DEAR MARTIN / DEAR MARCELLO: Gardner and Truzzi on Skepticism. Edited by Dana Richards. This book is a major contribution to the history of modern skepticism. It will also be of considerable interest to the history and philosophy of science more generally. Martin Gardner comes back to life in the form of sparkling, never-before-seen correspondence with one of the most enigmatic figures of skepticism, sociologist and gadfly (and CSICOP cochair and eventual critic) Marcello Truzzi. The lively and surprisingly substantive and detailed exchanges are filled with fascinating insights into the intense intellectual debates, arguments, and disputes they and others had over how to identify crank science and scientists and how best— or even whether—to counter pseudoscience and occultism. Not to mention their differences on how scholars on the fringe should be treated. The letters animate the divergent perspectives and personalities of key figures who founded the modern skeptical movement. Divided into four sections: The Road to CSICOP, The Demarcation Problem, The Dissolution, and Return to Cordiality. Editor Dana Richards (George Mason University) expertly guides us through the nuanced issues. World Scientific, 2017, 458 pp., $88 hardcover, $48 softcover.
