The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions contains approximately 500 “definitions, arguments, and essays on subjects supernatural, occult, paranormal, and pseudoscientific”. The Home page has an alphabetical index to the articles, and broad Topical Indexes, including Alternative Medicine, ETs & UFOs, Frauds & Hoaxes, New Age, etc. Each topical index contains a list of subheadings, and provides lists of Other Sources, Recommended Reading, and a “room” to a “bookstore” of relevant books sold at Amazon.com. The Home page states “we are an Amazon.com associate”, and the website is thick with links to various books that are sold there. A smaller version of The Skeptic's Dictionary website is available in book form (Carroll, 2003), and many links enable users to purchase it. A Search box is provided for looking up key words in the site or in Google. There are links to the author's web logs Mass Media Funk, Mass Media Bunk, and What's the Harm. Skeptic's Refuge, Critical Thinking, Feedback, No Graphics, Sample the SD, Introduction, and other links are provided on the Home page. Parts of the site have been translated into 13 languages in addition to English. The author is a professor of philosophy at Sacramento City College, where he teaches classes on critical thinking, and he has written a book on that topic.
The scope of the website is comprehensive. Many of the articles cover concepts that are commonly believed, but have no factual or scientific basis. The site also has essays about logic and philosophy. The author does not go into individual conspiracy theories, but he does have an entry on “Illuminati, the new world order & paranoid conspiracy theorists (PCTs)”. Each article contains links to related entries both within and outside of the site. At the end of most articles is a Further Readings link, which goes to a few books about critical thinking on Amazon.com, and bibliographies of books (often available you‐know‐where), as well as outside web sites. The facts and opinions presented can therefore often be cross‐checked in outside sources. Each entry has links to go back Home or to the Alphabetical Index. Many articles have Reader Comments that display Carroll's replies to the comments left by users.
The Skeptic's Dictionary site loads quickly, and is easy to navigate. It is updated frequently; some of the articles had been altered in the month I examined them. I found no dead links. The site has many advertisements, but they are neither intrusive nor distracting. The articles are well researched, well written, and very interesting. I saw no grammatical or spelling errors. Carroll gives his opinions plainly, and does not spare the sensitivities of people who might disagree with him. The site will not change the minds of people who believe in unproven phenomena and/or unscientific theories, but it presents useful counter‐arguments for doubters. The Skeptic's Dictionary is valuable for both the casual reader and people who are researching topics discussed in it. I highly recommend this site.
