries for The Encyclopedia of Time to be published by Sage Publications

Other contributions

Since 1998 Stenger has written a regular column called, "Reality Check," in "Skeptical Briefs". This is the quarterly newsletter of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI). [ [http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/psych.html Physics and Psychics, the Paranormal ] ]

ee also

The following are people who quote Stenger's work or may be of interest to readers.
* Andrei Linde
* Michael Shermer
* Richard Dawkins
* Ray Kurzweil
* Stephen M Barr
* David Mills
* Sam Harris
* Christopher Hitchens

External links

* [http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/ Victor J. Stenger] Homepage